Revealed: The common driving habit that indicates someone might be a psychopath

When you’re commuting during rush hour, it can sometimes feel like the roads are completely full of psychopaths.

But scientists have now identified one common driving behavior that could indicate someone is actually a psychopath.

Researchers from the University of Regensburg have found a significant correlation between psychopathic traits and the use of your mobile phone while driving.

Drivers who tested high for dark personality traits – Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy – were much more likely to use their phones and felt less guilty about it.

The study also found that drivers with high levels of psychopathy were a third more likely than average to have committed a driving offense in the past 12 months.

In the study, researchers collected data from 989 German drivers who underwent surveys to test for each of the three dark triad personality traits, ranked on a scale of one to five.

Their survey found that 61 percent of participants admitted to using their smartphones at least occasionally while driving.

However, the researchers found that higher scores for each of the three dark triad traits were associated with increased phone use while driving.

The researchers in their paper published in PLOS One, write: ‘People with Dark Triad personalities use their phones more often while driving.’

Drivers with higher scores on narcissism and psychopathy also felt less guilty about their problematic driving behavior.

Those who scored high in Machiavellianism, a personality trait often linked to manipulative behavior, were more likely to try to hide their phone use.

Researchers found that psychopathic traits, as well as narcissism and Machiavellianism, were linked to an increased likelihood of using your cell phone while driving (file photo)

The researchers also found that psychopathic traits were a good predictor of whether someone would have committed a traffic violation.

For someone with the minimum psychopathy score of one, the researchers predict that there is a 9.89 percent chance that he or she has committed a traffic violation in the past twelve months.

For someone with an average level of psychopathy, the chance of a traffic violation is 24 percent.

This increases to a 56 percent chance of a psychopathy score of 4.33, the highest score measured by the researchers.

Participants were also tested for problematic smartphone use (PSU), which is an overuse of phones such that other areas of life are negatively affected.

The researchers note that this phenomenon is surprisingly common, with 50 percent of respondents in one survey saying they couldn’t live without a smartphone.

The researchers found that, regardless of other personality traits, PSU was the strongest predictor of phone use while driving.

Those who responded positively to questions such as “When I’m bored while driving, I spend time on my smartphone” were also much more likely to have PSU.

According to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,142 people were killed in car crashes in the US in 2019.

That year, 422 people were killed in accidents in which at least one of the drivers was distracted by a phone.

The researchers therefore suggest that focusing on people’s relationships with their phones could make roads safer.

By reducing PSU rates in everyday life, the researchers claim that people will spend less time on their phones and become less distracted while on the go.

The researchers added: ‘Overall, PSU is an excellent predictor regardless of Dark Triad personality traits.

“Since this factor can be changed more easily than personality, PSU should focus on public safety interventions.”

Would you know how to recognize a psychopath?

Psychopaths exhibit different traits depending on their disorder.

Common symptoms include superficial charm, a grandiose idea of ​​self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others, and a lack of remorse and empathy.

But despite the popular association, not all psychopaths become murderers.

Experts claim people usually find psychopaths intriguingbut can’t put my finger on why.

This is due to incongruous behavior, because psychopaths tend to act a lot to deceive mimic normal responseswhere their views and reactions sometimes change quickly.

For example, self-confessed psychopath Jacob Wells said that when he meets someone he tries to become “the most interesting person they know” and supposedly appropriate interests and responses to do so.

His reaction also betrays another common trait: a grandiose sense of self-worth, in that he can be the most interesting person in the room.

Psychopaths tend to act out occasionally unconvincing emotional responseswith mistakes, including the tone of your voice or body language.

This may be because they cannot understand emotions such as fear and love, but can mimic them.

Psychopaths exhibit different traits depending on their disorder, but common traits include superficial charm and the ability to manipulate others. Despite the popular association, not all psychopaths become murderers (stock image)

In general, psychopaths’ “emotions” are superficial and short-lived, and there is a manipulative ulterior motive in their display.

For example, Mr. Wells said that he offers to do favors and tell false secrets to make people gain their full trust.

He also shows insincere charm – another trait associated with psychopaths.

He says, “I keep secrets and tell them fake secrets to further gain their trust, and once they trust me enough, I ask for favors, reminding them of the favors I have done them. I can literally get anything from them, and that’s incredibly helpful.”

Psychopaths typically exhibit a incredible ability to manipulate others and sometimes do it with pleasure.

Psychopaths often have an air of it superiority about them, perhaps reflected in Mr. Wells’ belief that he can spot other psychopaths

Even expert Dr. Hare, who created the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), which is used as a diagnostic tool to determine where someone falls on the psychopathy spectrum, warns that anyone can become a psychopath during a brief interaction with cheated.