Psychopath

Psychopathy is a common (1% of the population and 25% of prisoners)[note 1] personality disorder.

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“”The desire of being believed, the desire of persuading, of leading, and directing other people, seems to be one of the strongest of all our natural desires.
—Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments
“”I see no difference between things and people.
—Seishiro Sakurazuka, Tokyo Babylon

Technical definitions

Psychopaths display a lack of conscience and a certain level of superficial charm. Because of these conditions as well as being self-serving and manipulative in nature, they often do very well in both business and politics.

The technical term for psychopathy — as listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) — is antisocial personality disorder or ASPD. The term sociopath is also often applied to psychopaths. The media and the general public often use these three terms in the following contexts:

  • "Antisocial" applies to a person who actively opposes social norms. It is often is misapplied to people (especially teens) who are introverted or have a difficult time fitting in with society. Autistic people and people with schizoid personality disorder[1] were once considered to have ASPD because they may be loners who don't fit in. This is often folly because it either fails, or more disturbingly, neglects to differentiate betwixt antisocial behavior (actively opposing social norms) and asocial behavior (passively indifferent to social norms).
  • "Sociopath" is usually applied to those diagnosed with ASPD based on behavioral traits alone.
  • "Psychopath" is usually applied to those diagnosed with ASPD based on behavioral, affective, and personality traits.

However, it should be noted that to most professional psychologists and psychiatrists, the three terms are synonymous, though some have argued that psychopathy should be a separate disorder.[2] Psychopathy is generally regarded to be a neurobiological disorder whereas Antisocial personality disorder (sociopathy) is considered to be the result of abuse or trauma, like narcissistic personality disorder which is correlated with psychopathy in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders (DSM).

Capitalism and everyday psychopaths

Psychopathy isn't limited to only criminals and can in fact be beneficial to an individual in a capitalistic society. Several researchers, such as Swiss psychiatrist Guggenbühl-Craig in his book The Emptied Soul,[3] argue capitalism is an economy which encourages psychopathy and arrogant behavior to achieve great rewards. Slyness and deception, these characteristics would be detrimental in any other economy except in capitalism. In other words, it is a great advantage to not have a conscience because it allows psychopaths to not get distracted from the great satisfaction of self-indulgence, even if it means performing acts which disadvantage others.

In Paul Zak's TED talk, Zak explores the effects of oxytocin on human morality:[4]

So who are these people who manipulate our oxytocin systems? We found, testing thousands of individuals, that five percent of the population don't release oxytocin on stimulus. So if you trust them, their brains don't release oxytocin. If there's money on the table, they keep it all. So there's a technical word for these people in my lab. We call them bastards. (Laughter) These are not people you want to have a beer with. They have many of the attributes of psychopaths.

While five percent may seem like a small amount, keep in mind the statistic says 1 out of 20 people share qualities which can be considered psychopathic.

Hare psychopathy checklist

Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare has developed a check list of personality traits that are common to most psychopaths. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is as follows:

  • Factor 1 — Personality "Aggressive narcissism"
    • Glibness/superficial charm
    • Grandiose sense of self-worth
    • Pathological lying
    • Cunning/manipulative
    • Lack of remorse or guilt
    • Emotionally shallow
    • Callous/lack of empathy
    • Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
  • Factor 2 — Case History "Socially Deviant Lifestyle"
    • Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
    • Parasitic lifestyle
    • Poor behavioral control
    • Promiscuous sexual behavior
    • Lack of realistic, long-term goals
    • Impulsiveness
    • Irresponsibility
    • Juvenile delinquency
    • Early behavioral problems
    • Revocation of conditional release
  • Traits not correlated with either factor
    • Many short-term marital relationships
    • Criminal versatility[5]

Surveyors assign number values to the above traits.

  • Does not apply = 0
  • Somewhat applies = 1
  • Fully applies = 2

If a person scores more than 20 points, then yes. It's quite likely they at least have some psychopathic tendencies.

Other individuals professionally diagnosed as psychopaths (or sociopaths)
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  • Episode #304 (9 May 2011) of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe contains an interview with Jon Ronson, author of The Men Who Stare at Goats and The Psychopath Test

Notes
  1. In her 2005 book The Sociopath Next Door: The Ruthless Versus the Rest of Us, psychologist Martha Stout claims that the number of psychopaths at large in society is closer to 4%.
  2. Literally the pioneer of the Holocaust as a tangible idea. Nothing more to be said.

References
  1. Being "schizoid" has no relation to schizophrenia. Basically, it's the desire to live the life of a hermit.
  2. How to Tell a Sociopath from a Psychopath, Psychology Today
  3. https://www.sott.net/article/137923-Capitalism-A-System-Run-By-and-For-Psychopaths
  4. https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_zak_trust_morality_and_oxytocin/transcript
  5. See the Wikipedia article on Hare Psychopathy Checklist.
  6. Jack Henry Abbot. Psychology of Sociopaths
  7. Ian Brady 'could kill again': inside the twisted mind of the Moors Murderer 'The Telegraph
  8. "Norway's mass killer Breivik declared sane", 10 April 2012.
  9. A good breakdown by Maya Mystery.
  10. 'Killer clown' who raped, tortured and murdered 33 teens was 'shell of a person'. Mirror
  11. 'There's no cure for psychopathy': Experts on Bernardo-like sexual deviancy. CTV News
  12. The Psychology of Dictatorship: Kim Jong-Il. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
  13. The Depressive and the Psychopath Slate
  14. Klaus Kinski repeatedly raped me during my childhood, claims daughter. The Guardian
  15. The Mask of Sanity
  16. The case of Robert Mugabe: Does revolution breed psychopaths? Bill Longstaff
  17. Trump Is a 'Successful Sociopath' and a Predator Who 'Lacks a Conscience and Lacks Empathy,' Says Former Harvard Psychiatrist. Newsweek
  18. 'Trump is a sociopath': Harvard psychiatrist breaks down the president's 'severe, continuous, mental disturbance'. AlterNet
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