Psychopaths are usually shown in series and films as characters who only act out their thirst for cruelty and sadism.

They think coldly, show no empathy and are often not only violent, but also engage in activities considered aberrant. In short, they are at the antipodes of what could be considered a partner with whom to share a love relationship .

However, people with a high degree of psychopathy who inhabit the real world are known precisely for their capacity to seduce , so it is easy to fall in love with them. Why does this happen?

The Manipulative Character of Psychopaths

People who stand out because of their level of psychopathy do not have to feel the need to kill or harm people, but there is something in them that almost always comes true: they manipulate others, even without realizing it . And, besides, they are very good at this task.

There are two reasons for this. On the one hand, psychopaths objectify people , which means that they don’t perceive them so much as beings with their own mental life with which they can empathize, but rather as very complex robots or video game characters. This characteristic is present in different intensities depending on the psychopath: some of them totally objectify the others, while others only do so to a significantly greater degree than the average population.

On the other hand, the reification makes you feel no qualms about lying and manipulating . The only concern when doing so will be that one doesn’t discover that one is doing something that is socially frowned upon, but beyond this there will hardly be any moral limitations that make the behavior of the psychopath who manipulates or lies seem unsafe because of an internal struggle.

In other words, in people with a high degree of psychopathy, lies can flow like water, and saying something that is not true can pose the same moral challenges as snapping one’s fingers.

This makes psychopaths have a very wide range of action when it comes to appearing something they are not, which means that they have more advantages when it comes to seducing and making someone fall in love with them through deception . All this, moreover, without the need to train in lying.

Detecting the weaknesses of others

Besides having the ability to offer a totally unrealistic side of themselves, psychopaths have another ace up their sleeve when it comes to navigating the world of love relationships by cheating: they are very skilled at detecting psychological vulnerabilities in others .

That means that these kinds of people have an amazing ability to know what kind of actions and initiatives can be appreciated by someone, either because of certain shortcomings or because of fears and insecurities.

For example, one study found that people who scored high on a psychopathy scale were able to intuitively detect who had been sexually abused in the past . simply by looking at how they walk . This did not occur in people who did not obtain significantly high levels on that test.

In this way, psychopaths leave with a kind of insider information about the weaknesses of others that they can use to their advantage by offering elements that others need and that they rarely find in other potential partners. As cruel as it sounds, using intimate information to make yourself more desirable can be something that works when it comes to seduction.

Hybristophilia

So far we have seen the seductive potential that psychopaths are able to offer through a mask that hides their propensity to manipulate; that is, in cases where the couple is not fully aware of the psychological peculiarities of their lover.

However, even in cases where the person with a high degree of psychopathy has become accustomed to acting violently, it is possible to be attracted by this fact. When aggressiveness is rationally articulated in pursuit of an end, hybristophilia, which is the sexual attraction to violent people willing to commit crimes, may appear .

Especially if the person with psychopathic traits is male, the fit between this aggressiveness and male gender roles contributes to this tendency to harm others being seen as an expression of manliness and autonomy.

However, hybristophilia is very rare and certainly does not occur in everyone. That does not mean, however, that certain degrees of hostility and aggression cannot be helpful in finding a partner.

The dark thriad and love

There are two reasons for this. On the one hand, psychopaths objectify people , which means that they don’t perceive them so much as beings with their own mental life with which they can empathize, but rather as very complex robots or video game characters.
This characteristic is present in different intensities depending on the psychopath: some of them totally objectify the others, while others only do so to a significantly greater degree than the average population.

On the other hand, the reification makes you feel no qualms about lying and manipulating .
The only concern when doing so will be that one doesn’t discover that one is doing something that is socially frowned upon, but beyond this there will hardly be any moral limitations that make the behavior of the psychopath who manipulates or lies seem unsafe because of an internal struggle.