The term “psychopathy” is unclear to most people because multiple meanings are attributed to it. In fact, even within psychology this word is used to designate very different realities, the most questioned criterion being the relationship between psychopathy and criminality.

Authors such as Hervey Cleckley and Robert Hare have tried to delimit the psychological profile of psychopaths , describing personality traits and behaviour patterns characteristic of those to whom such a qualification is applied. Let’s see what conceptualizations exist around psychopathy and what the classic profile of this disorder is.

What is psychopathy?

Psychopathy is a personality disorder not recognized by the major diagnostic classifications. It is characterised by a lack of empathy and feelings of guilt , as well as by self-centredness, impulsivity and a tendency to lie and manipulate. In contrast, sociopathy is more associated with antisocial personality disorder.

In popular language this term is often associated with criminal behaviour, especially serial killings; however, the truth is that psychopaths do not always commit crimes and may be perfectly adapted to society. In fact, authors like Kevin Dutton (2013) have claimed the virtues of the psychopathic personality in the current context.

The current conception of psychopathy is largely based on the works of Hervey Cleckley and Robert Hare . In his book The Mask of Sanity (1941) Cleckley made the most influential description of psychopathy to date, while Hare based himself on this work to create the well-known PCL scale (1991), which evaluates psychopathic traits.

According to Patrick et al.’s (2009) triarchic model, psychopathy is composed of three main features: daring, disinhibition and meanness. It is known that psychopaths feel less fear than other people , that they have more difficulty controlling their impulses and that their lack of empathy leads them to use others to their advantage.

Garrido (2000) divides psychopathy into two dimensions: the emotional and interpersonal area and the lifestyle. In the first one, it encompasses signs such as self-centeredness, tendency to manipulation and lack of guilt, while behavioral factors include the need for stimulation, impulsiveness and criminal behavior.

Psychological profile of psychopaths

In this section we will synthesize the personality traits of psychopaths according to the classifications made by Cleckley and Hare.

The presence of these characteristics, therefore, indicates the similarity of a given person with the concept of psychopathy handled by the experts.

1. Lack of empathy

Psychopathy has been associated with a deficit of empathy, that is, the ability to understand the mental state of other people or to put oneself in their place. However, studies suggest that psychopaths have the capacity to empathize, but “activate” it at will; this would explain both the coldness and the social skills that characterize them.

Simon Baron-Cohen, who popularized the concept of the “theory of mind”, stated that psychopaths have cognitive but not emotional empathy, and that therefore they are not bothered by the suffering of others . These deficits have been associated with less activation in the fusiform cortex and in the extra-striated cortex, which are related to face recognition.

2. Egocentrism and narcissism

Self-centeredness, or the inability to take on other people’s points of view, is closely related to a lack of empathy. Very often psychopaths are also narcissistic; this means that they tend to think they are superior to others and more important than they are.

3. Surface Charm

The typical profile of the psychopath is that of a charming and sociable person , with good social skills. An extreme example can be found in the case of the murderer Ted Bundy, who seduced his victims to gain their trust and received multiple love letters and proposals after being sentenced to death.

4. Emotional poverty

The brain alterations characteristic of psychopathy mean that the range of emotions felt by these people is limited. In particular, in addition to emotional coldness, psychopaths are characterized by feeling fewer negative emotions, especially fear , while it is believed that they feel positive emotions in a normal way.

5. Antisocial and criminal behavior

Psychopathy test scores correlate with substance abuse, incarceration, gender-based violence, rape and paedophilia. Economic and war crimes, as well as participation in organized crime, are also more frequent in psychopaths than in the general population.

Like antisocial disorder, a predisposition to psychopathy may manifest itself in childhood in behaviors such as stealing, frequent lying, vandalism, and violence toward people and animals; these signs are classified as “dissociative personality disorder.

6. Difficulty in learning from experience

According to research, psychopaths’ problems in learning from experience are due to alterations in the connection between the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. These structures are related to executive functions and emotional learning, respectively.

It seems that psychopaths have more difficulty than the general population in associating the punishments they receive with the behaviours that have caused them. Another biological explanation is the presence of reduced levels of cortisol and serotonin, related to aversive conditioning and behavioural inhibition .

7. Impulsivity and lack of planning

Psychopaths’ impulsivity may be caused by decreased activation in the frontal cortex, combined with increased testosterone levels and decreased serotonin levels. This may reduce self-control , facilitating impulsive behaviour such as drug abuse or physical aggression.

This is also related to a lack of long-term planning. There is often an absence of life goals; behavior is guided more by momentary impulses.

8. Insincerity and manipulation

The insincerity and tendency to manipulation typical of psychopaths can be manifested with more or less subtlety, but these are two very frequent characteristics in people with moderate levels of psychopathy who may not manifest many of the other traits we have seen.

9. Predisposition to boredom

The biological alterations of psychopaths lead them to a need for continuous stimulation . This makes it easy for them to become bored, a trait shared by very outgoing people (who have a low level of brain activation at rest) and by others with disorders that affect the brain, such as ADHD.

10. Parasitic lifestyle

The manipulation and self-centeredness of psychopaths make them tend to take advantage of others to satisfy their basic needs. Thus, they often live off other people’s money, like their parents or their partners.

11. Absence of remorse

Even when they carry out behaviours that harm other people, such as some of those mentioned in the previous sections, psychopaths do not usually feel guilt for their actions ; their lack of emotional empathy allows them to commit crimes or manipulate others without remorse.

12. Sexual promiscuity

Psychopaths often have many different relationships that last only a short time . Furthermore, given their interpersonal and commitment difficulties, they get involved in them in a superficial way and are mainly concerned about sex and the practical benefits they can obtain from their partners.

Bibliographic references:

  • Cleckley, H. (1941). The mask of sanity: An attempt to clarify some issues about the so-called psychopathic personality (6th Ed.). Saint Louis: C. V. Mosby Co.
  • Dutton, K. (2013). The wisdom of psychopaths. Barcelona: Ariel.
  • Garrido, V. (2000). The psychopath. A chameleon in today’s society. Alzira: Algar.
  • Hare, R. D. (1991). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (Hare PCL-R). Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.
  • Hare, R. D. (2011). Without conscience: The disturbing world of the psychopaths among us. New York: Guilford Press.
  • Patrick, C., Fowles, D. & Krueger, R. (2009). Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: Developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness. Development and Psychopathology, 21(3): 913-938.
  • Vernon, P. A., Villani, V. C., Vickers, L. C. & Harris, J.A. (2008). A behavioral genetic investigation of the Dark Triad and the Big 5. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(2): 445-452.