Chances are, you’ve crossed paths with a psychopath today. With an estimated 1 in every 100 people meeting the criteria for psychopathy, it could’ve been the person who held the door for you this morning, the colleague across the desk, or the stranger doomscrolling beside you on the train. It could be your neighbour. Your partner. Or – maybe, just maybe – you.
You see, despite how common psychopathy is, most cases simply go undetected. Many people with psychopathic traits live their entire lives without ever knowing it.
“Most of the time, people are not diagnosed,” says Dr Graeme Fairchild, psychology professor at the University of Bath. “Their behaviour can be quite extreme sometimes, but they may not know that they’re a psychopath at all.”
While a psychopath may feel like they’re different from others, most are quietly navigating the world among us – they’re not all serial killers in the making. In fact, they’re likely charming, articulate, and outwardly successful.
And if that sounds uncomfortably familiar – whether it’s someone you know, or something you’ve felt yourself – there are a few questions you might want to delve into…
How to tell if you’re a psychopath
Feeling perturbed? In any way uneasy at the thought that you might be a psychopath? Good news: it’s fairly unlikely you are one.
“If anyone is concerned about being a psychopath, they probably aren’t,” explains Dr Beth Visser, associate professor of psychology at Lakehead University, Canada.
The reason is fairly simple. According to leading experts on so-called ‘dark’ personality traits, psychopaths simply don’t think there’s anything wrong with them.
“If anything, they think it’s the others who are weak or strange, rather than them seeing a problem with their own behaviours,” says Dr Nadja Heym, associate professor in personality psychology and psychopathology at Nottingham Trent University.
If you're now starting to seriously wonder whether psychopathy might apply to you – or someone in your life – there’s an important distinction to have in mind: psychopathy isn’t binary. The world isn’t neatly divided into people with skulls in their fridges and literal saints. Psychopathy runs along a spectrum, and there’s a lot of grey area.
Psychiatrists and psychologists use various checklists to measure how psychopathic an individual is by assessing their personality against a long list of traits.
Score very highly on those checklists, and you might be diagnosed with a full-blown psychopathic personality disorder – but more moderate scores can still indicate mild psychopathic tendencies. And many of us will have a few traits.
Indeed, according to the likes of eminent forensic psychiatrist Dr Ronald Schouten, 15 per cent of people have ‘almost psychopathy’. This means they are driven by some psychopathic traits, but don’t have a diagnosable personality disorder.
So, what are those traits? Well, the 2009 Triarchic Model of psychopathy defines it as a mixture of meanness, disinhibition and boldness.
The psychopath test
In 2022, psychologists from several UK universities developed the 54-item Successful Psychopathy Scale, designed to explore psychopathic traits in high-functioning individuals – people who may show certain characteristics without engaging in harmful or criminal behaviour.
If you agree with a lot of the statements below, it could give you reason to speak to a professional. But just remember, while these statements come from a real psychological tool, diagnosing psychopathy isn’t something that can be done without proper training. Traits like these can show up in all kinds of personalities, and only professionals can assess them in context.
- I am quite cold-hearted
- I don’t tend to feel guilty if I hurt someone’s feelings
- I tend to be egotistical
- Playing to win is more important than playing fair
- When things go my way, I tend to be smug about it
- I am skilled in interacting with other people
- I can use my emotional skills to change how another person is feeling
- I know how to get people to do what I want
- In the groups I am part of, I am usually the leader
- I am confident in speaking my mind
- I am skilled in lots of things
- I can handle high-pressure situations
- I pride myself on my ability to make split-second decisions
- I will do almost anything to get what I want
Heym explains that psychopaths tend to experience what she calls “shallow emotions” – they often show little fear, remorse or genuine concern. They may struggle to recognise when others are upset, or simply appear indifferent to it.
This is because, she explains, while many psychopaths can recognise emotions in others, they don’t feel them in the same way. Unlike most people, they don’t experience strong empathy, which makes it easier for them to stay emotionally detached, even in situations that would deeply affect others.
