hey everyone and welcome to top tank today we're going to learn about
10 subtle signs of a psychopath now let's begin number one social domination
how do psychopaths interact with the world do they communicate the same way you do a 2019 review from
the journal of psycholinguistic research asked the same questions to find an answer they compiled 34
different studies on psychopathic communication but what did they find just think about an average
conversation most conversations are friendly and casual two friends chatting over coffee co-workers
poking fun at their boss strangers exchanging bits of small talk but some conversations are
more competitive in business settings for example you may wrestle for power and status if you say
too much your opponent gets the better of you so you choose your words very carefully a psychopath
views every conversation as a competition they crave social dominance they need the
power in every relationship they make so like a business transaction they lay traps withhold
information and manipulate other people social interactions are in the mind of a psychopath
a hierarchy of power and status and the psychopath wants to be on top so how can you recognize this
hunger for power in another person when talking to a psychopath you may feel like you're on the
back foot they may one-up you at every turn they may catch every mistake you make or point out
every tiny contradiction if you mess up they'll let you know because your mistakes give them power
number two mass generalizations to a psychopath everyone is their enemy so
they're always searching for reasons to criticize their community their country or the entire world
all right let's say you see someone throw an empty can on the ground how would you react you
may think to yourself this person littered so they must be careless and disrespectful
you like most people judge individuals for their actions but a psychopath can generalize anything
this comes from the same 2019 review psychopaths are prone to over-generalization
especially if it's something negative instead of judging a singular person they criticize
larger groups and communities if one person litters for example they don't
blame the individual they assume the whole city is careless and disrespectful
listen for these huge generalizations pay attention to radical assumptions and
narrow-minded opinions because psychopaths assume the world is full of terrible people
number three persuasive disfluencies do psychopaths talk differently than most people this
comes from a 2016 study in the journal of criminal justice and behavior in this study researchers
interviewed a handful of psychopaths looking at these interviews researchers look for patterns in
phrasing and word choice so what did they find are there differences in the way a psychopath speaks
researchers noticed a spike in language disfluencies disfluencies are breaks or
disruptions in your speech some people stutter other people use filler words like um or like
disfluencies usually signify stress or anxiety the average person for example uses more filler
words when they're nervous their mind races their heart rate skyrockets so they struggle to express
themselves clearly oh but a psychopath does things differently during interviews psychopaths used a
specific kind of disfluency they didn't stutter they didn't fill their speech with likes and dumbs
in fact researchers found very few stress-related words in their speech instead a psychopath will
use phrases like you know or to be honest these are still disfluencies but these disfluencies
serve a different purpose they don't fill space or buy time they're a subtle form of persuasion
psychopaths may use these phrases to manipulate their listeners and gain power in the conversation
number four personal pronouns our 2016 study uncovered another important sign of psychopathy
during their interviews most participants talked about multiple people they discussed their family
and their friends they talked about people from work they told stories about others and
referenced them by name psychopaths on the other hand mentioned only themselves they made very few
references to other people they rarely brought up family or friends and they showed barely any
emotional attachment to others the most compelling piece of evidence is their use of pronouns
researchers counted exactly how many pronouns each interviewee used and which ones were used the
most often it turns out psychopaths talked about themselves way more than most people they used so
many personal pronouns that researchers call this subtle sign a reliable predictor of psychopathy
so the next time you're having a conversation pay attention to the pronouns how often do people say
i and me there's nothing wrong with talking about yourself but a psychopath won't talk
about anything else number five temporary tools how do psychopaths treat their loved
ones in our 2019 review researchers explored how psychopaths view the people in their life
just think about this why do you make friends with other people maybe you enjoy their company you may
gather energy from the enthusiasm of others you may want to share your passions with people who
understand you there are many reasons to make friends but psychopaths only have one they bond
with others because they need something from them it may be a small favor it could be a connection
or a social boon there's always something to gain if you have nothing to offer a psychopath
they'll abandon the relationship because they view friends and family as tools
as soon as you're not useful a psychopath will throw you away number six inappropriate emotions
do you know someone who laughs at sad stories someone who cries when they're supposed to
be smiling psychopaths rarely express their emotions they prefer to be emotionally detached
many psychopaths discuss difficult topics without showing an ounce of emotion their emotional
detachment is also a sign of psychopathy but what happens when they do show their emotions all
right let's say your friend tells you a sad story from their childhood you're on the verge of tears
but they're not crying at all in fact they're laughing we call this an inappropriate emotion
when a psychopath has a reaction their outward emotions may contradict their inward experiences
in other words they may laugh when they want to cry number 7 biological needs everyone has social
and emotional needs you long for companionship you crave physical affection you feel frustrated when
someone ignores you because you want to be heard these are all valid needs that people feel on a
regular basis but a psychopath avoids their social or emotional needs many psychopaths pretend those
needs don't exist they talk only about their basic evolutionary needs they need food they need water
they need money they view the world through concrete desires not social or emotional problems
so why do they think like this because psychopaths want to appear strong at all times they want
people to see them as fearless and sturdy to a psychopath expressing your emotions is dangerous
it's a sign of weakness that's why psychopaths avoid their emotions as often as they can number
eight strategic avoidance do you know someone who leaves out important parts of their stories
psychopaths use this trick to bait people in it gives them power in the conversation by leaving
out details they're holding all the cards they have something you want to hear and they decide
when you hear it in the mind of a psychopath this is one way to achieve social dominance
let's say something important happened on the news you didn't hear about it so you ask your friend
but they dance around the issue leaving out the most important details you keep asking for more
but they keep stringing you along this person is playing with you they know what you want but they
don't want to give it to you it's a subtle form of manipulation and it's common among psychopaths
number nine self-contradictions have you ever heard someone contradict themselves psychopaths
will contradict their own opinions they disprove and go back on their own arguments seconds
after making them for example a psychopath might say money can never buy you happiness
then a couple of minutes later they're obsessing about how much money they make many psychopaths
don't realize they're contradicting themselves because their opinions are impulsive and temporary
psychopaths have no problem with lying so they say whatever strikes them in the moment
not what they really believe unfortunately it's difficult to call them out if you say
something a psychopath may get defensive immediately they'll turn the argument on
its head and they'll aim all their frustration at you so keep an eye out for major contradictions
see how many times their opinions flop back and forth it may happen more than you realize
number 10 emotional landslides psychopaths bottle up their emotions they stuff their feelings down
for months or years at a time they ignore their problems they run away from conflicts
and they tune out anyone who tells them to change eventually those bottled up emotions
have to escape and when they do the outcome can be catastrophic let's call this an emotional
landslide an emotional landslide may be triggered by something small and insignificant but that
little moment releases a cascade of powerful feelings a psychopath may get unreasonably angry
they'll insult you yell at you or get physical with you they may spiral into a slump of despair
crying for hours on end these landslides can be frightening uncomfortable and dangerous if someone
you know experiences emotional landslides they might be a psychopath hey thank you
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