You can spot a psychopath just by looking at someone, psychologist says

A professor in psychology says one thing about a person will give away whether or not they're a psychopath after researchers found a common denominator.

Susan Krauss Whitbourne, former professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, explained to Psychology Today that tests to find a common thing among psychopaths turned up a certain sign.

She explained that many studies on psychopaths have focused on criminals, since there's a high rate of psychopathy among people in prison, but wanted to cast the net wider and take a look at people who may not be so criminal in their behaviour.

While other studies have dug into the personality traits of a psychopath, a 2024 study looked into how someone might physically express themselves, namely in the form of body language.

It's not a new idea that you can tell what someone is thinking by their body language, and the researchers found that people who had a more upright posture scored higher on psychopathic traits.

Can you spot a psychopath? (Lionsgate Films)

Krauss Whitbourne explained that the McGill University in Canada studied the results of five other studies and found that there was one common denominator between psychopaths and non-psychopaths when asked to strike different poses.

She said that while the test can’t tell you exactly what’s going on in their noggin', it can give you some clues.

It found that those who had an open or a large pose were more likely to try to take advantage of you, and those who were more extravagant scored higher for traits of 'psychopathy, manipulativeness, competitiveness, and belief in the existence of social hierarchies.'

On the opposite end of the spectrum, those who slouch or change their stance multiple times quickly were found to have lower self-esteem.

Another revelation was that those who had a straight spine were more likely to have a naff personality.

So, loosen up, but not too much because your stance could reveal that you’re a psychopath.

People slouching were less likely to exhibit psychopathic traits, but an upright posture correlated with the opposite (Getty Stock Photo)

Abigail Marsh, a psychologist and neuroscientist as well as a Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University, US, also has her telltale signs.

In a video for Big Think she listed ‘certain things’ she looks for that suggests a ‘person is genuinely psychopathic’, and they are pretty scary.

Marsh says she sees the sign that a person tends to be ‘anti-social across’ a variety of domains, which isn’t limited to relationships.

“They’ve cheated on romantic partners, they’ve cheated in professional settings or maybe in school, or in a sports setting,” she explains.

“It’s not just one thing or one domain – you see unethical and anti-social behaviour across domains.”

She also shared that psychopaths tend to ‘show signs they think they’re better than other people’.

“Other people are dumb, other people are ignorant, other people are easily duped,” Marsh added.

London-based Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Jaleel Mohammed also shared common signs of antisocial personality disorder, aka, ASPD and impulsivity was right up there on the list.

Traits such as impulsivity, reckless and criminal behaviour could be common in those with antisocial personality disorder.

"Whereas most people may hesitate or think twice about their actions, psychopaths can be dangerously impulsive and make reckless decisions without considering the risk to other people," Dr Mohammed explained.

It’s hard to know if someone really is a psychopath, as only the licenced criteria can prove that, but it’s good to know what the traits are to steer clear of people who could be bad for your life.