How to spot a psychopath

originally posted by: Grovit
taking credit for something you didnt do qualifies you as a psychopath?
since when?

Well giving credit to someone for something he didn't do is a clear sign of empathy, unless it was part of a bigger plan.
So taking full credit for a teamwork effort is contrary to empathic.

Psychopaths have no empathy, thus, yes : Taking credit for something you didn't do is a sign of psychopathy.

However, showing signs of a trait of a psychopath doesn't automatically means you are one, at least not classified as one.

originally posted by: theMediator


Well giving credit to someone for something he didn't do is a clear sign of empathy, unless it was part of a bigger plan.
So taking full credit for a teamwork effort is contrary to empathic.

Psychopaths have no empathy, thus, yes : Taking credit for something you didn't do is a sign of psychopathy.
.

i dont think it works like that but ok...
if you say so

meanness is a symptom of psychopathy too.
i would say all mean people are psychos...some people are just mean

en.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: QueenofWeird

When you delude yourself into thinking you can spot a sociopath you set yourself up to be conned by one.

a reply to: Tangerine

Honestly I think you can spot one. But only with massive amounts of training, or first hand experience. Having dealt with what I dealt with, my BS meter is highly attune to the habits and attributes they display. But I don't think the average person will see it for what it is until it's too late. And that's how socio/psychopaths get by time and again.

To spot one on the street would be hard, but since they have no empathy I would think it would be easier to spot them once you had time to observe them. I think there are many in business that are not out to kill people per say, but are ruthless and cutthroat in business. Typically those who you know who will doing anything to get ahead without a care for anyone round them sure seems like they could be one.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: Tangerine

Honestly I think you can spot one. But only with massive amounts of training, or first hand experience. Having dealt with what I dealt with, my BS meter is highly attune to the habits and attributes they display. But I don't think the average person will see it for what it is until it's too late. And that's how socio/psychopaths get by time and again.

Con artists are usually sociopaths and are extremely adept at "playing" people. They're very congenial and (faux) empathetic. I don't think there's any way, in the short term, to determine whether someone is faking empathy. Certainly not by looking at their eyes as someone suggested. It's only after a long period of time when you might notice that they slip up. Because they've spent a great deal of time observing human behavior to figure out how to manipulate people, they can mimic emotions that they don't feel quite effectively. I know that they don't respond to stress like normal people do. Therefore, the calm person in a very stressful situation is the one most likely to be the sociopath. A good rule of thumb is to not trust anyone until you've known them well for an extended period of time. Not ever trusting politicians and preachers is a good policy, too.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: Tangerine

Honestly I think you can spot one. But only with massive amounts of training, or first hand experience. Having dealt with what I dealt with, my BS meter is highly attune to the habits and attributes they display. But I don't think the average person will see it for what it is until it's too late. And that's how socio/psychopaths get by time and again.

In your experience, what habits and attributes do they display?

originally posted by: LABTECH767
a reply to: QueenofWeird

... the study's looked at data such as german medical documentation which showed the most common injury on the eastern front among serving german soldiers was frost bite in there trigger finger and it was realized that the human urge not to kill another human being was actually causing there brains to shut down blood flow to there trigger fingers.

Do you have a link to that study or even the name of it?

I would have thought frostbite on a trigger finger was simply because the finger was more exposed to the elements?

a reply to: Tangerine

I can only speak to my ex spouse and the traits they displayed.

Hyper inflated sense of self-worth, superficial charm, manipulative and scheming, a habitual "last minute" person (as in I'm bored lets take a 4 hour road trip), complete lack of remorse or sense of guilt, pathological liar, continually sponging off others (living quarters, money, food, etc), highly sexualized and active, and the list goes on. Each trait alone may not, and usually doesn't, mean much. But when they all start being displayed in one person, it's usually indicative.

Yes I know that most of what I listed would take time, at least some time, to figure out but after seeing the switches thrown and the day to day lifestyle for several years, the signs were there within a month of meeting.

originally posted by: Shamrock6
a reply to: Tangerine

I can only speak to my ex spouse and the traits they displayed.

