Scientists have struggled for centuries to understand psychopaths like serial killer Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. Neuroscientist James Fallon recently wrote a book entitled, “The Psychopath Inside” that sheds some light on psychopathic behavior. The book outlines his latest research into brain activity and how it relates to psychopathology. Here are a few of his surprising findings:
- Not everybody with psychopathic traits is crazy or dangerous. Fallon discusses another study performed where U.S. Presidents were analyzed to determine if they had psychopathic characteristics. Presidential biographers were asked questions from a Scale of Psychopathy regarding a particular President’s behavior. Surprisingly, a number of U.S. Presidents scored high for psychopathy. This list includes: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Bill Clinton.
- Lack of empathy plays a key role in psychopathic behavior. Mr. Fallon admits people with psychopathic behaviors can feel cognitive empathy; meaning they can logically understand that someone else is upset. But, they lack emotional empathy and are unable to replicate in themselves what someone else might be feeling.
- James Fallon found that his own brain scan was consistent with that of a psychopath. When speaking with his mother about this finding, she was not surprised and admitted being concerned about some of his behavior when he was younger.
- In regards to the nature vs. nurture debate, nurture has much more of an impact than previously believed. This was one of the more surprising findings in the research. In fact, Fallon now believes it was the loving household in which he was raised that prevented his psychopathic traits from morphing into full-blown psychopathy.
To learn more, watch the below video from a CNN interview between Mr. Fallon and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. This interview aired on February 22nd, 2014.
Mark is a mental health professional who has worked in the EAP field since 2004. During this time, he has provided telephonic crisis counseling, workplace consultations regarding behavioral risk issues, trainings on various work-life topics, and account management services.