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LiveScience
Psychopaths are known to be wily and manipulative, but even so, they unconsciously betray themselves, according to scientists who have looked for patterns in convicted murderers' speech as they described their crimes.
The researchers interviewed 52 convicted murderers, 14 of them ranked as psychopaths according to the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, a 20-item assessment, and asked them to describe their crimes in detail. Using computer programs to analyze what the men said, the researchers found that those with psychopathic scores showed a lack of emotion, spoke in terms of cause-and-effect when describing their crimes, and focused their attention on basic needs, such as food, drink and money.
While we all have conscious control over some words we use, particularly nouns and verbs, this is not the case for the majority of the words we use, including little, functional words like "to" and "the" or the tense we use for our verbs, according to Jeffrey Hancock, the lead researcher and an associate professor in communications at Cornell University, who discussed the work on Monday (Oct. 17) in Midtown Manhattan at Cornell's ILR Conference Center.
"The beautiful thing about them is they are unconsciously produced," Hancock said.
These unconscious actions can reveal the psychological dynamics in a speaker's mind even though he or she is unaware of it, Hancock said.
What it means to be a psychopath
Psychopaths make up about 1 percent of the general population and as much as 25 percent of male offenders in federal correctional settings, according to the researchers. Psychopaths are typically profoundly selfish and lack emotion. "In lay terms, psychopaths seem to have little or no 'conscience,'" write the researchers in a study published online in the journal Legal and Criminological Psychology.
Psychopaths are also known for being cunning and manipulative, and they make for perilous interview subjects, according to Michael Woodworth, one of the authors and a psychologist who studies psychopathy at the University of British Columbia, who joined the discussion by phone.
"It is unbelievable," Woodworth said. "You can spend two or three hours and come out feeling like you are hypnotized."
While there are reasons to suspect that psychopaths' speech patterns might have distinctive characteristics, there has been little study of it, the team writes.
How words give them away
To examine the emotional content of the murderers' speech, Hancock and his colleagues looked at a number of factors, including how frequently they described their crimes using the past tense. The use of the past tense can be an indicator of psychological detachment, and the researchers found that the psychopaths used it more than the present tense when compared with the nonpsychopaths. They also found more dysfluencies — the "uhs" and "ums" that interrupt speech — among psychopaths. Nearly universal in speech, dysfluencies indicate that the speaker needs some time to think about what they are saying.
With regard to psychopaths, "We think the 'uhs' and 'ums' are about putting the mask of sanity on," Hancock told LiveScience.
Psychopaths appear to view the world and others instrumentally, as theirs for the taking, the team, which also included Stephen Porter from the University of British Columbia, wrote.
As they expected, the psychopaths' language contained more words known as subordinating conjunctions. These words, including "because" and "so that," are associated with cause-and-effect statements.
"This pattern suggested that psychopaths were more likely to view the crime as the logical outcome of a plan (something that 'had' to be done to achieve a goal)," the authors write.
And finally, while most of us respond to higher-level needs, such as family, religion or spirituality, and self-esteem, psychopaths remain occupied with those needs associated with a more basic existence.
Their analysis revealed that psychopaths used about twice as many words related to basic physiological needs and self-preservation, including eating, drinking and monetary resources than the nonpsychopaths, they write.
By comparison, the nonpsychopathic murderers talked more about spirituality and religion and family, reflecting what nonpsychopathic people would think about when they just committed a murder, Hancock said.
The researchers are interested in analyzing what people write on Facebook or in other social media, since our unconscious mind also holds sway over what we write. By analyzing stories written by students from Cornell and the University of British Columbia, and looking at how the text people generate using social media relates to scores on the Self-Report Psychopathy scale. Unlike the checklist, which is based on an extensive review of the case file and an interview, the self report is completed by the person in question.
This sort of tool could be very useful for law enforcement investigations, such as in the case of the Long Island serial killer, who is being sought for the murders of at least four prostitutes and possibly others, since this killer used the online classified site Craigslist to contact victims, according to Hancock.
Text analysis software could be used to conduct a "first pass," focusing the work for human investigators, he said. "A lot of time analysts tell you they feel they are drinking from a fire hose."
Knowing a suspect is a psychopath can affect how law enforcement conducts investigations and interrogations, Hancock said.
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So, they examined 14 people, when there are approximately 3 million possible test subjects (300 million / 100 ). Don't break a sweat, guys....
Ben, you're pycho.
How to spot psychopaths?
