What percentage of people are sociopaths

Michael McCaul says 1 in 100 people is a sociopath

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U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said 1 in 100 people are sociopaths in an interview with Karina Kling of the Capital Tonight program on Spectrum News in Austin (screen grab, March 2018).

By W. Gardner Selby March 30, 2018

A Texas congressman commenting on the man linked to bombings around Austin before blowing himself up made a claim about the prevalence of sociopaths that made us wonder.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, told Karina Kling on the March 26, 2018, edition of Spectrum News’ Capital Tonight: "He’s a sociopath. He claims I’ve been a psychopath all my life. You know, 1 in 100 people are sociopaths. They have no remorse or conscience or guilt when they commit acts of murder like in this case. So he had no remorse."

A sociopath, per Merriam-Webster, is someone who behaves in a dangerous or violent way toward other people and doesn’t feel guilty about such behavior.

And that describes 1 in 100 of us?

A note: Our inquiries about McCaul’s claim led us to recognize that experts don’t necessarily use the word "sociopath." For instance, the American Psychiatric Association responded to our inquiry about sociopaths by pointing out diagnostic criteria for "antisocial personality disorder." The disorder’s essential feature is a "pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood," according to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The manual further says its prevalence has been found to range from 0.2 percent to 3.3 percent.

McCaul cites FBI article

But Lizzie Litzow of McCaul’s office told us by email that McCaul had relied on research into another disorder as described in a 2012 article in the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin titled "Psychopathy. " That word, the article says, "refers to a personality disorder that includes a cluster of interpersonal, affective, lifestyle and antisocial traits and behaviors." The article continues: "These involve deception; manipulation; irresponsibility; impulsivity; stimulation seeking; poor behavioral controls; shallow affect; lack of empathy, guilt, or remorse; sexual promiscuity; callous disregard for the rights of others; and unethical and antisocial behaviors.

"Psychopathy," the article goes on, "is the most dangerous of the personality disorders."

Among indicators, the article says, is "a profound lack of remorse for their aggressive actions, both violent and nonviolent, along with a corresponding lack of empathy for their victims. This central psychopathic concept enables them to act in a cold-blooded manner, using those around them as pawns to achieve goals and satisfy needs and desires, whether sexual, financial, physical, or emotional. Most psychopaths are grandiose, selfish sensation seekers who lack a moral compass—a conscience—and go through life taking what they want. They do not accept responsibility for their actions and find a way to shift the blame to someone or something else."

To McCaul’s point, the article says it’s estimated that "approximately 1 percent of the general male population are psychopaths, and 15 to 20 percent of the prison population are psychopathic."

Psychopathy checklist

That "1 percent" statement, we noticed, is footnoted to an article by psychologist Robert D. Hare, who invented and then refined a heralded diagnostic assessment of psychopathy dubbed the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. Items gauged by an expert using the checklist include a subject’s glibness/superficial charm; egocentricity; lack of remorse or guilt; parasitic lifestyle; and impulsivity. As summed up in another researcher’s 2016 article, Hare’s scale "amalgamated many of the traits and behaviors of psychopathy using conceptual and statistical methods to provide for a more objective and dimensional assessment of psychopathy in criminal populations. "

We read the chapter noted by McCaul’s aide via the University of Texas library catalog and learned that Hare’s 1-in-100 statement lacked certainty. Hare wrote: "In spite of their small numbers--perhaps 1% of the general population--they constitute a significant proportion of our prison populations and are responsible for a markedly disproportionate amount of serious crime, violence, and social distress."

Next, we reached Hare, a professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia. He advised by email that many years ago he’d offered the 1 percent estimate as an informed guess -- and it held up in subsequent studies. Still, he stressed, such calculations rest in deciding what score on the checklist scale demonstrates that a person is a psychopath--and researcher judgments vary. As measured, Hare elaborated, "psychopathy is dimensional and not a diagnostic category. So, about all we can say is that around 1% of the male population would receive a score of 30" on the extended exam or a score of 18 on a shorter version.

Hare also told us he doesn’t use "sociopath" when he’s talking about psychopaths. Sociopaths, he suggested, are capable of feeling remorse or guilt. Hare later said by phone he’s unaware of surveys gauging the prevalence of sociopaths but he’d expect the percentage to be "fairly high."

