Do Psychopaths Genuinely Lack Empathy, Or Are They Feeling You?

The most common observation made about psychopaths is that they feel no empathy. I have said it myself in Courtroom testimony, repeating a truism I picked up years ago: "they fail to empathize and are therefore prone to victimize."


As noted in an essential text (The Psychopathic Mind by J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D.) the science unequivocally "supports the hypothesis that psychopathic individuals" (i.e., those with "antisocial personality disorder") "are autonomically hyporeactive."


This does not mean that con men and criminals have no feelings at all. As Meloy observed, in situations where an emotional reaction would be expected from "a more socialized, empathic individual," they might feel little or nothing. But at the same time, they can can display "intense, unmodulated affect that is dramatized by its unpredictably."

It is readily observed that psychopaths experience feelings such as anger, resentment, envy and jealousy. Narcissism -- a core element of the sociopathic character type -- can produce powerful feelings of self-righteousness and entitlement. When caught and in custody, many will feel distress -- not every one of them is a cool customer.


Lack of "empathy" or not, they are typically quite skilled at "feeling you."


It is no different with the sociopath selling a pyramid-scheme, a Ponzi investment, or a get-rich seminar. They can feel their victim's greed or desperation, and the potency of their hopes and dreams. Showmen and carnival barkers feel their audience to entice and seduce them, as do all charlatans, hucksters and snake-oil peddlers.

It is also no different with an aggressively domineering psychopath (aka bully). Bullies operate by exploiting a power differential. It can be real or perceived, and either social or physical. To achieve their predatory ends, they seek to evoke feelings of shame, frustration, terror or fear. Their attacks are informed by their ability to sense the emotional vulnerabilities of their victims -- to feel them and to know how they can be intimidated or twisted, provoked or incited.