Just listen to any of the tea party candidates !!
.
Psychopaths are easy to spot; Teapublicans anyone?
Do they think “empathy' is a code word?
If not psychopathic, they are sociopaths.
Plenty of suspicious speech patterns right here on Newsvine, friends. Fertile ground for sociopaths, I fear. :)
Sociopath and psychopath are two different words for the same thing.
Funny, UnitedStates 1776.
"Empathy" is definitely the main "codeword" if we were limited to just one. That's it right there.
Here is another way to spot psychos... Observe the typing patterns of a liberal.
Sounds like every politician in history.
That's odd, Old Man. I was thinking of the conservatives.
It's weird they used the word "psychopath" in this article. That's pretty outdated. The word used now is "sociopath". They continue to clean up mental health language.
I totally believe this, having known a sociopath. So many "ums" and "uhs" and you really do feel like you've been hypnotized if you listen to one for too long. Scary stuff, this.
Hey Im at the beach. Sounds like this article was describing our present................ Too many UMMMMMM s and AHHHHHHH s. Yup. Just like him
Okay, creed. I wasn't sure what you meant, but I suspected it was one of your many slams on Obama. t\Then I read down and saw your next post.
Creed, I mean this with all due respect.............
Stick it!!
And have a nice day. :) I always enjoy your smart cracks and you always see me coming, don't you?
Later, guys.
Actually, moron, they intereviewed 52 people. Don't break a sweat reading all the way into the second paragraph.
Imatthebeach, I think you need to do some research. They are NOT the same thing. While they share similar traits in some areas there are also very distinct differences. Neither word is outdated and there is a difference between a sociopath and a psychopath.
Yes. they are different. Usage isn't completely consistent, but psychopaths are born and sociopaths are made. Sociopaths can show empathy toward close friends; a psychopath could eat his own mother for breakfast and feel fine about it by lunch. Psychopaths are usually very charming and work hard to maintain that social veneer; sociopaths are usually nervous, twitchy, angry loners and are much easier to spot.
My birth father is a sociopath, actually. Though only in the sense that he cherishes friends and family who cherish him back.
Talking to the guy, it is hypnotizing. He knows this too, and finds it kinda silly. The way he put it was that "people like me can act more normal that normal people can be."
Also, simply by posting this article, you've basically given psychopaths something to work with to get around the information you've put here.
I see "psycopath" and "sociopath" as different. I once was given this comparison of "psychopath" and "neurotic": a neurotic "builds castles in the sky"; a psychopath "lives in those castles." A psychopath is living in Lala Land.
Sociopath is another word for "antisocial" behavior. But antisocial in the broad sense: someone who is "breaking the rules," as a matter of principle--a habitual criminal, as an example.
A psychopath is someone who is either mentally ill or emotionally unstable. Any questions?
I Vote For ---
DICK CHENEY now we bring the troops home to zilch in jobs for killing but then who knows - A person as Cheney why not give all that blood money back and only keep what an average person could expect to live on in Honor - Live your last years with at least a modicum of dignity and pray for your forgiveness for the hundreds of thousand of human deaths much to your doing and the wealth you now have is unseemly given the blood of our young troops: Sir can you do this one thing in thiier honor?
HONOR ALL OF THOSE YOU SENT TO DIE ......
so as you could acquire more wealth then you dreamed of more money than you could possibly need. Will you Dick Cheney for the first time in your life do the right thing? Do the moral act....for those that died?
Going by the definition...aren't most CEOs psychopaths?
Sociopaths do gravitate toward executive positions.The power, the money, the ability to destroy lives and businesses of anyone who gets in their way and not feel remorse,attracts people with Antisocial Personality Disorder who are completely devoid of any conscience, to executive positions the way light bulbs attract moths.
I Vote For ---
DICK CHENEY now we bring the troops home to zilch in jobs for killing but then who knows - A person as Cheney why not give all that blood money back and only keep what an average person could expect to live on in Honor - Live your last years with at least a modicum of dignity and pray for your forgiveness for the hundreds of thousand of human deaths much to your doing and the wealth you now have is unseemly given the blood of our young troops: Sir can you do this one thing in thiier honor?
HONOR ALL OF THOSE YOU SENT TO DIE ......
so as you could acquire more wealth then you dreamed of more money more than any "normal" human being could possibly need... a psychopath. Will you Dick Cheney for the first time in your life do the right thing? Do the moral act....for those that died?
How Do You Sleep??????????
