The word? Psychopath? It takes us directly to various icons of modern culture.
Not everyone corresponds to this pathology that we describe, but in general film, television and literature are full of fictional and real characters that provoke both fascination, fear, curiosity and rejection.
- What is in their minds and in the way they act that draws our attention to the search for possible explanations and justifications for them?.
Psychopathy is part of the group of personality disorders, that is, a way to be characterized by threat dominance, lack of guilt or remorse for what you do and manipulation to achieve your own interests, all under a facade of absolute normality.
“The world of the psychopath is special, is everything there, if it’s worth it, Vicente Garrido?
Something common is to confuse the psychopath with the psychotic, the main difference is that the former has no hallucinations or other forms of irrational thinking and at no time loses touch with reality.
In fact, the presence of these individuals in society is very low in statistical terms, although their crime is disproportionate when they commit it, however, the diagnosis should not be confused with a crime, most psychopaths are integrated into society.
This figure has been studied in the business world, in cases of gender-based violence and in the case of large statesmen (Staline, Milosevic, Mugabe, Hussein, etc. ). Industrial psychologist Babiak conducted research in which it was even possible to define a typical execution sequence.
Cleckley established 16 criteria. On his list, we find a lack of basic emotional reactions, an inability to love, an absence of nervousness, a charming personality, a lack of feelings of guilt and shame, the use of lies and an impersonal sex life, among others.
In fact, psychopaths differ in two types: primary and secondary
The former are callous, unrepentant, manipulative, have distorted relationships with others, and may be arrogant; if they resort to violence, it’s often a way to get something for their own benefit.
High school students have difficulty tolerating boredom, acting without thinking about the consequences, being impulsive and violent.
Studies on the ability of psychopaths to empathize have shown that they have no problem empathizing with the happiness of others, but not with fear. They find it hard to feel compassion for others. There’s no emotional reaction.
There are several theories and some indicate that the main cause has a biological origin, among which is small fear.
The researchers referenced the experience of fear in danger/punishment situations and the frightening response to danger/punishment signals, and concluded that primary psychopaths were afraid.
If the person does not feel a small fear of danger or punishment, there is no emotional experience and therefore is unlikely to react with fear to signs of threat or danger in the future. This is important to form awareness, which is acquired through the experience of fear and socialization throughout its development.
It is known that this type of person has a weak brain response to images of fear, pain and suffering (low activation of the amygdala, responsible for the treatment and storage of emotional reactions).
In fact, research by Yang, Raine, D. Phil and his colleagues has indicated that psychopaths have this much smaller brain structure, so they have a fragile consciousness based on biological differences compared to the rest of the population.
Important research has shown that they have great difficulty in acquiring new fears related to social norms, that they are not afraid of punishment and its consequences, and that they have more difficulty in acquiring the component of avoiding danger / punishment, which is the case. important in human consciousness.
So in the face of characteristics, research, and biology itself, the final question is: do psychopaths distinguish between good and evil? And the answer is yes. They know how to calibrate between right and wrong, and when they hurt someone, they know what they are doing.
In fact, there are bad people scientifically speaking and there is still research on it, but fortunately, the vast majority of people are in the other group.