8 Ways To Tell If You're A Psychopath

3. Are You A "Prosocial Psychopath"?

In keeping with our stereotype-busting theme, it turns out that not every psychopath is necessarily "evil" or even "bad".

It is now thought by many that what "type" of psychopath a person turns out to be is as much to do with their upbringing as it is their genes and that those with a stable, caring start in life are more likely to grow up into "prosocial psychopaths".

One such example of this is a neuroscientist by the name of James Fallon. Fallon comes from a long line of psychopaths, with several murderers occupying branches of his family tree. His career as a neuroscientist was mostly focussed on studying the brains of psychopaths and violent criminals, so when he found out about his heritage, he knew just what to look for as he began scanning the brains of his family.

His whole family turned out to be normal, but when Fallon scanned his own brain, the results were that of a textbook psychopath. This was certainly a surprise for the quiet family man who donates to charity and regularly takes on leadership roles in his community. Fallon acknowledges that he gets a "kick" out of helping his community and being seen as the good guy, in much the same way an anti-social psychopath might get a kick out of getting one-up on another person.

The supportive early years for the "prosocial psychopath" could mean that, although he still lacks empathy and emotion, he finds that behaving positively in society can offer as many personal advantages as behaving negatively. You could still consider it a form of manipulation, but with fewer victims.