Expert reveals how you can tell if someone is a psychopath just by looking at their eyes

Can you actually tell if someone is a psychopath just by looking into their eyes?

Yes, but a psychology expert says the truth is much more complicated than you think.

Evelyn Reid (@theoracly) has spent decades observing the Dark Triad, which consists of three overlapping personality disorders - narcissism, machiavellianism and psychopathy.

Psychopaths are thought to have a severe form of antisocial personality disorder, which consists of having a lack of regret or remorse, showing disregard for normal social behaviour, blaming others for their mistakes and repeatedly breaking the law, according to the NHS.

“Can you spot a psychopath just by looking at their eyes? Yes. But catching their mask slip rarely happens on first contact or even second or third,” Reid warned in one of her TikTok videos.

Estimates suggest that 0.6 percent of adults in the UK are affected by high levels of psychopathy (Getty Stock Images)

The content creator notes 'that psychopaths may be more likely to avoid eye contact than seek it out', and that similar behaviors are sometimes found in neurodivergent individuals, which means eye contact alone cannot serve as a diagnostic clue.

As Dr Todd Grande previously explained in one of his YouTube videos, researchers study pupil dilation because emotions normally make the pupils change size.

Most people’s pupils quickly widen when they see something unpleasant, but individuals high in Factor 1 psychopathy (cold, unemotional, and manipulative), show reduced pupil dilation to negative images, mainly in the first two seconds. This suggests a slower emotional response.

Psychopathy tends to be more common in prisons in the UK (Getty Stock Images)

Psychopaths may also react unusually to happy faces. Dr Grande notes they could see smiles as threatening, which may explain why their pupils sometimes enlarge more than expected.

Both Dr Grande and Reid, however, say eye contact alone isn't enough to determine if someone is a psychopath or not.

“You really need multiple data points,” she said.

“You’re gonna need to look for more than just eye contact or lack thereof to come to a more solid conclusion.”

However, as well as reduced pupil dilation, other signs include, reduced blinking and something called the 'psychopathic stare' - that doesn't sound terrifying at all.

The stare presents itself as long and predatory which can make you feel intimidated or unnerved in a bid for them to establish some kind of dominance or manipulation over you.

It is unknown why more men tend to be psychopaths than women (Getty Stock Images)

Reid notes that fixating too much on someone’s eyes can actually distract from the more telling patterns.

As she puts it: “While you’re so focused on their eyes, you might miss out on other behavioral cues that appearing together reveal much, much more than any one blink, stare, or lack thereof.”

Towards the end of the clip, Reid tells viewers to trust their gut the next time they think they are near a potential psychopath.

"Do yourself a favor the next time that happens and get out of the situation," she said.

"And then give yourself the time that you need to put into words what your body is telling you.

"Time reveals all is a cliche for a reason."