Psychopathy

4 min readMar 13, 2021

In movies or popular culture you’ve heard the term psychopath before. It’s often used to describe some mass murderer or a crazy person living on the edge of what we’d consider sanity or reality. How things are portrayed in Hollywood are often unlike real life.

You probably have met a psychopath before. Psychopaths make up about 1% of the population, which you might think means encountering them is rare; however, they end up in greater concentrations in certain circles, especially the upper echelons of the corporate world. A popular Australian study found that 1 in 5 C-suite executives are psychopaths or have psychopathic tendencies.

Psychopath vs Sociopath

Often when people say “psychopath” what they’re actually talking about is a sociopath. Sociopaths are impulsive, live on the fridge of society, have trouble holding a steady job, and very often have a predisposition to violance. Psychopaths by contrast are controlled, blend into society, many have successful careers, and may have a predisposition towards violence. Both psychopathy and sociopathy are considered to be anti-social personality disorders.

Traits of a Psychopath

Pathological Lying

Psychopaths are individuals who often lie or bend truth, especially when it benefits them. This combined with their false empathy helps them manipulate individuals around them.

Lack of Empathy / False Empathy

Psychopaths often have successful careers. They excel at making others like and trust them. This is because they understand social emotions quite well and are able to mimic them, even if they don’t experience them the same way most people do. This is what makes them so good at gaslighting and lying.

A psychopath views the world more as transactions. They value relationships purely for the benefits they bring to themselves.

Gaslighting / Psychological Bullying

Through their pathological lying and false empathy psychopaths are master manipulators. Gaining trust quickly, they then sow seeds of doubt and get individuals to question their own perception or judgement. When focused on an individual target this lowers the self-esteem of the victim causing them to be additionally dependent on the psychopath for emotional support and validation.

Narcissism / Superiority Complex

Psychopaths often feel they deserve special privileges above others. They have very high, idealized, opinions of themselves. They exaggerate their own success, power, or intelligence. They take advantage of people with no regrets.

Being thin-skinned narcissistic people will lash out on any criticism or push-back. They can be extremely jealous or sensitive. Underneath all of this is a deep sense of insecurity.

Rule Breaking

Because psychopaths lack true emapthy and feel superior to others they don’t usually have problems breaking rules or disobeying laws. As long as it, in their mind, is justified and benefits them a psychopath will calculate the risk and take action. Because they view the world as a series of transactions they generally have little remorse or guilt about doing so.

Self-servicing Victimhood

Lastly, a psychopath above all is out to serve their own interests, often in disregard of the truth or the interests of others. They will even portray themselves as a victim, given the opportunity, to manipulate others and gain sympathy for themselves.

How to Deal with a Psychopath

Now that you understand how to identify a psychopath, what do you do if faced with one? Maybe you transferred to a new department at work, elected someone to your HOA board, or started dating someone new and you realize … they might be a psychopath.

Keep Emotions in Check

No matter how upset or frustrated you feel, keep your emotions in check. Losing your composure infront of a psychopath gives them more power over you. They’ll see that they can manipulate your emotions. Present a calm demeanor at all time.

Don’t Be Intimidated

Psychopaths control others often through the use of intimidation. A psychopath might make subtle threats, stand over you while you’re talking, use aggressive body or verbal language to get you to back down. Stand your ground, be assertive, and report any incidents of bullying or harassment to the proper authorities (HR, management, etc).

Don’t Buy Into the Spin

Psychopaths like to use long-winded tales, often interweaved with lies and half-truths. They like to be seen as victims and blame other people and refuse to take any responsibility for their wrongdoing. Showing sympathy for them plays into their hand, so keep discussions centered on facts only.

Turn the Conversation Back on Them

Pointing out a psychopath’s flaws can be the best way to disarm them. Whey they try to blame others or move responsibility turn the conversation back on them.

Opt for Online Communication

Psychopaths are naturally adept at manipulating emotions. They can often be very likable and charming, they excel at face-to-face communication (especially in small settings or one on one). Online conversations make it difficult — if not impossible — for them to charm and manipulate. So when possible request all communication over email.