Revealed: The Key Sign That You Might Be a PSYCHOPATH
Even for expert psychologists, detecting a psychopath is not always easy.
But now scientists have found one key sign that could reveal whether someone has psychopathic tendencies.
The bad news for undergraduates was that researchers from the University of Turin found that being single was associated with higher levels of psychopathic traits.
In experiments, single people scored higher on psychopathic and “Machiavellian” traits, meaning they are sneaky or cunning.
On the other hand, people who were married or cohabiting scored lower on these negative traits.
Lead researcher Dr Sara Veggi said: ‘This suggests that certain personality traits and love attitudes may predispose individuals to relationship stability or singleness.’
However, the researchers also found that people who scored high in narcissism, another trait of the ‘Dark Triad’, were more likely to form relationships.
Dark Triad is a name given to three personality traits: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, all embodied by Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.
Scientists say they have now found one trait that can tell you if someone is a psychopath, like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (pictured)
For the study, Dr. Veggi and her colleagues surveyed 1,101 adults with an average age of 41 between July and October 2023.
Each participant was asked about their current relationship status and underwent a series of psychological tests.
In the first analysis, participants were tested on each of the three ‘Dark Triad’ traits: psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism.
People with higher levels of psychopathy exhibit impulsiveness, emotional detachment, and a general disregard for the well-being of others.
Those with high levels of narcissism tend to display a sense of superiority, a need for admiration and grandeur.
Machiavellianism, meanwhile, is characterized by manipulation, cynicism and achieving personal goals at the expense of others.
When the researchers analyzed the data, they found that people in relationships scored lower on psychopathic and Machiavellian traits.
Doctor Veggi said PsyPost: ‘The findings show that personality traits and attitudes towards love differ significantly between individuals in relationships and those who are single.’
Researchers from the University of Turin found that single people scored higher on the ‘Dark Triad’ personality traits of psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism (stock image)
In their article, published in the journal Heliyon, they argue that this could be because these traits make it more difficult to form and maintain relationships.
Previous studies have shown that individuals with Dark Triad traits tend to seek out “opportunistic” or sex-oriented relationships rather than stable coexistence.
The only exception was narcissism, the third trait of the Dark Triad, which was actually a strong predictor of being in a relationship.
Dr. Veggi and her co-authors write: ‘People with narcissistic traits can find success in the early stages of a relationship, which comes easily thanks to their charm and overt trust.
‘However, characteristics such as grandiosity, superiority, dominance and reduced empathy and commitment contribute to the difficulties in forming long-term relationships.’
Furthermore, as previous research has suggested, men scored higher on the Dark Triad traits than women.
In addition to looking at the Dark Triad personality traits, each of the participants was also tested on their “love attitudes.”
Psychologists have identified six different attitudes towards love: Ludus, Storge, Eros, Pragma, Agape and Mania.
Participants who were married or living with their partners were found to score lower on the Dark Triad traits. However, people who scored high in narcissism were more likely to enter into relationships due to their greater charm and self-confidence (stock image)
Ludus views love as a game and emphasizes a playful attitude, while Storge reflects a friendship-based love based on mutual respect.
Eros is characterized by intense and passionate physical attraction and contrasts with Pragma in which partners are chosen based on practical considerations such as social status.
Finally, while Mania is characterized by a possessive and obsessive desire with an intense need for affirmation, Agape represents a selfless love that puts the partner’s needs above one’s own.
Participants in long-term relationships showed higher levels of Eros and Agape.
In contrast, individual participants scored higher for Ludus, Mania, Pragma and Storge.
This suggests that intense attraction and selfless altruism may be key ingredients for a long-lasting relationship.
And in a finding that will confirm many people’s suspicions, men scored much higher on average for Ludus than women.
This suggests that men are more likely to prefer less committed relationships than women.
The researchers found that single people had a love attitude that favored a playful or friendship-based form of love. Previous studies have shown that love for friends activates different brain areas for romantic love for a partner (pictured)
The research also found that men were more likely to prefer a love style that emphasized a playful attitude to relationships. As previous studies have suggested, this could mean that women are more interested in committed relationships than men
However, men also scored higher on Agape, which could indicate a greater willingness to sacrifice for their partners.
Dr. Veggi says: ‘We were particularly struck by the predictive power of narcissism, Eros and Agape in determining relationship status, as well as the gender-specific differences in these traits.
‘The finding that men reported higher scores on playful and agapic love styles than women adds nuance to gendered perceptions of love and relational commitment.’
In the future, Dr. Veggi says this research could be applied to address negative personality traits in a clinical context.
The researchers plan to investigate how relationship habits are linked to personality traits in specific populations, such as the perpetrators of violent or sexual crimes.
Dr. Veggi says: ‘By understanding these dynamics, we can better support individuals in building healthy relationships and reducing harmful patterns.’
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)
Generally, psychopaths’ “emotions” are superficial and short-lived, and there is a manipulative ulterior motive to displaying them.
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.