Other experts

We also heard back from Scott Lilienfeld, an Emory University psychology professor. Lilienfeld said by email that the oft-cited 1 percent figure, rooted in research employing Hare’s checklist, "may be defensible, although it is also oversimplified." He also pointed out a 2013 Emory University breakdown of misconceptions about psychopathic personalities including, it says, the idea that a person with psychopathy poses more than a modest risk of heightened violence.

"Evidence suggests," Lilienfeld told us, "that psychopathy isn’t an either-or phenomenon; instead, it is continuously distributed, much like height and weight. So there is no scientific cut-off for distinguishing psychopaths from non-psychopaths. As a result, the 1 percent figure isn’t exactly wrong, but it’s somewhat misleading because it implies that 1 in 100 people are somewhat different in kind – rather than in degree - from the rest of us. Instead, psychopathy blends imperceptibly into normality," Lilienfeld said.

Summing up, Lilienfeld called the 1-in-100 statistic informative in that it indicates "that a nontrivial proportion of people walking among us are markedly elevated on traits such as superficial charm, social dominance, self-centeredness, dishonesty, manipulativeness, callousness, poor impulse control, and casual sexual relationships," he wrote.

Also to our inquiry, John Petrila of the Dallas-based Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute pointed out a 2009 study, by researchers including Hare, that gauged the general prevalence of psychopathy. According to the study’s abstract, the researchers concluded -- after using Hare’s checklist to screen 638 individuals aged 16 to 74 in England, Wales and Scotland -- that "psychopathy is rare, affecting less than 1% of the household population, although it is prevalent among prisoners, homeless persons and psychiatric admissions. "

By email, Petrila also noted a 2015 study that says in its abstract that "psychopathy is almost exclusively investigated within criminal populations so that its prevalence in the general population has been inferred by psychopathic traits rather than disorder (1%)." That study takes note of a 2011 study by researchers at the Queensland Institute of Technology, in Australia, that had 300 members of the general population complete a self-reported version of the psychopathy checklist and undertake a test of deception qualities. "Results indicated that at least 1% of the current community displayed characteristics consistent with psychopathic tendencies," the study’s abstract says, with "younger males who tend to misuse alcohol" found most likely to have the tendencies.

Our ruling

McCaul said 1 in 100 people are sociopaths.

Mental health experts steer clear of "sociopath" to characterize individuals who don’t show remorse, among antisocial qualities. Still, research suggests that about 1 percent of the population consists of psychopaths though it’s also worth clarifying that such judgments are reached on a scale.

We rate this claim Mostly True.

MOSTLY TRUE – The statement is accurate but needs clarification or additional information. Click here for more on the six PolitiFact ratings and how we select facts to check.

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"1 in 100 people are sociopaths."

Michael McCaul

U.S. House member, Austin

Austin, Texas

Monday, March 26, 2018

Video, Capital Tonight, Spectrum News, March 26, 2018 (Michael McCaul statement at 10:49 mark)

News stories, Austin American-Statesman, "Austin bomber on recording: ‘I wish I were sorry but I am not,'" posted online March 22, 2018; "Congressman: Bombing suspect called himself a 'psychopath,'" posted online March 24, 2018

Definitions of sociopath and psychopath, Merriam-Webster website (accessed March 28 and 30, 2018)

Email, Erin Connors, senior media relations specialist, corporate communications and public affairs, American Psychiatric Association, March 27, 2018

Email, Lizzie Litzow, communications director, U. S. Rep. Michael McCaul, March 28, 2018

Article, "Psychopathy," Law Enforcement Bulletin, FBI, 2012

Chapter, "Psychopaths and Their Nature: Implications for the Mental Health and Criminal Justice Systems," Robert D. Hare, in Psychopathy: Antisocial, Criminal, and Violent Behavior, ed. Theodore Millon, Erik Simonsen, Morten Birket-Smith, and Roger D. Davis (New York, NY: Guilford Press, 1998), pp. 188-212 (accessed via Google Books March 28, 2018)

Article, "Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL)," Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, November 2016 (accessed March 29, 2018)

Email and phone interview, Robert D. Hare, emeritus professor of psychology, University of British Columbia, March 29-30, 2018

YouTube audio, 2004 radio Interview of Robert D. Hare, "Psychopath/Sociopath-The Difference," posted online Feb. 20, 2013 (accessed March 29, 2018)

