What do psychopaths have in common? Watch out for these traits

The diagnosis of psychopathy is given to someone who suffers from a disturb psychic that directly affects their form of social interaction, so often the individual behaves abnormally and presents antisocial characteristics. There are currently studies aimed at analyzing and understanding the traits of psychopathy.

Read more: Is it possible to identify a female psychopath?

traits of psychopaths

Psychopaths do not share any physical characteristics that allow us to identify them immediately. This disorder cannot be diagnosed by means of a morphological examination, for example, very least when faced with an indication such as an aesthetic change, such as that seen in the case of Down syndrome Down.

Many scholars have pored over years of research to try to understand psychopaths and what their respective characteristics are. A study published in 2006 sought to identify the main traits of psychopathy. They were categorized according to Hare's (1991) Revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R).

The authors considered six psychopaths – including fictional characters – to make the survey. Some of the names are world famous because of their deeds. We are talking about:

• Ted Bundy: was a serial killer who used his superficial charm to kidnap, rape and murder around one hundred women in the United States during the 1970s. In addition, Bundy also admitted to having adhered to necrophilia with the bodies and decapitated heads of some of his victims.
• Chuck Yeager: Regarded as an aviation ace in the United States, Yeager became known as the first person who “broke” the sound barrier. He served as a fighter pilot during World War II and was the inspiration for the character Maverick, the lieutenant in the film Top Gun (1986).
• James Bond: Also known as 007, Bond is a fictional secret agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming. The character is portrayed in films as an assertive, charming and fearless spy.
• Clyde Barrow: Barrow was a young American who became involved in crime. Alongside his girlfriend, Bonnie, he carried out several robberies shortly before the start of World War II. Both even went so far as to kill policemen and civilians in their criminal acts.
• Bernie Madoff: was the founder and president of an investment company that was started in 1960 and that took his name. This society ended up becoming one of the most relevant on Wall Street. Furthermore, Bernie was one of the greatest figures of Jewish philanthropy.
• Sherlock Holmes: the fictional character of British literature was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock is a heroic and meticulous investigator of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Study methodology

The researchers recruited 76 participants and asked them to read the case histories of some of the six characters, then classified according to three personality scales that were previously established by psychiatrists who dedicated themselves to studying the nature of psychopaths.

Identified results

The traits that stood out in all six psychopaths listed, according to the analysis of responses of participants were as follows: boldness, assertiveness, thrill-seeking, dominance, and low anxiety. However traits such as hostility, insensitivity, manipulation, dishonesty and arrogance were attributed only to Bundy, Barrow and Madoff.

Heroes classified as psychopaths

As you may have noticed, there were some heroes – like Sherlock, for example – on the list of psychopaths that the participants were asked to analyze, but the Study results indicated that these characters may have been misidentified as psychopaths because of their fearless and fearless personalities. assertive.

However, these characteristics are not exclusive to psychopathic individuals! The traits indicative of fearless heroism are different from those suggestive of clinical and successful psychopathy, which are some of the classifications used to frame psychopaths.

successful psychopath

That successful or successful psychopath, according to the author Cleckley, is the individual who has core psychopathic traits but does not show criminal or antisocial behavior serious. In this sense, the results of the study showed that only the Madoff scores corresponded to this classification.

Authors' Conclusion

The researchers in question reported that there are different types of psychopaths and that the development of effective clinical interventions to deal with each of them will require that psychologists question the idea that psychopathy is a problem with a homogeneous origin and also that they identify different variables that can, in fact, lead to psychopathy. psychopathy.