On of our old bosses gave a presentation, and every other sound out of her mouth was an "um, uh or ah." It got to the point of being so distracting, I started to keep track of these dysfluencies. In a fifteen minute talk, she used them 87 times, and that wasn't including the first five minutes. I have no doubt that she was sociopath. Her actions against the staff were inexcusable, hence she no longer works here.
I'm not a psychologist, but the definition I was taught between the psycho and sociopath was that psychopaths were physically violent along with their mental manipulations, and the sociopaths mainly just played mind games.
I would really like to see more of the in-depth results of this research. I'm sure I could see application within a number of acquaintances' personalities.
FedUpinNYS and MarkC,
Gentlemen, sometimes I think there are people who troll these feeds simply to argue. If I thought you were going to get all technical on me, I'd have made it clearer.
Friends, "psychopath" is not a clinical term used either in the DSM IVor ICD-IV (don't know what country or book of reference you are using). In days past, clinicians would use the term "psychopath" in conversation (root of the word "psycho", used in the famous movie of the same name).
In the DSM-IV, the diagnosis falls under the category of Personality Disorder (a scary category, indeed). It is Anti-social Personality Disorder (not to be confused with the equally devastating Borderline Personality Disorder or even Narcissistic Personality disorder, another member of the same unpleasant cluster).
The term "sociopath" is the accepted (PC) term today in clinical speech and many people don't know it is the same thing as the word "psychopath", which was more accepted in the past.
Sociopaths are not always murderers, rapists, etc. And, no, Workhorse2010, your definition of a psychopath who is "either mentally ill or emotionally unstable" is incorrect. That definition would take in every diagnostic category in the DSM (and, of course, ICD). In fact, personality disorders are not considered mental illnesses at all. A better description would be character disorders, rather than mental illnesses. They were actually referred to as "character disorders" in the past. An easy way to understand it, I think, might be to take the name of the cluster literally: they are literally disorders in the personality, integral to the personality, and not mental illness at all. Also, they do not fulfill the requirements for a legal definition of insanity.
Back to MarkC on the nature or nurture question: there is more and more evidence the sociopaths are born that way and some evidence that it can be caused by brain injury.
kcstrawberryblonde, you are correct.
Richard, the terms "neurotic" and "sociopath" (or "psychopath") really have nothing at all in common other than being mental health diagnoses. A neurotic chiefly suffers from anxiety disorders. Antisocial Personality Disorder falls in the Personality Disorder category. Castles in the sky, whether you are living in them or not, has nothing to do with it. Sociopaths do not hallucinate (unless they have another diagnosable mental illness).
That has never happened to me before. My posts are usually short. Please overlook the typos--I was in the midst of adding and correcting and ran out of time.
kcstrawberryblonde, sociopaths do gravitate to jobs where they believe they have the control they are ultimately seeking. Some are high-functioning, some not, and they can be found in many different positions: CEOs, as you said, cops, military and, yes, even teachers, doctors, nurses, you name it.
Persevere, I strongly believe you are correct about Dick Cheney (yet another good reason to be a liberal democrat :)
Sadly, personality disorders are pretty much untreatable and devastating to people who have the misfortune of being "close" to these people. A good way to explain that is.....well, take neurosis, for instance. That is chiefly anxiety and can be treated in a number of ways. Bipolar Disorder can be treated in a number of ways. Schizophrenia can be treated in a number of ways (it is a tough one, though).
Now, personality disorders, being disordered personalities..........Well, how does one treat a "disordered" personality? The personality is so disordered that, even if one were able to just take that personality out of the person, what would one replace it with? It is integral to the person's identity.
Well, that's probably the only serious post you all will ever see from me here.
Now, let's get back to the arguing and wisecracks and laughs. and aggravating people. :)
Hi, los dude.
losdude, you are suspended for a day for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
Persevere, Another vote from me because..........you do persevere, don't you? Good work.
That was a bit amusing reading some armchair diagnosis :P . In any case, there is no difference between a psychopath or a sociopath, both indeed refer to a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. Mostly the two terms are used as a personality type moniker (sociopathic/psychopathic personality implied) simply because either are a lot more convenient to type. For example, try writing a paper that utilizes "50 psychopaths" vs. "the 50 test subjects found to fit the criteria for antisocial personality disorder" over and over.
Thanks again, clinpsych. Hope they all come back and read it.