For instance, imagine walking into a room where everyone inside was crying. “You might feel sad, even if you don’t know why they’re crying,” explains Fairchild. “It’s like emotional contagion. But for people with psychopathy, the emotions of others don’t rub off on them as much.”
It’s true that some individuals with psychopathy actively enjoy hurting others, says Fairchild, but that’s more of a stereotype than a rule. In reality, most are simply emotionally detached, rather than overtly cruel.
Read more:
- How to spot ‘dark empaths’, the dangerous psychopaths and narcissists who feel empathy
- The hidden ways a narcissist tries to manipulate your personality
- Intrusive thoughts: Why they happen and how to deal with them
Yet spotting a psychopath based on their emotional responses is no easy feat. As Professor Abigail Marsh, a psychology expert at Georgetown University, explains, many psychopaths are skilled at masking their traits and presenting as friendly or even charming.
We often assume that psychopaths must be unpleasant or unlikable – so if we enjoy spending time with someone, we tend to rule out the possibility. But that’s a mistake, says Marsh.
“People with psychopathy often know this and use it to their advantage, deliberately acting in ways that make it hard to judge them accurately,” she says.
Manipulation, deception and superficial charm are all core traits of psychopathy, which means even those closest to a psychopath can be easily misled. “It’s very easy for anyone to be fooled,” Marsh adds – including friends, partners and family members who believe they truly know the person.
At the heart of it, she explains, is a self-serving mindset. “If I had to boil psychopathy down,” Marsh says, “it’s that psychopathic individuals tend to engage in behaviours across social settings that benefit them, regardless of the consequences for others.”
Charm offensive
Say "psychopath", and most people picture Christian Bale in a slick suit, blood-splattered face, axe in hand. You don’t typically picture a psychopath folding laundry, complaining about slow Wi-Fi, or waiting patiently in line at the supermarket. In reality, most are doing exactly what the rest of us are – something utterly mundane.
Because of the classic stereotypes, we often assume that if someone we care about has psychopathic traits, the only logical response is to run – fast – before we end up under their floorboards. The reality is far more nuanced: psychopaths aren’t inherently bad.
“There’s a famous saying about psychopaths that they aren’t deeply malicious, but rather hold disaster lightly in each hand,” says Visser. “I’m not convinced they are ‘evil’ but rather driven by their own desires and quite oblivious to the feelings of the people they hurt.”
Marsh adds that while people with psychopathic traits are more likely to engage in antisocial behaviour and less likely to feel guilt or remorse, that doesn’t automatically make them bad people – especially if they’re only mildly on the spectrum.
“Many of them I have spoken to do want to change, but struggle to find anyone who will help them,” she says.
However, if someone close to you has a full-blown psychopathic personality disorder, it's bad news for them, and even worse for you.
“We call something a clinical disorder if it interferes with a person’s ability to function in major life domains and/or causes them significant distress,” says Marsh.
For example, getting into a relationship with someone who pathologically prioritises their own interests – and has no qualms about lying or manipulating to get their way – is probably not a great idea.
Similarly, if your boss is a psychopath, you may not have a great time at work. According to Heym, psychopathic managers may come across as “rough and tough” and be “good at firing people”, but they often lack compassion and struggle to genuinely motivate others.
She warns that psychopathic colleagues might lead to “havoc” in the workplace due to their tendency towards recklessness, particularly if they’re in charge of making important decisions.
However, these are examples from the very extreme end of the spectrum. When it comes to milder forms of psychopathy – or near-psychopathy – some traits can actually be beneficial.
Born for the boardroom
Heym explains that some people with mild psychopathy “perform quite well in society because of their ruthlessness and their callousness; because they don’t tend to worry much, and because they engage in risk-taking behaviours that can be functional at times.”
For a high-functioning group called ‘successful psychopaths’, their selfishness, boldness and impulsiveness don’t lead them to jail, but to flourishing careers.
This includes scientists, too, such as James Fallon, professor of neuroscience at the University of California, Irvine (UCI).
For years, Fallon studied the brains of serial killers, mapping the neurological patterns that defined psychopathy. But what he didn’t realise was that he shared many of those same traits himself. It wasn’t until much later in his research that he was actually diagnosed as a psychopath.
