Main content

Am I a psychopath?

A CrowdScience listener thinks she empathises less than her friends and family and it leaves her wondering if she is a psychopath.

One CrowdScience listener finds herself unconcerned about much of the world鈥檚 problems, it leaves her wondering: am I a psychopath?

Inspired by a previous episode on empathy, this listener asked is it true that psychopaths don鈥檛 empathise and what are the character traits of psychopathy?

Marnie Chesterton talks with a diagnosed pro-social psychopath to find out.

She also pays a visit to the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and gets into an MRI scanner to discover what is happening in her brain when she empathises.

Studies suggest around 1 percent of the general population exhibit traits associated with psychopathy and that rises to 3-4 percent in the world of business. But is this really the case?

Why is there so much stigma associated with psychopathy and do psychopaths even exist or is it just a convenient term to label those whose emotional range sits outside of the 鈥渘orm鈥?

Presented by Marnie Chesterton and produced by Caroline Steel for the 91热爆 World Service.

Guests:
Julia Shaw
Jim Fallon
Valeria Gazzola
Kalliopi Ioumpa

[Image credit: Getty Images]

Available now

36 minutes

Last on

Mon 26 Jul 2021 12:32GMT

Clip

Broadcasts

  • Fri 23 Jul 2021 19:32GMT
  • Mon 26 Jul 2021 01:32GMT
  • Mon 26 Jul 2021 03:32GMT
  • Mon 26 Jul 2021 08:32GMT
  • Mon 26 Jul 2021 12:32GMT

Podcast