Psychopaths are not that smart — perhaps even less intelligent than average. Psychopaths are less intelligent than average, research finds. Contrary to the common view of the psychopath as a criminal mastermind, they score below par on intelligence tests.
They also included a range of measures of intelligence. Overall, the team found no evidence that psychopaths were more intelligent than people who don't have psychopathic traits. In fact, the relationship went the other way. The psychopaths, on average, scored significantly lower on intelligence tests.
The IQ- Psychopathy relationship varied by measure of IQ, with the WAIS verbal score exhibiting the strongest relationship (d = -1.03) in line with previous research suggesting that low verbal intelligence is particularly related to psychopathic traits (DeLisi, Vaughn, Beaver, & Wright, 2010).
About 1.2% of U.S. adult men and 0.3% to 0.7% of U.S. adult women are considered to have clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits. Those numbers rise exponentially in prison, where 15% to 25% of inmates show these characteristics (Burton, B., & Saleh, F. M., Psychiatric Times, Vol. 37, No. 10, 2020).
Research suggests that 1 percent of the population meets the criteria for psychopathy. That may not sound like a lot, but it means that 1 in every 100 people you know is a psychopath.
Yes, research shows there are “good” psychopaths. Many people in positively heroic professions have strong psychopathic traits.
Roughly 4% to as high as 12% of CEOs exhibit psychopathic traits, according to some expert estimates, many times more than the 1% rate found in the general population and more in line with the 15% rate found in prisons.
The bar for clinical psychopathy is a score of 30 or higher; serial killer Ted Bundy scored 39. The checklist was developed in the 1970s by the Canadian researcher Robert Hare. A true assessment should be conducted by a mental health professional.
Although severe psychopathy affects just about 1% of people, some research suggests that close to 30% of us have some level of psychopathic traits. And we may even know people who fall under this broad umbrella.
CEO bosses have long been depicted as psychopaths in popular culture, but the stereotype might not be that far from the truth. Psychopaths are more likely to study business and economics degrees, according to a new study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
“Psychopathic men have a personality style that makes them appear attractive to women in dating encounters. This may be because they are extra confident or feel at ease or know exactly what to say to get the attention of women,” lead author Kristopher J. Brazil told PsyPost.
Psychopaths are at least periodically aware of the effects of their behavior on others and can be genuinely saddened by their inability to control it. The lives of most psychopaths are devoid of a stable social network or warm, close bonds.
For example, studies have found that higher IQ is associated with more and earlier drug use. Studies have also found that higher IQ is associated with more mental illness, including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
Psychopaths think they're superior
Psychopaths consider themselves better than the people around them, which might help account for why they aren't concerned by the negative impacts of their actions.
No, it is not easy to spot a psychopath. Most do not look disturbed and will give very little indication of their condition upon meeting them. Psychopaths 'look' no different than anyone else. They have no distinguishing physical characteristics.
It has been estimated that approximately 1 percent of males and 0.3-0.7 percent of females could be classified as psychopaths. An individual may show elevated levels of multiple traits associated with psychopathy without qualifying as a psychopath according to a measure such as the Hare checklist.
There are some areas where psychopaths may experience normal emotions and grief is one such area. In response to death of a person with whom there is a bond, some psychopaths can experience sadness and this may even bring about feelings of guilt which are otherwise impossible to feel. Crying may be a part of this.
Researchers have found that psychopaths talk more and use more emotional words in an attempt to gain attention and admiration.
Clinical observations at ASH have suggested 4 possible subtypes of psychopathy: narcissistic, borderline, sadistic, and antisocial.
The key question is: do these differences in the brain make someone into a psychopath, or does their behaviour change the brain? Children that show a lack of empathy, lack of guilt and have shallow emotions, defined as callous-unemotional traits, are at increased risk of developing psychopathy in adulthood.
They also compared murderers based on whether they met particular psychopathy cut-off scores, and found that using a cut-off of 25, 34.4 percent would be diagnosed as psychopaths, while using a more conservative cut-off of 30, 27.8 percent would meet this diagnosis.
They defined successful psychopaths as “community-based psychopaths who escape conviction for the crimes they perpetrate” (Ishikawa et al., 2001, p. 423). Psychopathy status was determined with the Revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R; Hare, 2003) and collateral measures.
Using a score of 4 as a cutoff for moderate-to-high narcissism, this suggests that upwards of 18 percent of CEOs might be considered narcissists (see Exhibit 3).