Fallon openly admitted to “lying all the time,” but saw himself as a pro-social psychopath – someone who could recognise and manage his darker impulses. “If I can beat myself, I’ve won,” he explained.
When Fallon died in 2023, surrounded by his family, those closest to him remembered not the traits he wrestled with, but the person he chose to be. His obituary praised his sharp sense of humour, his strong bond with his children and grandchildren, and noted that “his constant quest to learn and discover made him a great teacher.”
Successful psychopathy research has often singled out certain sectors – such as big business, finance, politics, or high-powered roles like CEO – as especially suited to psychopathic traits.
A 2019 paper even suggested that psychopathic traits were synonymous with corporate leadership qualities, especially superficial charm, cool decisiveness and inflated self-worth.
In fact, the research found that job advertisements for high-ranking positions in the public sector tended to be written as if seeking out people with psychopathic traits.
It’s little wonder that one study led by forensic psychologists at Bond University estimated that 21 per cent of corporate bosses have clinically significant psychopathic traits.
And it’s not just those in your company’s boardroom who might display psychopathic tendencies – people in the corridors of power aren’t exempt either.
A 2012 study found that US presidents with higher levels of boldness and fearless dominance – both linked to psychopathy – were associated with better presidential performance, leadership, persuasiveness and crisis management.
(If you’re wondering, the researchers ranked President Theodore Roosevelt as demonstrating the most fearless dominance, followed by John F Kennedy and Franklin D Roosevelt. George W Bush landed at the bottom of the list.)
In short, in some situations, you might benefit from an almost-psychopath in charge.
“It could be evolutionarily helpful to have some people in the human population who don’t feel strong emotions,” says Fairchild. “They can stay calm and thrive in situations where everyone else is losing their heads.”
For instance, military personnel, firefighters and police officers all might find themselves in scenarios where it’s helpful to feel more emotionally detached, not held back by too much fear or risk aversion. Spies too: some psychologists have labelled fictional agent James Bond as the prime example of a ‘functional psychopath’ that can benefit society.
That doesn’t mean psychopaths are fearless, though. Contrary to popular belief, they do experience fear – Visser notes they just seem to “enjoy the fear experience more than other people”.
This ability to stay cool under pressure can be an asset in high-stakes environments. Heym adds that some medical professionals, such as surgeons, have to be “quite tough-minded” to be successful.
“In some professions, you can’t have too much empathy, because it would hold you back from being able to perform quickly and precisely,” she says.
Behind the mask
After all that, if you’re still concerned that psychopathy might affect you or someone close to you, could there be any light at the end of the tunnel? Maybe. Heym says the evidence around the treatability of psychopathy is mixed.
“The issue is around emotional processing,” she explains. “If you don’t feel something, how am I going to teach you to feel something? This is the difficult part.
“If your physiological response is not there – if you don’t get upset when you see someone who’s frightened or sad – how do we change this?”
It’s particularly difficult, says Heym, because psychopaths have a reputation for trying to manipulate or deceive their own therapists by switching on the charm and saying all the right things to appear normal, rather than approaching therapy with authentic vulnerability.
As such, Heym explains, many psychiatrists assume it’s not worth trying to help psychopaths.
But Marsh says, “Many people with psychopathy improve over time when they realise how much their antisocial behaviour is making their own life worse. Many of them would no longer be diagnosable with psychopathy as a result.”
There’s also evidence that psychopathic traits can shift over time. A 2018 study by Florida psychologists tracked more than 1,000 individuals (all male) from childhood to adulthood, repeatedly measuring their psychopathic traits.
Between 10 and 15 per cent of them showed persistently high levels of psychopathic traits, between 10 and 20 per cent of them increased in psychopathy, and 14 per cent of them displayed gradually lower levels of psychopathy over time.
So, if someone close to you shows signs of psychopathic traits, it may be something a psychiatrist could help address and diagnose.
And if you think you might have some psychopathic traits… and aren’t worried about changing them?
That alone might be worth reflecting on.
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