Emails, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Samuel Candler Dobbs professor of psychology, Emory University, March 28-29, 2018

Article, "Misconceptions regarding psychopathic personality: implications for clinical practice and research," Neuropsychiatry, 2013 (accessed March 29, 2018)

Email, John Petrila, vice president of adult policy, Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, March 29, 2018

Abstract of study, "Prevalence and correlates of psychopathic traits in the household population of Great Britain," International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, March-April 2009 (accessed March 29, 2018)

Study, "Epidemiology, Comorbidity, and Behavioral Genetics of Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy," Psychiatric Annals, April 2015 (accessed March 29, 2018)

Study abstract, "Identifying the presence of psychopathy in the community," Australian Psychological Association, Forensic Psychology National Conference, Aug. 4-6, 2011 (accessed March 29, 2018)

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Millions of sociopaths live among us

You are here: Home / Everyday sociopaths: Master manipulators who live all around us / Millions of sociopaths

Lovefraud refers to people with exploitative personality disorders as sociopaths. Clinically, they could be diagnosed with antisocial, narcissistic, borderline, histrionic or psychopathic personality disorders.

Multiple research studies have attempted to determine how many people living in the community — not in mental institutions or prisons — have personality disorders. Estimates vary, depending on the study methodology and the population examined.

Experts generally believe that 1 percent of the general population meet the criteria for psychopathy. The diagnostic criteria for psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder include many overlapping traits and behaviors, so all psychopaths are also antisocial, but not all antisocials are psychopaths. Therefore, psychopaths are included in the number of people with antisocial personality disorder.

Below are estimates of the prevalence of “Cluster B” personality disorders listed in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5), according to various scientific papers.

Antisocial personality disorder (including psychopathy) — 3.05 to 3.8 percent
Narcissistic personality disorder — 1.0 to 6.2 percent
Borderline personality disorder — 1.9 to 5.9 percent
Histrionic personality disorder — 0.3 to 1.8 percent

All together, therefore, 6.25 to 17.7 percent of the adult population are sociopaths — people who could be diagnosed with antisocial, narcissistic, borderline or histrionic personality disorder, or psychopathy. The average of this range is 11.975 percent. For convenience, Lovefraud rounds it up to 12 percent.

In 2017, the adult population of the United States was more than 252 million. If 12 percent of them are disordered, that means we live among 30 million sociopaths.

The Lovefraud Risk Calculator projects the number of sociopaths in a community. The calculation assumes that between 6 percent and 17 percent of the U.S. population are sociopaths.

There’s more. Each of these personality disorders is both syndrome and a continuum. A syndrome is a collection of traits or behaviors that tend to group together. A continuum means that individuals can exhibit the traits or behaviors to greater or lesser degrees. Therefore, disordered individuals are not all the same — some of worse than others. And, people can be partially disordered — not bad enough to get a clinical diagnosis, but certainly bad enough to make you miserable.

So in addition to millions of diagnosable sociopaths, many more individuals have partial disorders. How many? No one knows — but they still cause problems for the rest of us. Whether we realize if or not, all of us have probably suffered at the hands of everyday sociopaths

Next: The Internet is loaded with sociopaths

"Now the time of psychopaths and sociopaths prevails" - Kommersant FM - Kommersant

70% of Russian schoolchildren have mental disorders. This was stated by the chief psychiatrist of the Ministry of Health Zurab Kekelidze. According to him, up to 40% of teenagers cannot adapt to school conditions. Kekelidze stressed that school doctors should study psychiatric education programs and be aware of the developmental characteristics of children and adolescents. Associate Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, an expert in child psychiatry Roman Suleimanov discussed the topic with the host of Kommersant FM, Inna Vladina.

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- Do you agree with this very frightening assessment?

— Yes, I absolutely agree. I would probably say that this is still a very soft assessment. This is a truly unfortunate and serious problem in society. Mental disorders in children have been on the rise for the past 20 years, if not more. This is also noted by official statistics, there are even more unrecorded cases. Indeed, it is very difficult for children to adapt to school. This is just one of the problems, let's say, not the most important problem for our children.

— Not the most important? And what is more important than adaptation?

— School maladjustment entails further professional maladaptation, that is, children will not be able to adapt to society. I watch with horror our children, the generation that is now in schools, and older. It really is a kind of mental epidemic, I would say.