Imatthebeach - - I forget Post # ?.....I love the beach I should be there now lol
Thanks for the "up arrow" I guess they call it I gave you one on Post #1.27 - one good gesture deserves the like and I reciprocate - I and family lived in Hermosa Beach walking distance to the shoreline. This is one of a string of beaches south of LAX (north too) mostly from Malibu south to Palos Verdes includes Marina Del Rey and a strand (get this for a long, long ride with great sights along the way) from Torrance Beach all the way, like 30 plus miles.
I think to Venice and then you can go even further if you really are masochistic. From Hermosa Beach and back from Venice was plenty for me and I am in tip top shape, well, I am working on it, let us say in accounting terms "work in process" manufacturing accounting. I am speaking of biking all the way...on bikes.
I live in the desert now Palm Springs, California, I commute when ever I can so for me the best of all worlds for me I love it. I am active on other sites (one seriouly one one) and through that site mostly I communicate with people living all over the world a very useful friendship though having "friends" in different parts of the world is not my motivation but a nice compliment to the friendship we can ask direct questions of foreigners a real nice compliment to the said friendship.
Ok - Take Care...hope to see you around I am back to being active after a long leave. I am sure there are some that wish I would go back lol - in time my man in time. Good Luck I hope you get this I will look back again if you read this? Could you kindly respond - Thanks Again
Hi, Persevere, I thought it was funny when, after your post was collapsed, you re-posted. You persevered. I am on the opposite coast from where you are. That's quite a bike trip you're talking about there.
And, yes, I'm sure there are plenty of people on here of the Teapublican persuasion who would like to see you gone. That's why they collapsed your post.
I've noticed you around Newsvine from time to time--and I've got your back when we fight those bad-guys. And we know who they are, right? Right now it seems nothing but bad news--I'm thinking about trying to avoid all forms of media.........every day things do seem to get worse in our country.
Did you Occupy LA?
Keep on persevering, Persevere. :)
Inatthebeach -
OK I came back lol - what happens if some of these guys use profanity and worse and the thread maybe 10 or more posts all get collapsed - but lol you got me on this one because I think I was solely targeted this time and they had me bagged in a body bag - but I unzipped the bag and got out hahahahahaha yeah lol - If I broke the rules ok but I did not see any violations so "the collapse squad" went after me, no rebuttal offered they just collapse posts all the time lol - I guess that is their mission in life but I lol yeah your right - too much and funny too - Thanks for the laugh and Good Luck
Imatthebeach -
I forgot and yes I would have had them arrest me - hahahhaha only because I hear they let you out the same day within a few hours but then the Mayor and Police Chief made public no arrests or beatings so eh I stayed in Palm Springs it is 140 mile trip from here to downtown, I would have stayed with family. Maybe next time, and thanks for the support - I am financially fine but examples as my mother in-law we already pay a fair amount so she can live in a decent place but why should she take "a hit" for the bail outs? I do not think it is fair plus the "Average Joe" never was involved why do they have to pay for the gambling losses? To me another "rip-off" lol - I am going to fight them this time and thanks again for your support I see your active too I only hit one or two articles at most on any day. Some girl, she had her numbers so mixed up, so I brought this to her attention and she said I was a troll - lol lol and I see her all over the place on different articles - AHhhh man...I tell you...she says I am the troll and she posts, posts and then some more posts but I am the troll - give me some slack. She does not want to debate me anymore she said lol - Well yeah if I use her made up numbers - I have your back too - thanks we stick together or they win - Take Care Friend - Good Luck
PS: yes a very long beautiful bike ride along the coast with many nice looking very nice sights lol if you know what I mean getting a little old but I still enjoy a nice bikini lol hey I am a healthy male it is in my genes I have no control built in mind target or it could be I cannot anylonger control my eyes lol
I got a parking ticket the other day because one of the metermaids was a BEE-OTCH & wouldn't let me slide for a quarter while I was getting a taco & some Mickeys.
I guess I'm one of them. Then again MAYBE the true judge of whether a person is a psychopath or not is the obsessive need to categorize and standardize peoples personalties into broad, overly general, labels meant to fit the maximum number of people into non-existent "diseases" for the purposes of making money off their "treatment".
#WHO'S MORE CRAZY?
Let's be fair. You got a ticket because you didn't pay to park and got caught. How about owning a little responsibility for your actions instead of blaming the lady doing her job.
I suspect that was sarcasm JimP1969 - and the 7 people, at this moment, who apparently applauded your scolding of a complete stranger on the Internet for complaining about a nasty meter maid.