Hyper inflated sense of self-worth, superficial charm, manipulative and scheming, a habitual "last minute" person (as in I'm bored lets take a 4 hour road trip), complete lack of remorse or sense of guilt, pathological liar, continually sponging off others (living quarters, money, food, etc), highly sexualized and active, and the list goes on. Each trait alone may not, and usually doesn't, mean much. But when they all start being displayed in one person, it's usually indicative.

Yes I know that most of what I listed would take time, at least some time, to figure out but after seeing the switches thrown and the day to day lifestyle for several years, the signs were there within a month of meeting.

I agree with your list of traits except maybe the last minute thing. On second thought, they do have a low tolerance for boredom so maybe that's accurate, too. The problem is that only the superficial charm is likely to be noticeable in the short term and who doesn't like getting attention and being flattered?

There's also a problem with women being socialized to live on hope and to give people second chances and men being socialized to believe that they're in charge. Both lead to being vulnerable to being conned or far worse.

a reply to: UmbraSumus

Yea I don't buy that at all without sourcing. There was tens of thousands of cases of frostbite, with tens of thousands requiring amputation. Dudes were dropping dead because their helmets were giving their heads frostbite. And how in the world could they possibly have proved that the brain was reducing blood flow to a finger because of THAT reason, as opposed to the biological one of ceasing blood flow to extremities to try and protect vital organs?

a reply to: QueenofWeird

There are many millions of introverts who exhibit these qualities as well. This is a very crude diagnosis. Bundy. Was a very outgoing, intelligent and charismatic personality. Most of them are nearly impossible to distinguish from the outside.

originally posted by: QueenofWeird
King of dead eyes, the ones I mean, is Ted Bundy who was a psychopatic serial killer.

Depressed people have dead eyes. The photo you posted is not remotely an example of someone with dead eyes. It's a photo of someone whose portrait was taken by a photographer who likely just told him to look at the camera and smile. If you want a collection of similar photographs look at drivers licenses.

a reply to: Shamrock6

I have to agree - I tried to find any reference to the study online - nada !

It is a pretty extraordinary claim

a reply to: Shamrock6

a reply to: Shamrock6

dp

I honestly and sincerely think I dated a sociopath (which is somewhat different from a psychopath) at one point. For what I remembered from him: he matches all the points in the wiki link that someone shortly after the OP posted. One other major telling point was the fact that he was very immature and bad at handling anger; we disagreed on one -to us- unimportant point and he was hateful and moody for the remainder of the day, he seemed as if he despised me.

So I *suspect* that it's a sign if he or she is really bad at handling things he or she doesn't like.

originally posted by: Pitou
I honestly and sincerely think I dated a sociopath (which is somewhat different from a psychopath) at one point. For what I remembered from him: he matches all the points in the wiki link that someone shortly after the OP posted. One other major telling point was the fact that he was very immature and bad at handling anger; we disagreed on one -to us- unimportant point and he was hateful and moody for the remainder of the day, he seemed as if he despised me.

So I *suspect* that it's a sign if he or she is really bad at handling things he or she doesn't like.

They're extremely good at handling other people. Rather than pitch a fit they manipulate.

a reply to: Tangerine

I know... but still, it seemed as if I caught him at a bad moment. I was at that point already startled by certain things before I really knew of sociopathy. Perhaps it's something else, I admit it's possible, but he ticked basically all/most of the boxes or at least appeared to.

a reply to: QueenofWeird

I know exactly what you're talking about. I'm surprised more people aren't picking up on it in the thread.

The pupil dilates or constricts based on emotional state in addition to light levels. That really cant be controlled very much my sheer willpower.

For instance, if a woman finds a man attractive, her pupils will dilate. We have a word for that "bedroom eyes". Conversely, men are attracted to that. This all happens subconsciously and with many more emotional circumstances.

For a sociopath, their pupils don't follow the norm, and some people pick up on that subconsciously as well.