Power Gradients:

via Robert Henderson:

"Another psychodynamic that contributes to the psychopath's propensity to commit evil acts is chonic emotional detachment from others. For the psychopath, relationships are defined by power gradients, not affectional ties. This biological based deficit in bonding capacity, which may be acquired or inherited or both, was first noted by Bowlby in his study of delinquent adolescents, some of whom he labeled 'affectionless.' Instead of seeking proximity to others as a way to feel affction and closeness to ward off loneliness, the psychopath appears most concerned with dominating his or her objects to control them. The pattern reduces threats to the psychopath and stimulates his or her grandiosity, but also diminished the probability of empathy and inhibition of aggressive impulse. It is phylogenetically a prey-predator dynamic ..."