And between you and I, aren't they all a bit nasty?
As long as we're talking about the owning of responsibility lets talk about the 5 MILLION children in the US who are used as pawn revenue streams for the psycho/pharma industry under the guise of "mental-health care" to the tune of $400+ million dollars US every year-against my quarter.
and BTW-it was a hypothetical example and YES! they (metermaids) ARE a bit nasty... HYPOTHETICALLY
@Andrew547
I'm trying to understand the basis for your message to JimP1969. You think he is "scolding" take2la because he asks him to "be fair" and understand that he got the ticket because he didn't feed the meter.
I detect no sarcasm or negative tone in the message. Hardly scolding. Just an honest observation.
Don't recall liking anyone handing me a ticket rather than a warning. Do you? This is a silly argument on the part of posters. Meter maids are doing their job. They are paid to give you tickets. Police sometimes do and sometimes don't but meter maids only have one job to do. Don't blame the messenger. You got caught. Just smile, bend over and take it.
I've had a metermaid (male) stalk me and give me more than a thousand dollars in false tickets. Because I stood up to him and told him when he was writing a ticket for me while I was parked in a free space. The parking enforcement administration did nothing when I complained, and made it impossible to contest half of the wrongful tickets. Pitting my word against their employee's, and guess who they based their decisions on.
Yes, some (many) metermaids in my experience are psychopathic. The personal responsibility drivel doesn't apply when the system is stacked against you and abused on that level towards the individual.
I had another one practically go ballistic yelling at me because as she was waiting for a person's last 3 minutes to run out I put some change in their meter.... and smiled at her.
Actually, blaming your ticket on the metermaid and calling her a be-otch does lead one to believe you are a psychopath.
JimP1969, Sociopaths don't take responsibility for anything. Someone else is always at fault, as take2la posted. Let's hope he's joking because when I saw the "BEE-OTCH" and read the rest of it, scary stuff.
These people live among us. Some of us are married to them, dating them, have a brother (or sister), father........you name it.
And some even vote for them. And some even get elected.
take2la made a fairly profound observation and I think he communicated it well.
Too bad so many people missed it. If you're still confused, check out his second post where he responds to that little scolding he got from JimP1969...and the 33 people who agreed with the scolding. Amazing.
Seriously people....a taco and some Mickeys? I think you're all a bit uptight, and maybe that standard American diet is rotting your brains. Then again...this is the country where people publicly cheer executions and boo gay service men in Iraq, so I shouldn't be surprised. It's still a bit sad though.
Then again, maybe you're just a moron.
I feel like I'm in a Twilight Zone episode or the movie Idiocracy. I find it very interesting that so many people didn't get it.
I guess that particular brand of clever, creative communication doesn't register with some people. I can only hope that people reacted to the first paragraph and just didn't bother reading the rest. That doesn't bode well for the general population, but its better than the alternative, which is that dozens and dozens of people read take2la's post and missed the point entirely. Or maybe the cause of the misunderstanding is more simple - something like "people generally skim online comments".
It's actually an interesting point made even more interesting by the rhetorical devices he (I presume) used to present it. I hope at least a few people go back and reread the post - this time with a critical eye and the knowledge that there's more to it than what you see on the surface.
Andrew: It's the movie, and we are all in it.
BTW, based on the criteria of the test, everyone above a certain level of impairment on the Autistic Spectrum qualifies as a psychopath. I'm not going to let it worry me much, I have rules that implement "empathy."
Psychology may be one of the most psychopathic studies out there.
That's right Andrew, as Imatthebeach so eloquently put it...
We( psychopaths, sociopaths, Aspergerger's, et al) are EVERYWHERE. And IF one were to believe the BULL@!$%# "study findings" put out and funded by the psycho/pharma industry (such as this one) ...IT'S AN EPIDEMIC worthy of the alarm caused by TYPHOID MARY.
So, be sure everyone to religiously analyze the speech patters, word choice, subjects, grammar and phrasing of all your friends, acquaintances, strangers, family members, children, shopkeepers, passersby, and...well, I think you get my point.
#OR YOU JUST MIGHT CATCH IT TOO! BOO!
take2la,
Aspergerber's? I think you are mixing a developmental disorder with a brand name of baby-food there.
I know you're trying to be funny.........which is fine. What's your diagnosis?
Trust me. If you are a mentally healthy individual, you won't be joking if somehow, someday, a person with Anti-Social Personality Disorder becomes a part of your life.