— Why is this happening? What are the reasons? You must have been following this topic for a long time, trying to figure it out.

— There are many reasons. First of all, socio-economic changes in society, discrediting family values. Some kind of massive propaganda of pathological norms of behavior is going on. You turn on the TV, there is practically not a single series where normal roles are played, this is some kind of sheer psychopathy, sheer personality disorders. Moreover, they are planted, that is, it is impossible to watch these programs on television.

Everywhere you look, there are screams, yelling, aggression and this implanted success, which should mean wealth, and not some kind of pride in your family or inner peace, or in your high professionalism, or, in the end, country.

- The situation, judging by these symptoms that you described, is not so easy to fix. In many ways, of course, it does not depend on children, but on adults. What's wrong with parents? Well, okay, you can stop watching TV, but you can't take a child out of our world, right?

— Yes, of course. It is impossible to ban or throw away at all, as some say that they do not have a TV at all at home. The fact is that, probably, this situation cannot be changed so easily until the social and economic conditions in society change.

This is the time of psychopaths and sociopaths. They are present everywhere, in any quantity absolutely. Everywhere you look, in all media there is no control over social norms, there are no cultural traditions, what the hell happens in families.

People are preoccupied with themselves, preoccupied with material goods, which are again broadcast to them, propagandized from TV that be successful or die trying to achieve what you want, buy a car, an apartment, something else, otherwise you are just nobody. Therefore, parents devote most of their time to earning money in order to achieve some kind of material success, naturally, without paying enough attention to children. And there are a lot of factors that influence this growth of mental disorders. Not every child can adapt to communicating with psychopaths.

In any normal society there is always a certain number of such pathological personalities, but now in our society, in our culture, in our country this number of psychopaths has increased so dramatically that they are already beginning to dictate their own rules of the game.

— Is there any interest? For children, we heard the assessment of Kekelidze and the Ministry of Health, and if we talk about adults, what is this percentage, what is it? The people you are talking about now.

- These psychopathic qualities are usually repressed in society. Or a person simply learns to somehow not demonstrate them to others, and in our society, I think, at least half of the people now suffer from serious mental disorders. Of course, I'm not talking about psychosis, schizophrenia or epilepsy, I'm talking specifically about personality disorders, moral disorders, about what used to be called "moral psychopathy." And in general, it is enough, in general, to go down the subway or just look at the faces of our fellow citizens, you will rarely see a happy person, you will rarely see a calm, peaceful person.

— It's true, it's hard to disagree with you. Roman Alexandrovich, Mr. Kekelidze, suggested that one of the necessary measures to be introduced is compulsory psychological education of teachers in schools. Will, given your diagnosis, help the whole society?

- This is some kind of palliative measure. It is impossible to teach a person to be kind, to teach him to love children. We need to change society as a whole. Of course, it is possible by some normative methods to force teachers to take some one-year courses so that they are aware of some basics of psychology, but will they put it into practice, will they be able to reorganize? We need to reshape people's minds.

“I am a sociopath” Should I be afraid of Dexter, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. House: Books: Culture: Lenta.ru

“I am a highly active sociopath! It's time to learn the terms already, ”the charming Benedict Cumberbatch-Holmes tells Martin Freeman-Watson in the famous film adaptation. And he is not the only one. The noble maniac Dexter and the cynical genius Dr. House, the "mentalist" Patrick Jane and Detective Saga Noren from The Bridge are cute but specific. They are sociopaths. And this is not bad, a certain M. Thomas convinces the reader. She is 30 years old, a licensed lawyer, and has antisocial personality disorder (i.e., sociopathy). In her book Confessions of a Sociopath, she says that there are more such people in the world than you might think. Many of them are rich, famous and hold high positions. "Confessions of a Sociopath" will be published in early August by the Azbuka publishing house. Lenta.ru publishes an excerpt from the book.

