Psycho-empathy

If you think of the word psychopath, who do you imagine? A masked Anthony Hopkins portraying the cannibalisticEating other members of their own species. serial killer Hannibal Lecter? Patrick Bateman from American Psycho? Anthony Perkins in Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho from 1960?

Or perhaps you associate it with TV's more recent female psychopaths. There is Killing Eve's Villanelle. Emma Stone's Cruella. Gone Girl's Amy Dunne.

We have tended to think of female psychopaths as relatively rare. Some estimates even placed the ratio of male to female psychopaths at 10:1.¹ But it turns out that they could be up to five times more common than we previously thought.

Common traits in psychopaths include a lack of empathyThe capacity to understand and feel the suffering of others. and guilt, antisocial behaviour, narcissismExaggerated feelings of self-importance. , and a tendency towards manipulation and ruthlessnessNot worrying about pain caused to others. . 

But many believe that women demonstrate psychopathy in a different way to men. We tend to assume that psychopaths are violent and criminal, but experts suspect that female psychopaths are less likely to engage in criminal pursuits. This means that they can go unnoticed.

But some think it can have its strengths. Kevin Dutton, a psychologist at the University of Oxford, ran a survey titled The Great British Psychopath Survey in 2011. He claimed that people most likely to display psychopathic traits by profession were CEOsChief Executive Officers. The highest-ranking person in a company. , journalists, civil servants, police officers, lawyers, soldiers and surgeons.

Some research suggests that psychopaths may have a lesser response in regions of the brain that process fear compared to others. They are more level-headed in a crisis, unswayed by feelings of anxiety or apprehensionAnxiety that something bad will happen.. This could make them suited for high-level positions.

But some say it is dangerous to glorifyTo praise or worship. psychopathic traits. We can imagine a successful businessman as unempathetic, but driven and self-assured. But should we want people with these traits inhabiting positions of power?

Can psychopaths be a force for good?

Yes: We often think of traits like manipulation and a lack of empathy as inhuman and wrong. But there are many times it is useful for us to put aside our emotions.

No: Psychopathic traits will always be dangerous, and we should not glorify them. The fact that some believe there are many high-functioning psychopaths inhabiting important jobs should disturb us.

Or... There are some situations in which we need to be clear-headed, quick-thinking and dispassionate. But this should be something we can turn on and off. Empathy is our most important trait.