Rock on, take2la.
Neither a sociopath nor asperger's exactly rake it in for pharma companies, so I think you are as guilty of overgeneralizing mental health as you claim mental health overgeneralizes society, if not more so.
clinpsych,
Did you read posts from the beginning where everyone is sharing what they "feel" or "think" or "know" about pschopath v. sociopath? Too bad I didn't have you here then.
And you made a very good point.
Too funny. I was getting bored with MSNBC but maybe I'll stick around a bit longer...
Fyi, take2la you're still my hero.
My basic Psych education illustrated the largest difference
between a Psychopath and a Sociopath:
A Psychopath physically HAS NO CONSCIENCE while
a Sociopath CHOOSES NOT TO USE his or her conscience.
I'm not quite sure which is worse...but using an analogy,
the psychopath is the cat that can't help being a cat!
And as we well know many cats LIKE to kill mice as
soon as they see one nearby! It's Their Instinct!
You KNOW and can PREDICT what a cat will do
and when they will do it, simply because they
ALWAYS broadcast easy-to-read signs just
before their more nefarious actions.
And the sociopath is like the fox that keeps raiding the
henhouse no matter how much fencing or protection we put up.
It LEARNS and CONTINUES behaviour IT KNOWS is detrimental but
the reward is so enticing it still risks everything to get at those hens!
It just PLOTS, SEARCHES AND MANIPULATES in many ways in order to
get at the henhouse! And its actions are SO DIFFERENT EACH time,
that they are hard to manage and protect against.
To me, the psychopath is something we can recognize and deal with
because he/she is simply NOT ABLE to recognize their OWN behaviour
and thus it makes them easy to catch since they follow their tried and
true routines on a continual basis which are instinctual and repetitive.
The sociopath, however, it HIGHLY ADAPTABLE and LEARNS from their mistakes
since they HAVE a conscience but merely choose not to use it and thus are able
to use EMPATHY against their victims. This makes them UNPREDICTABLE and
dangerous BECAUSE of the ability to take into account others feelings which
they then use against them for their own gains. They are HARD to catch
because routine is NOT part of their vocabulary, they adapt ALL TOO WELL
to their surroundings, able to cammouflage their activities like the chameleons they are!
Has anyone recorded the Federal Reserves Bankers? Sounds like we found whats wrong, crazies running the show,conning and manipulating the rest.
Most of this article, but particularly this: ""In lay terms, psychopaths seem to have little or no 'conscience,'" sounds like they are talking about Dick Cheney or George Bush".
To me that sounds like it describes most politicians and CEO's.
I was thinking the same thing....politicians, like Scott Walker in Wisconsin, fit this description of a psychopath, to a tee. And yes, certain CEOs in the news also fit this description.
Exactly! The CEOs and corporate board members point to the share holders as the reason that they pursue a dollar at any human cost.
I heard a story of a ceo once. He was one of these guys who they bring in to lay off people so the rest of then company doesn't look bad. He made multimillion dollar demands and got them. Then fired a few thousand people, which is what he was paid to do. He got paid to go on a power trip, which is something the psychopaths love.
"Chain-saw Al" Dunlop.
In his last corporation he cooked the books and spent a brief time in a Club Fed.
Probably retired right now and living in the Caymans.
Probably a lot of the "1%ers" qualify as sociopaths, that'd be why so many of them live in luxury while their employees can't keep up with their bills thanks to the snail's pace ordinary people's income is increasing compared to the cost of living. Greedy, uncaring sociopaths run the business world. Try living on a few million less per year and give your workers some raises to have a living wage!
What worries me is when law enforcement, judges and juries start accepting these studies as absolute scientific fact and applying them in the absence of real evidence, then maneuvering evidence to fit their preconceived notions.
And I can see it happening.
It is already happening - and has been for a long time. All a cop has to do is state you are "emotionally disturbed" and it justifies anything they want to do to you.
Actually, the description of how a psycho/sociopath talks sounds exactly like the way law enforcement talks - particularly when they justify using force.
I think you put way too much faith in policies having anything to do with being guided by research :P
Ok, how many female then??
I imagine not enough to be newsworthy?
