Why do psychopaths want to hurt you?

Unlike sadists, psychopaths don't harm the harmless simply because they get pleasure from it (though they may). Psychopaths want things. If harming others helps them get what they want, so be it. They can act this way because they are less likely to feel pity or remorse or fear.

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What does the psychopath want?

As with anyone else, psychopaths have a deep wish to be loved and cared for. This desire remains frequently unfulfilled, however, because it is obviously not easy for another person to get close to someone with such repellent personality characteristics.

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Do psychopaths enjoy other peoples pain?

Scientists have linked taking pleasure in the suffering of others - a feeling known as schadenfreude - to several 'dark' psychological traits. These include sadism, narcissism and psychopathy - an inability to empathise with your peers.

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Can you hurt a psychopaths feelings?

Of course, they can also get angry, especially in response to provocation, or get frustrated when their goals are thwarted. So Villanelle is right, to some extent. You can hurt a psychopath's feelings, but probably different feelings and for different reasons.

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How psychopaths select their victims?

Uninhibited by conscience, they initially assess the utility of those around them freely and equally. They then tend to narrow their choices to those they find unusually trusting or vulnerable. Sometimes, simply having normal personality traits qualifies an individual as vulnerable.

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The Psychopath and Their Need to Hurt/Harm/Ruin/Destroy Others-Why The Compulsion

19 related questions found

What type of person attracts a psychopath?

Those with histrionic, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive, schizotypal, passive-aggressive, self-defeating, antisocial, paranoid, borderline, avoidant, dependent, and sadistic personality traits also were attracted to psychopaths.

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Are psychopaths obsessed with their victims?

Psychopaths' stalking behaviors tend to be predatory or instrumental in nature. The victim is viewed more as a possession or target for control, retribution, or revenge, rather than as the object of a pathologically based fantasy, obsession, or infatuation.

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Do psychopaths ever feel regret?

Psychopaths do experience regret, particularly when their bad decisions affect them directly — yet they don't use that experience to inform their future choices, according to a new study published the week of Nov. 28 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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How do you fight a psychopath and win?

If you must deal with a psychopath, try these five strategies:
  1. Keep Your Emotions in Check. No matter how frustrated or upset you feel, keep your emotions in check. ...
  2. Don't Show That You're Intimidated. ...
  3. Don't Buy Into Their Stories. ...
  4. Turn the Conversation Back on Them. ...
  5. Opt for Online Communication Whenever You Can.

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What emotions do psychopaths don't feel?

For decades, researchers studying psychopathy have characterized the disorder as a profound inability to process emotions such as empathy, remorse, or regret.

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Do psychopaths think they love people?

The lower on the scale a psychopath is, the more likely they are to develop some sort of love for people such as family members. Psychopaths are much less likely to develop deep bonds with others, however. Interestingly, psychopaths may still want to be loved even if they are almost incapable of truly loving another.

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How does a psychopath think?

A psychopath has an inflated view of themselves. They see themselves as important and entitled. Psychopaths often feel justified to live according to their own rules, and they think that the laws don't apply to them.

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Can a psychopath be a good person?

Yes, research shows there are “good” psychopaths. Many people in positively heroic professions have strong psychopathic traits.

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What do psychopaths hate the most?

Firstly, most psychopaths dislike children and babies – because, as one comment put it, “children just suck ass”. Along with children, the most listed other dislikes included religion, politics, political correctness and social justice.

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Are psychopaths evil?

While Hollywood often portrays psychopaths as serial killers, not all psychopaths are that evil. Many of them exhibit psychopathic traits to a much lesser degree. In fact, you've likely encountered a few psychopaths in real life.

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Does a psychopath ever leave you alone?

If you think you might be dating a psychopath, here's some bad news: They may not leave you alone when you break up. According to a new study in Personality and Individual Differences, psychopaths and narcissists are out to benefit from their relationships long after they're over.

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How to manipulate a psychopath?

Those high in psychopathy ...
  1. Don't see their traits as problematic. ...
  2. Don't care about the negative consequences of their actions. ...
  3. Try to dominate others. ...
  4. Elevate their own devious motivations. ...
  5. Try to portray themselves as unusually honest.

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Can psychopaths control what they do?

Even though psychopaths can know that the law and society view certain acts as wrong and criminal and may have the capacity to control their behavior, they are incapable of internalizing and integrating this knowledge of right and wrong and their ability to manage their behavior; therefore, they should not be held ...

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What makes a psychopath angry?

Thus, rather than being chronically likely to construe any high arousal state as anger, psychopaths appear more likely to experience anger primarily in response to frustrated attempts to achieve a reward.

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Do psychopaths want revenge?

Psychopathy has also been shown to be positively associated with dispositional emotional vengeance (Book & Quinsey, 2004). Dispositional emotional vengeance, the tendency towards revenge, is the desire to “get back” at someone in response to a perceived maltreatment.

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Should you apologize to a psychopath?

The psychopath is aware their behavior hurt the other person—they simply don't care. In fact, you will almost never receive an apology from a psychopath, and if you do, it is only because they want something from you, or to save face in front of others.

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What are the red flags of a psychopath?

Key traits

Some of the red flags that someone is a psychopath include a lack of empathy, a charming personality to fool others, disorganisation, a tendency to blame others, a lack of fear, and being cold-hearted. “Making a clinical diagnosis of psychopathy is rather hard, actually,” Erikson said.

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Do psychopaths get attached to people?

Individuals who fit the criteria of psychopathy—whether or not they also engage in criminal behavior—exhibit behaviors associated with an avoidant attachment style, being unable to form close intimate relationships.

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Do psychopaths care about other people's feelings?

Psychopaths, by definition, have problems understanding the emotions of other people, which partly explains why they are so selfish, why they so callously disregard the welfare of others, and why they commit violent crimes at up to three times the rate of other people.

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