If my life were a TV show, this is how it would start. A warm summer day somewhere in the south of the States. On the surface of the pool ripples sparkling in the rays of the sun. With a soft rustle, the sliding door of the house opens. A young woman in flip flops and a black sports swimsuit comes out onto the porch. Dark hair flowing over the muscular shoulders of a professional swimmer. The skin is covered with a dark golden tan - the heroine of the show moonlights as a lifeguard at the local municipal beach in the summer. A woman is neither beautiful nor ugly; there is nothing outstanding, conspicuous in it. She looks like an ordinary athlete; there is a boyish clumsiness in her movements. It seems that a woman is completely indifferent to her body, she does not care if it is beautiful or ugly. She has long been accustomed to being half-naked, like most athletes.

Today she is expecting a student for a swimming lesson. She casually tosses a towel on a beach chair, brushes off her flip-flops as if she'll never need them again, and only then notices that something is moving in the pool.

It's something very small, and the woman realizes what it is only when she comes to the edge of the pool. A baby opossum, hardly a week old, is desperately floundering in the water. Tiny pink paws hit the water. The animal struggles to keep a microscopic pink nose above the surface. The poor thing must have fallen into the pool at night. The opossum is still too small to jump to the edge of the pool. The body of the cub trembles with fatigue. Eyes covered with a veil of incredible fatigue. A little more, and the animal will give up and go to the bottom.
With a quick movement, the woman puts her flip-flops back on and thinks for a moment. Then he resolutely takes the net and heads for the pool. A close-up camera shows how the net descends and covers a small opossum, crushing its hind legs. With a quick, almost imperceptible movement, the woman pulls the animal under the water. Only his head remains above the water. The animal beats frantically, making plaintive, weeping sounds. A new danger gives it strength, it breaks out from under the net, emerges to the surface, manages to take a breath of life-giving air, but the net again inexorably pulls it to the bottom. However, the circle of the net is not completely immersed in the water, and the animal breaks out of the trap.

The woman sighs and picks up the net. For a fraction of a second, the baby opossum feels relieved, but then again begins to frantically thrash the water with its tiny paws. The woman drops the net on the ground, takes a towel from the chair and goes into the house. Picks up the phone, calls the student and cancels the class, citing problems with the pool. Taking out the keys from the desk drawer, he leaves the house and runs to a powerful car, which he has been driving since the age of 16. The eight-cylinder engine sneezes and roars to life. The woman turns on the reverse gear and, not really caring about the cars standing nearby, leaves - she suddenly had a day off, she needs to spend it properly.

Frame: True Detective series

At dusk the woman comes back, goes to the pool and sees a small dark shadow at the bottom. Picking up the same net, she deftly hooks the dead body and throws it over the fence, onto the neighbor's plot. Throwing an antiseptic tablet into the pool, he goes into the house. The camera pans to the calm expanse of water in the pool. The ripple is no more. Blackout.

I am a sociopath. As a result of the intricacies of genetics and upbringing, I suffer from "antisocial personality disorder" (colloquially "sociopathy"), which is described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders as "persistent behavior characterized by disregard for the rights of others and violation of these rights. " Key symptoms leading to a diagnosis are an inability to repent and comply with social norms, coupled with a tendency to deceive. I myself prefer to define sociopathy as the sum of the traits that have shaped my personality, but do not define who I am. I am free from confusing and irrational emotions, good at making strategic plans, smart, self-confident and charming. At the same time, I try to notice when other people are emotional or embarrassed, and respond in a socially acceptable way.

The terms psychopathy and sociopathy have the same clinical origin and are often used interchangeably, although some experts distinguish them based on genetic factors, attitudes toward aggression, and other manifestations. I prefer to call myself a sociopath, because the root "psycho" causes negative associations. I do suffer from a certain mental disorder, but I am by no means crazy.

Genetic factors I can trace back to my biological grandfather, who is said to have been an exceptionally cold and callous person. His scarred face spoke volumes of impulsiveness, risk-taking, and violence. A scientist, rocket designer, he imagined himself a cowboy all his life. He swelled all the savings he inherited into the ranch, which he brought to complete collapse, and then sold to pay taxes. He did not want to marry his grandmother, but she became pregnant; he was forced into marriage, but ran away a few months after his father was born. The grandfather voluntarily renounced parental rights and never met his own son in his life. I don't know anything about my grandfather's parents, but I think that an apple doesn't fall far from an apple tree.