I married a psychopathic man, helped him raise his two daughters. He was a dangerous person to be around. His daughters, one was drowning baby kittens for fun, put a rooster in a cooler and closed the lid with it full of water. she was the most explosive. the other daughter just lied a bit. turned out when they were in their twenties, the lying one was diagnosed first as antisocial PD with thrill seeking behaviors. the younger, the drowner, turned out to be one also. I figured she would be. usually the males emulate their fathers, who are more likely to be psychopaths than a mother. In this case, both of the girls emulated their father. I fear for their children. I divorced him, moved over 1000 miles away. andd still have dreams that one of the three will show up here with a butcher knife behind their back.
That's just plain scary. I hope you changed your name.
Richard, most scientific studies are done on men.
I was gonna crack all of them! And that's coming from an xx!
Willow, I understand. I kinda hope you changed your name, too.
About 1 percent total is a good rough estimate for both males and females combined. Males actually have about a 3% prevalence rate, females less than 1%. Of course, methodological differences and the like make pinning the exact number down problematic.
Am I missing something, if they are in jail for a murder they already committed wouldn't that preclude it being described in the "past tense"???
Well, people who "feel" are probably more likely to feel as though they're reliving it as they narrate. Plenty of slips can give way to that expression, so while they may be talking about something that happened, little words slip in, "I say I'm doing this, I tell the person I'm doing that" as opposed to "I said I'm doing this, I told the person I'm doing that" sort of thing; psychopaths are probably more likely to consistently use past tense, as opposed to letting the memory of the event take them back.
There is no logic in psych evals... only a desired outcome.
Richard (#7):
I understand this to mean a psychopath is more likely to talk about him/herself in the past tense; detached, as in, I am not in the "present."
But why is it you hear of the mother.Being the one to kill her children.I think there is more resreach to be done on women.
And how many employee complaints submitted to HR tomorrow will quote this article claiming their boss is a psychopath?
...and how many would be right?
Conveniently this study was confined to murderers. Of course. There is plenty of literature out there concerning studies of psychopaths, aka, sociopaths, and most psychopaths aren't in prison. They are out here among us and there are infinitely more than most people realize. This article is almost useless in explaining psychopathy. Most psychos appear normal and there is an abnormally large number of them in important positions in our nation. They are smart and cunning, very smart and very cunning. This figures on their numbers will truly astound.
My god, they sound like the management and Human Resource managers at my work place! And, these same psychopaths want us all to show no emotion and become like them. Talk about attack of the zombies!
LMAO
I'm with you. I was deeply offended by this article. Wynne Perry should be ashamed to have found this worthy to even print.
Bueller, Bueller, Bueller.................................
if analyst feel they are drinking from a fire house, maybe they need some time off. and how is this text anaysist software will help? picking up umms and uhhs from criminals,
Why was I thinking about republican leaders while reading this article?
because you're a silly bed-wetting liberal twit?
LMAO! Perfect edeagus THANK YOU!!!!
Yeah because Edeagus sure didn't just violate the Code of Honor there like an immature little child did he?
Name calling is a sign of a weak and inferior mind.
Actually, "leroy brown" may be onto something. Conservative, right-wing leaders emphasize appealing to the selfish motivations of individuals as instrumental and guiding in their ideology, for example, regarding their support for unfettered capitalism. You don't find them often talking about, "social responsibilities," or giving consideration for the needs of others less fortunate, in their rhetoric. And some of their responses certainly lack emotion ...and they use a lot of disfluencies when they are coerced to discuss such issues by reporters in the Press, especially when it's questions directed to them, on-the-fly.
Also, it makes me wonder what proportion of antisocial psyche cases manage to manipulate themselves into high position of power, in medium and large corporate settings.
Not sure about Republicans in general, but I'd love to see Ayn Rand's writing analyzed by this study's criteria.
She was a true self-centered sociopath - she was more important than those inferiors who waited on her and her equals, people with $$...... They were comfortable with the idea of eugenics.....
edeagus, you are a new user so may not know the rules yet, but please mind the Code of Honor.
You are suspended for a day.
Wow! this report means that all liberals are psychopaths!
SHOCKING!
Watch Fox News, Glenn Beck, and listen to Rush Limbaugh much?
They are called politicians. They are all nut balls. They get away with it by having others do there killing for them. They have police, the military etc. do there killing for them. And they kill millions and get away with it. Michelle Bachman was a lawyer for the IRS. One of the most illegal organizations in the government. She has destroyed the lives of thousands of families, and some want her to be President.
There goes free speech because some DR. will claim anyone who disagrees with the government is a sociopath.
Oh, unlike what is already happening?
I'm just posting here to stay close to Post 13. Viewer_Ready, you are so wrong and so not ready for prime time. It is exactly the opposite.
