Degree of Psychopathy

Psychopathic traits exist on a continuum that runs throughout the population. The vast majority of us have endorsed at least some element of psychopathy. In the general population, the distribution of psychopathic traits is skewed, meaning that most people have relatively low levels of these traits, with smaller numbers of people endorsing gradually higher levels. People with varying levels of psychopathic traits sit in our train carriages, work in our offices, and live in our homes. Psychopathic traits are not reserved for prisons or psychiatric hospitals; all of us lie somewhere on the “psychopathic spectrum”.

A psychopath does have not a few psychopathic traits. He or she has, as the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy explains, “a constellation of traits”. Psychopaths know the difference between right and wrong. Legally, psychopaths are not insane. They do not hear voices or experience other hallucinations. Their thoughts are not disordered or skewed by delusions. In other words, they are not psychotic, a feature of mental illness.

Psychopathy is a risk factor, but not a guarantee, that someone could be physically violent. Prisons are not full of psychopaths, but they are full of people with antisocial personality disorder. Although the American Psychiatric Society still equates psychopathy with antisocial personality disorder, the majority of psychopathy experts do not. Antisocial personality disorder is diagnosed based on antisocial acts and behaviors. Not surprisingly, 75 percent or so of the folks you will meet in prison qualify for this diagnosis. A diagnosis of psychopathy is based on more than the antisocial behaviors used to identify someone with antisocial personality disorder. Approximately 20 to 25% of prisoners are psychopaths, according to estimates by psychologists.

Unfortunately, the less than teeming numbers may be more than enough to seriously inconvenience the rest of us. A preliminary study by psychologist and business management consultant Paul Babiak and his co-authors found that eight of 203 corporate professionals taking part in management development programs scored high enough to be classified as psychopaths. This 4 percent is indeed four times the number found in the general population.

What do you think if all of us lie somewhere on the “psychopathic spectrum” then what distinguishes us from serial killers?