Frame: film The Shining

My upbringing contributed to the development of pathological traits in me too, although not quite in the way that is shown in documentaries about sociopaths. As a child, I was treated very well. I didn't become a murderer or a criminal. I have never been in prison, preferring the ivy-covered arbor to the cell. I am a trained lawyer and lecturer in law, a typical young scholar who regularly publishes articles in special journals. I donate ten percent of my income to charity and teach Sunday school for free. I have excellent relationships with relatives and friends, I love them very much, and they love me.

Do you recognize yourself in this description? Maybe you're a sociopath too? Recent studies have shown that sociopaths make up 1 to 4 percent of the population. It turns out that every 25th of us is like that. It turns out that there are more sociopaths than people suffering from anorexia or autism. Are you a serial killer? Never been in jail? Make no mistake - the same goes for the vast majority of us. You may be surprised to learn that the fact that you are not a criminal does not relieve you of the diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder. Only 20 percent of the men and women in prison are sociopaths, although we are probably responsible for half of the serious crimes. Also, most sociopaths don't go to jail. The vast (and silent) majority of them live in freedom, quietly and unnoticed; they work, marry, marry, have children and achieve significant success in a society that considers them monsters.

So who are sociopaths? Our name is legion, and we are very diverse. At least one looks like me. Maybe the other one is on you?

Do you have many friends, fall in love with you, admire you? This means nothing. On the contrary, despite our bad reputation, we sociopaths have an irresistible, if superficial charm. In our world, populated mainly by sullen, ordinary nonentities, biting each other like rats and fussily rushing to feeders, we stand out very favorably, and people are drawn to us like moths to a candle flame.

If we could meet, you would like me. I am quite sure of this, as I know a sufficient number of people who fall under my spell. My smile is like a star of a TV show: I smile, showing (very rare!) shining teeth, and attract, not repel attention. I'm the girl you'd love to bring to your ex-wife's wedding. Joy, pleasant excitement from a great escort - your boss's wife would be delighted with such a sweet creature. Your parents would be very happy to see such a smart and successful girl like me in their house.

Do you have a very high opinion of yourself? For example, I value myself highly. The ego of sociopaths - this has long been known - is always in the body, like the women on the canvases of Rubens. I simply radiate self-confidence, and its level does not correspond to my condition and social position. I'm not tall, but I have broad shoulders and a square chin. Friends often comment on my firmness and self-confidence. However, I feel equally good in a summer dress and cowboy boots.

Shot: House M.D.

Perhaps the most noticeable sign of my self-confidence is the ability to withstand the gaze of others. Some people think I have a "predator's eye"; I think it is characteristic of most sociopaths. The ability to keep one's eyes open is seen by many as a sign of hostility. For example, visitors to the zoo are not advised to look into the eyes of gorillas, as for them such a look is a signal to attack. Apparently, the majority of people think the same way, because otherwise the competition of views would not be so defiantly difficult. We sociopaths are not like that. We are not at all embarrassed by the eyes of others. The fact that we do not politely look away is perceived as a sign of self-confidence, aggression, seduction or predation. For some, this ability of ours throws us off balance; but often it is also perceived as a sign of passionate love.

Have you ever found that your charm and self-confidence make people do things for you that they would never do for another less confident person? Some call it manipulation, but I believe that I have the ability to dispose of what God has given me. The very word manipulation strikes me as disgusting. People use it to avoid being responsible for their own choices. If a person does not regret his decision, does this mean that no one manipulated him?

A lot of people think that manipulation is the area where the traits of a sociopath look the most repulsive, but I don't understand why. This is not manipulation, but just an equal exchange. People always want something - to please you, to be needed and wanted, to be considered good, and manipulation is a quick, if dirty, way to get them what they want. You can, of course, consider that they are seduced. A sociopath friend of mine gives the following example. Let's say someone wants to sell a car for five thousand dollars, and another wants to buy the same car for ten thousand. I know these two people are strangers. I buy a car for five thousand, sell it for ten thousand and make five thousand bucks. On Wall Street and places like that, it's called buying and selling securities, and they do it day in and day out, and no one thinks it's reprehensible. Everyone got what they wanted, and everyone will be happy if they do not learn more than what is needed. I took advantage of someone else's ignorance, to the satisfaction of the seller and the buyer, and to my own advantage.