KeedaRN, absolutely right about Ayn Rand.
Another sexist, gender biased, male bashing 'study'. There are so many American women that qualify as psychopaths, it shocks the conscience. Watch the cupcake channel about women that kill and abuse men for revenge and other ridiculous reasons and then compare the results to the reporting of the lame scream media. The lame scream media fails to report thousands of these cases to the public. The notion of gender equality? A sham. Women abuse in all manner of speaking and then laugh it off as if it is their right to do so.
Do your knuckles bleed when you walk? This isn't male bashing. It was a study of psychopathic killers. It reported it's findngs and the percentage that were men. The "cupcake channel" shows movies. And for whatever reason the women in the fictional stories do, whether self defence, to protect, or revenge...it's PRETEND.
If 1% of the population is considered Psychopaths, and up to 25% (of that 1%) are male; then up to 75% (of that 1%) are female.
This study either presumes that all psychopaths are males or the results apply only to males. What about female psychopaths? No reason to assume that their use of words would be similar.
No it doesn't, the study was on males so the conclusions may only be limited to male psychopaths but it says nothing about women psychopaths, which is typical of studies - male is considered "default". A separate study should be done (or this study expanded) to sample female psychopaths though male ones tend to be more dangerous since there are more males in power positions (CEOs and politicians) making them especially worrisome.
I'm afraid I disagree. Female psychopaths are extremely dangerous for the simple fact that most of our society just will not be adult and strong enough to admit that women are just as capable of the things that men are.
The difference is that men sometimes may be more violent when they commit a serious crime.Female sociopaths may be the ones who will cut anybody's throat for money (figuratively.Think Scarlet O'Hara) but they may also be the ones whose child suddenly disappeared or died of "crib death" when no other adults were around, whose disabled husband who is a burden to them went into cardiac arrest while they were alone with the female sociopath,whose spouse was killed in a little "accident" where there weren't any witnesses, or they may be a female health care professional who has an inordinate number of patient deaths on their watch.Often female sociopaths can act like someone who makes people think,"Butter wouldn't melt in their mouth," and they get away with the most horrific crimes one can imagine, because they count on people not questioning a woman with no criminal convictions.
I do agree that we need to recognize there are sociopaths in all genders and they all are potentially dangerous. I'm just not sure which is more dangerous, a person who murders their children or those who shape our entire society. It's tough, both are dangerous and horrible. Personally, I'm glad we don't have to choose since studying sociopaths in one gender does not preclude the other. This is good since regardless of what you think is worse, sociopaths of both genders kill their spouse and children and have negatively shaped societies such as Indira Gandhi.
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This test should be a prerequisite for anyone seeking political office.
LOL you may be onto something there and also a test for anti social behavior as in crimminal.
Like ya know they will now just stop talking like the did and fool you again.
i work with many people that have mental issues. the sociopaths are the absolute worse. no one is off limits to them....they destroy families and friends.
"Why did walk into that fast food restaurant and kill twenty-three men, women and children?"
"Because God told me to. I'm expressing my spirituality and belief in something greater than myself. That means I'm not crazy - right?"
God belief IS crazy and dangerous as it teaches that death is not the end.
How is not believing death is the end dangerous to you? Either you're alive and it doesn't affect you, or you're dead and it doesn't matter to anyone else.
sorry, my pov, but being alive amongst a bunch of religious nutters --- it DOES affect us all - and very negatively!!
Suicide bombers have a VERY strong belief that death is not the end...
"leroy brown
Suicide bombers have a VERY strong belief that death is not the end..."
Just like ALL fundamentalists...
I was prepared to say I read as far as here:
when I realized it's another wasted study, as most people would view their intentional actions as the outcome of their plan, but then I saw the next line and started laughing:
Self esteem is about as basic as it gets, and not everyone has a family, or a religion or are enthralled with "spirituality" - does that make them psychopaths?
This is bad news for JOregon...
These analysts can fetch me a sandwich.
They'd probably diagnose you with narcissistic personality disorder for that quip.
Probably my favorite "diagnosis" from these egomaniacs...because, of course, even thinking you have the authority to "diagnose" someone else's personality is the height of narcissism...oh irony.
Why do we give these idiots the time of day?
Because it's entertaining?
According to the descriptions used in this article, that would make most politicians, CEO's, lawyers, and corporate executives psychopaths. Come to think of it, if the shoe fits...