Six Misconceptions About Psychopaths

Psychopaths are surprisingly common. Social science researchers estimate that about 1 in 100 people is a psychopath, although not all psychopaths commit murder.

How Do We Define a Psychopath?

A psychopath is an individual who has some or all of a group of psychological traits. Most psychopaths are men, although women may also display psychopathic traits. Psychopaths lack empathy. Psychopaths might not, for example, feel any sorrow at the death of their mothers or any regret for accidentally runing over a child with a car.

Psychopaths typically do not feel remorse when they hurt others. They do not feel guilt. They typically cannot form close relationships with people except by controlling them. Psychopaths might "collect" sick or needy people, for example, providing them with shelter or food or money they cannot obtain on their own, but insisting on their presence in their lives and demanding utter obedience to their will.

Psychopaths are typically reckless. They might drive fast in heavy traffic, flooring the accelerator going the wrong way on a one-way street to get to the supermarket a few seconds sooner. Or they might or turn up the heat on the stove high to cook a meal faster, making their dining companions eat the part of the meal that was burnt, or they might eat seafood they know has gone bad just to see what happened if others followed suit.

They may be superficially charming, but when the lose control of a social interaction they react with rage or sadness.

A criminal psychopath, one research quips, is a psychopath who has been caught. Behavioral scientists have studied criminal psychopaths the most because they are easier to study. They are in prison, stuck in their cells, and they often volunteer for intensive studies so they can manipulate the investigator, the warden, and the jailer.

Most Psychopaths Don't Commit Murder

Researchers don't know as much about "successful" psychopaths, because they haven't been caught. But researchers do know that most psychopaths are not madmen or madwomen, and most psychopaths don't commit murder, even though they lack empathy.

Murder is punished by imprisonment or even execution, and the process of being tried for murder takes away the psychopath's ability to control his or her environment.

Or psychopaths may be able to get what they want without killing people, or find it more productive to manipulate people on subtler levels.

See Also: Violent Psychopaths Have A Different Brain Structure

A Continuum of Evil

And all psychopath are not equally psychopathic. Psychologists and psychiatrists typically diagnose psychopathy on a scale of severity. In the 1990's forensic psychologist and Columbia University professor Michael Stone developed a three-tiered scale to categorize psychopaths in terms of the likelihood they would commit murder again. Stone divided psychopaths into three groups:

• People who committed an act of rage once but weren't likely to commit it again.
• People who lack extreme psychopathic features (rage, manipulation) but who may be delusional, out of touch with the common reality, and
• People who possess superficial charm, glib speech, grandiosity (that is, always being the smartest or best or "rightest" person in the room), cunning, and skills at manipulating others, without remorse for anything they have done.

Recognizing the Psychopaths in Your Life

Psychopath's personality disorders are sufficiently common that most of us have met someone who would be diagnosed as a psychopath, but not everyone who seems to have this disorder actually does. Real psychopaths can be recognized by these six traits.

1. Psychopaths display a constellation of traits, not just a few prominent, easily recognizable traits. A doctor who does open heart surgery, for example, needs a certain lack of empathy to do his or her job. A gruff, all-business, unsympathetic bedside manner does not mean your surgeon is a psychopath.
2. Psychopaths are not psychotic. They are not encumbered by hearing voices or by holding delusional views of the world (although they may be especially well equipped to exploit others who suffer psychosis). Psychopaths typically know the difference between right and wrong. They just don't care.
3. Prisons aren't full of psychopaths. Only about 25% of people in long-term incarceration are identified as having psychopathic disorders. The overwhelming majority of people in prisons are diagnosed with antisocial personality disorders. The difference between the two conditions is that psychopaths are "born that way" and sociopaths, or people with antisocial personality disorders, are "made that way." Both groups are characterized by narcissism, lying, superficial charm, lack of remorse, destructiveness in relationships, and easy boredom, but psychopaths are less "plugged in" to their surroundings, more capable of independent action. Brain scans also show differences in the ways the brains of psychopaths and sociopaths are wired.
4. Not all psychopaths are violent at all times. Psychopaths don't usually kill for fun. They kiill to satisfy other needs. In a time of scarcity, however, most psychopaths would have no compunction about killing others for basic needs.
5. Your boss probably isn't a psychopath. About 4% of business executives and Wall Street traders, one study concluded, exhibit psychopathic personality traits. This means there is a 96% or greater chance that your supervisor isn't among them, but having such a large number of psychopaths in positions of authority has a disproportionate impact on everybody else.
6. Experts don't necessarily agree on the definition of a psychopathic personality. The people pursued by FBI profilers are usually clearly psychopathic, that is, they are cunning, ruthless, mean, callous, and remorseless, but exactly how many of these qualities are necessary to define the condition in someone else is open to debate. There are even some members of the American Psychiatric Association who consider psychopathy a personality "type" rather than a personality disorder.

See Also: What Can You Learn From Psychopaths

The best way to relate to psychopaths is as little as possible. You can't change them, but they can change you for the worse. If you believe there is a real psychopath in your life, the only thing you can do is to escape, but remember, not everyone who is cold or unpleasant is dangerous. Your best defense is to be as independent as possible.

Be cautious about sharing personal information with individuals you don't know well, particularly online. Psychopaths can exploit personal information for manipulation or deception. Also, keep a reasonable emotional distance, especially when you're dealing with people you've recently met. Avoid becoming overly open or vulnerable until you've had time to gauge a person's character.

Approach offers, requests, or deals with skepticism, particularly when they seem too good to be true. Psychopaths often employ deception to exploit others for personal gain. Be aware of attempts to elicit sympathy or pity, as psychopaths may use such tactics to manipulate you. Verify the authenticity of their claims rather than immediately offering assistance.

While not all individuals exhibiting psychopathic traits are necessarily harmful, it's essential to stay vigilant and safeguard yourself against manipulation or harm when interacting with them.