Do You Enjoy the Misfortune of Others? Then You May Be a Psychopath!
Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, reviewed three decades' worth of research into schadenfreude - which translates to 'harm-joy' in German.
Since ancient times, some scholars have condemned schadenfreude as malicious, while others have perceived it as morally neutral or even virtuous.
'Schadenfreude is an uncanny emotion that is difficult to assimilate,' said study lead author Professor Philippe Rochat.
'It's kind of a warm-cold experience that is associated with a sense of guilt.
'It can make you feel odd to experience pleasure when hearing about bad things happening to someone else.'
The authors propose that the feeling is driven by three motivators.
Some people enjoy the pain of others simply because it helps them feel better about themselves, a form of schadenfreude powered by 'self-evaluation'.
Others revel in the misfortune of those they consider of a different social group to their own - such as football supporters enjoying the loss of a rival team.
The third trigger is justice: Those who enjoy misfortune if the victim has previously behaved badly or shown themselves to be immoral.
Underpinning all three of these emotions is dehumanization - the capacity to look at others as less human than yourself, researchers found.
They say that three 'dark' personality traits overlap 'substantially' with schadenfreude: Sadism, narcissism and psychopathy.
Ordinary people may temporarily lose empathy for others, but those with these three traits struggle far more to put themselves in the shoes of others.
What pulls people away from schadenfreude is the ability to feel empathy for others and to perceive them as fully human.
'We all experience schadenfreude but we don't like to think about it too much because it shows how ambivalent we can be to our fellow humans,' Professor Rochat said.
'But schadenfreude points to our ingrained concerns and it's important to study it in a systematic way if we want to understand human nature.'
The study was published in the journal New Ideas in Psychology.
Would You Know How to Spot a Psychopath?
Psychopaths display different traits depending on their disorder.
Common signs include superficial charm, a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others and a lack of remorse and empathy.
But despite the popular association, not all psychopaths become killers.
Experts claim people usually find psychopaths intriguing, but can't put their finger on why.
This is down to incongruous behavior because psychopaths tend to do a lot of acting to deceive, or mimic normal reactions, sometimes changing their views and reactions quickly.
For example, self-professed psychopath Jacob Wells said that upon meeting someone, he tries to become 'the most interesting person they know' and presumably adopts suitable interests and responses to do this.
His response also gives away another common trait - a grandiose notion of self-worth - in that he can be the most interesting person in the room.
Psychopaths occasionally tend to exhibit unconvincing emotional responses, with slip-ups including tone of voice or body language.
This may be because they are unable to understand emotions such as fear and love, but can mimic them.
Generally psychopaths' 'emotions' are shallow and short-lived and there is a manipulative ulterior motive to showing them.
For example, Mr Wells said he offers to do favors and tells false secrets to people to gain their complete trust.
He also displays insincere charm - another trait associated with psychopaths.
He says: 'I keep secrets, and tell them fake secrets to further gain their trust, and once they trust me enough, I ask for favors, reminding them of the favors I did them. I can get literally anything from them, which is incredibly useful.'
Psychopaths typically display an incredible ability to manipulate others and sometimes take pleasure in doing so.
Psychopaths often have an air of superiority about them, perhaps shown by Mr Wells' belief he can spot other psychopaths
Even expert Dr Hare, who came up with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) used as a diagnostic tool to determine where someone lies on the psychopathy spectrum, warns that anyone can be duped during a short interaction with a psychopath. – Daily Mail Online
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