How to spot a psychopath: Expert reveals the traits to look out for in others and how to tell if YOU have the personality disorder

• Self-professed psychopath Jacob Wells posted his advice on Quora

• He described how he befriends people then uses them to his advantage 

• Description matches psychopathic traits such as charm and manipulation 

By Sarah Griffiths for MailOnline

Like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, psychopaths can be intelligent and charming, while hiding a lack of empathy.

So given their ability to manipulate others, how easy it is for you to spot one? 

Self-professed psychopath Jacob Wells has revealed how he behaves in different situations and has listed questions that may help others identify whether they have any psychopathic traits – as well as recognise them in others.

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Like Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, (played by Christian Bale, pictured) psychopaths can be intelligent and charming, while hiding a lack of empathy. Now a self-confessed psychopath has shared how he generally behaves to gain the trust of others and then use them to his own advantage

These include superficial charm, a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others and a lack of remorse and empathy.

Of course, not all psychopaths are criminals and murderers – in fact, many hold important positions in businesses thanks to their ruthless and impulsive attitude.

The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is used as a diagnostic tool to determine where someone lies on the psychopathy spectrum, as not all psychopaths display all the traits.

There are 20 items on the checklist, which score between zero and two points depending on whether someone matches a trait, to give a score out of 40.

In the UK, users are deemed psychopathic if they score above 25, but in the US it is 30. 

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Psychopathic traits include superficial charm (illustrated in this stock image), a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others and a lack of remorse and empathy

HOW TO SPOT A PSYCHOPATH: FROM CHARM TO MANIPULATION 

Psychopaths display different traits depending on their disorder, but common signs include superficial charm, a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others and a lack of remorse and empathy.

Experts claim people usually find psychopaths intriguing, but can’t put their finger on why. 

This is down to incongruous behaviour because psychopaths tend to do a lot of acting to deceive, or mimic normal reactions, sometimes changing their views and reactions quickly.

For example, Mr Wells said upon meeting someone, he tries to become ‘the most interesting person they know’ and presumably adopts suitable interests and responses to do this.

His response also gives away another common trait – a grandiose notion of self-worth – in that he can be the most interesting person in the room.

Psychopaths occasionally tend to exhibit unconvincing emotional responses, with slip-ups including tone of voice or body language.

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Psychopaths occasionally tend to exhibit unconvincing emotional responses , with slip-ups including tone of voice or body language. They will also offer to do favours and tell false secrets (stock image) to people to gain their complete trust

This may be because they are unable to understand emotions such as fear and love, but can mimic them.

Generally psychopaths’ ’emotions’ are shallow and short-lived and there is a manipulative ulterior motive to showing them.

For example, Mr Wells said he offers to do favours and tells false secrets to people to gain their complete trust.

He also displays insincere charm – another trait associated with psychopaths.

He says: ‘I keep secrets, and tell them fake secrets to further gain their trust, and once they trust me enough, I ask for favours, reminding them of the favours I did them. I can get literally anything from them, which is incredibly useful.’

Psychopaths typically display an incredible ability to manipulate others and sometimes take pleasure in doing so. 

Psychopaths often have an air of superiority about them, perhaps shown by Mr Wells’ belief he can spot other psychopaths

Even expert Dr Hare warns that anyone can be duped during a short interaction with a psychopath.

Writing on question and answer website Quora, Mr Wells, who claims to score 34 on the Hare checklist, said he deliberately changes how he acts depending on the situation.

However, there is no way of confirming he is a psychopath as he claims.

He wrote: ‘I usually present myself as normal at first. 

‘Some exceptions being academic settings where I try to present myself as either or a good student or a genius (the first of which I am not, at all), dating settings where I present myself as being perfect, but unaware of it (both lies), or competitive settings where I act humble but intimidating (neither is true in this case either)’.

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According to a survey by psychologist Kevin Dutton, people who hold certain jobs are more likely to display psychopathic traits, including CEOs (illustrated by a stock image), lawyers and TV personalities

He described how he then shows a bit more of his true character by behaving ‘a bit abnormally’ and trying to become ‘the most interesting person they know’ by telling stories about himself to gain the person’s trust.

‘By this point they usually find me intelligent, eccentric, and a bit psychopathic, but fairly normal,’ he explained.

HOW TO TELL IF YOU’RE A PSYCHOPATH

Self-professed psychopath Jacob Wells explained there is a series of questions people can use to determine they have psychopathic traits.

