Traits Of A Female Psychopath

We joke a lot about someone being a psychopath, and casually throw in that term to describe the slightest uncomfortable behavior of people in front of us. It’s also funny how men depict women of being “psychopathic” when intense affection is given to them, while the media has shown men being psychopaths for unbelievable reasons several times already. Let’s lay off psychopathic men for a second and try to understand, and help you spot the females with such tendencies.

Psychopathy is categorized as a mental illness and a personality disorder that has hints and diagnosis on how to spot people affected by it. People don’t usually choose to be psychopaths, it just happens. Science proves that the amygdala—part of the brain that is responsible for emotion processing—of female psychopaths is reduced when faced with immoral or distressing behavior. Apart from fictional portrayals in movies, and crime documentaries, many psychopaths are actually strolling around every day without people noticing. Dr. Melissa Burkley in Psychology Today explains how they may be your lawyer, co-worker or doctor which increases the odds of you having one in your life as “An estimated 1 in 100 people fit the definition of a psychopath” she wrote.

Dr. Burkley gave the brief that there are three traits that make up this narrow disorder for males and females:

1. Machiavellianism
2. Lack of Conscience or Empathy
3. Narcissism

It is how they manifest these traits that differ from a gender to another. Female psychopaths tend to be less violent than males, especially “behaviorally aggressive”. But will master displaying that aggression “relationally”, meaning that they won’t necessarily throw a punch, commit a crime or torture a puppy – though they still could.  But they will spread rumors about you, pressure you into actions, manipulate you for their own advantage, deceive you to the point of questioning your own sanity. No, this is not a script of a movie, this is real life behavioral occurrences.

Then there is narcissism, one of the key traits in identifying a psychopath, and women can be sly about it too. Contrary to males with high narcissism who will shout it from the roof top about how they are so much better than you, females will smile to your face and then judge you when you leave, because they also think that they’re better than you. It is all about deception, a façade that never really lasts, and now you know why.

You’d think if only it was that easy to spot a psychopath before they enter your life, then no one would suffer, but even with hints and tips it is hard to determine if someone actually is one. Females seem to be even harder due to their sly characteristics. But at least now you can keep an eye open. “In the end, the difference comes down to this: Male psychopaths throw punches; female psychopaths throw shade,” Dr. Burkley sums it up.

Next up, Am I A Catfish?