Indeed, I believe that people who deal with sociopaths often get more than when dealing with "normal" people. Sociopaths are the lubricant that keeps the wheels of the world turning. We make dreams come true, or at least pretend to make them come true. Sometimes we alone in the world show the greatest concern for the needs and needs of others, while skillfully masking the true reasons for our attention. We carefully look at the intended victim and try to become the embodiment of what she needs - a good employee, boss or lover. By no means always our mask hides evil intentions or dark intentions. Our victim, as a rule, feels great during the exchange, and usually everything goes smoothly and ends to mutual satisfaction. Of course, any of our actions has its price: we never do anything for free, we always want to get something in return - money, power or just the pleasure of someone else's admiration, but this does not mean that our partners do not receive anything. It may seem to you that it is too expensive, but if you make a deal with the devil, then no angel has offered you better conditions.

How are your morals? Don't you find it much easier to judge yourself and others by the "survival of the fittest" standard? People sometimes reproach us that we do not know how to regret and repent, and they think that this is bad. For some reason, it is believed that the ability to experience guilt is an essential sign of a good person. But I think that in the world there is no universal, much less "objective" morality. Theologians and philosophers have been breaking spears in disputes for thousands of years, but have never come to an unambiguous conclusion about what it is and what are the signs and measure of high morality. From my point of view, it is difficult to believe in something so elastic and changeable, and besides, it justifies such horrors as honor killings, "just" wars and the death penalty. Like most people, I am religious, and it is faith that guides my life morally, gives me confidence, helps me avoid prison and remain invisible in the crowd. But the essence of morality has always eluded me and still eludes me.

I have a pragmatic view. I submit to the requirements of morality when it suits me, and in other cases I act as I need, without being bothered by the search for self-justifications.
(…)
Did you, to the horror of those around you, make important decisions with lightning speed? Sociopaths are famous for their spontaneity of behavior. For example, I simply do not know peace; it is difficult for me to concentrate on one thing for a long time, I rarely stay in one job for more than a few years. Sociopaths need external stimuli like air, without them we start to get bored and act thoughtlessly. The dark side of our impulsiveness is that we fix our attention on one thing, distracted from everything else, and lose the ability to listen to the arguments of reason. But if the majority, succumbing to the moment, lose their heads, I do the same with a cold heart.

Frame: TV series Dexter

I have never killed anyone, although I often wanted to, but here I am hardly different from the others. I rarely wanted to kill someone close to me; more often such a desire arose in relation to random people who for some reason caused irritation. Once, when I was in Washington for a legal conference, a subway worker tried to shame me for trying to get on a closed escalator. He asked me in English with a strong foreign accent, "Don't you see the yellow barrier?"

Me: Yellow barrier?

OH: Yes! I just put up a barrier, which means the escalator is closed!

I look at him without any expression.

OH: This is a violation! Don't you know that you can't enter a closed escalator? You are breaking the law!

I remain impassive.

OH: (obviously taken aback by my lack of response): Okay, don't break it next time, okay?

No, it's not okay! Having done something terrible, people often explain later that they “lost it”. I am very familiar with this feeling. At that time, I stood, waiting for a wave of rage to overwhelm the part of the brain responsible for decisions. When the moment arrived, I was filled with icy calm and determination. Squinting my eyes and clenching my teeth, I followed the worker. Adrenaline rushed through my blood. My mouth was dry and there was a metallic taste. By an effort of will, I forced myself to carefully monitor everything that was happening around, trying to predict how the crowd would behave. Before that, I had not been to Washington and rarely rode the subway. Rush hour hasn't arrived yet. I expected that he would go alone into some deserted passage or unlocked room and there I would find him alone. I was completely focused on what I would do next. In my imagination, my fingers closed on his throat and life gradually left him. This is a manifestation of the highest justice, it seemed to me.

Now it's strange to think about it. I weigh 60 kilograms, and he was at least 75. Like all musicians, I have strong arms, but are they strong enough to strangle a large man? Is it easy to take a life? When it came down to it one day, I couldn't even drown a baby opossum. I was under the illusion of my own strength, but in the end nothing happened - I lost the worker in the crowd. The rage dissipated as quickly as it had arisen.

I often ask myself what would have happened if I had not lost sight of him. I'm sure I couldn't kill him, but I almost certainly know I would. Would he resist? Would I get hurt? Would the police intervene? Is there anything I could say or do to get myself out of an awkward situation? I often think about this and many other similar cases and I understand that one day I can get into a very ugly story.

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