They include: 

Do you lie to get what you want?

Is it okay to manipulate others to get what you want?

How many of the following feeling do you feel on a regular basis? Sadness, guilt, love, remorse, emotional pain, embarrassment.

Do you ever feel any of these emotions because other around you do?

Do you ever break into fits of rage for no reason?

Are you skilled at manipulating others?

Do you fake emotions?

Do you think yourself superior to others? 

The full list can be found here. 

If Mr Wells becomes close to a person, he said he seeks to gain their trust completely.

‘I gain their trust fully by doing and/or offering to do immense favours that nobody else would do.

‘I offer to solve their problems, in any way possible, and then ask them how far to take it so I don’t violate their morals.

‘If they don’t like a teacher/co-worker/neighbour/whatever, I offer to get rid of them.

‘If they say don’t put them in prison I’ll get them fired. If they say don’t get them fired I’ll trash their reputation, or scare them into backing off.’

This description near perfectly describes expected behaviour of a psychopath, who uses charm to disguise calculating moves in a bid to manipulate someone to their advantage.

Favours are not done to be kind, but as a way of controlling someone for personal gain and bonds and relationships are often superficial too.

Mr Wells continued: ‘I keep secrets, and tell them fake secrets to further gain their trust, and once they trust me enough, I ask for favours, reminding them of the favours I did them.

‘I can get literally anything from them, which is incredibly useful.’

It is believed that one per cent of the population displays psychopathic traits, which when subtle, can help people get ahead at work.

Between three and four per cent of senior positions are believed to be occupied by psychopaths.

According to a survey by psychologist Kevin Dutton, people who hold certain jobs are more likely to display psychopathic traits, including CEOs, lawyers, TV personalities, salespeople, surgeons, journalists, police officers, clergymen, chefs and civil servants. 

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Psychopathy is characterised by enduring antisocial behaviour, impulsivity, selfishness, callousness, and remorselessness. Famous psychopaths in films include Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs (played by Anthony Hopkins pictured) and Norman Bates in Psycho

In another post on Quora, Mr Wells lists questions to consider by someone who thinks they display psychopathic traits.

They include: ‘Do you lie to get what you want?’ ‘Do you fake emotions?’ and ‘Do you think yourself superior to others?’

Perhaps demonstrating a grandiose notion of his self-worth, Mr Wells added: ‘Comment your answers below and I will say what I think you have.’

However, there is no way of knowing whether he is a psychopath as he says, or someone who has cleverly concocted answers to display some of the more obvious traits associated with the mental disorder.

HOW EVIL ARE YOU? TEST REVEALS WHETHER YOU HAVE MACHIAVELLIAN TRAITS OR SHOWN SIGNS OF PSYCHOPATHY

A quiz recently swept the internet that claims to tell you just how ‘evil’ you are.

It measures Machiavellian, narcissistic and psychopathic traits to tell you whether you are ‘occasionally vile’ or ‘decidedly dastardly’ for example.

The quiz was created by BBC Future and inspired by questionnaires developed by psychologists Delroy Paulhus and Daniel Jones.

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The quiz tells users just how ‘evil’ they are by asking a series of personality questions. The title page of the quiz is shown above. It measures Machiavellian, narcissistic and psychopathic traits to tell users whether they are ‘occasionally vile’ or ‘decidedly dastardly’ for example

It measures the personality traits described as the ‘dark triad.’

Machiavellianism is characterised by manipulation and exploitation of others, a cynical disregard for morality, and a focus on self-interest and deception.

Fictional character Frank Underwood, in House of Cards is a good example of a Machiavellian person, for example.

Narcissism is characterised by grandiosity, pride, egotism, and a lack of empathy and could perhaps be exemplified by the character Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada.

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To do the quiz, users measure their own ‘dark side’ by answering questions about their Machiavellianism, narcissistic and psychopathic tendencies, (examples shown) by either agreeing or disagreeing with statements such as: ‘I use clever manipulation to get my way’ and ‘I hate being the centre of attention’

Psychopathy is characterised by enduring antisocial behaviour, impulsivity, selfishness, callousness, and remorselessness.

Famous psychopaths in films include Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs and Norman Bates in Psycho.

While extreme versions of these traits are sometimes associated with murderers, experts believe a combination of the ‘dark’ traits may help people succeed in life and reach a position of wealth and power, for example.