There is good and bad in everyone, but how can we spot the psychopathic tendencies of people if we aren’t psychologists?
Dogs have unique and heightened senses that may help us identify good and bad people. Moreover, Dogs can even reveal a psychopath upon meeting one!
Psychopaths may seem normal at first, but they are people with a mental disorder with characteristic aberrant social behavior that makes them generally aggressive or unstable around others.
Let’s find out how Dogs can play the role of a psychologist as they help point out people with psychopathic tendencies.
HOW PSYCHOLOGISTS IDENTIFY A PSYCHOPATH
Canadian psychologist Robert Hare created a checklist for traits that could help identify a typical psychopath in society. It includes a variety of traitsm such as lack of remorse, pathological lying, intentional charming or manipulation, sexual promiscuity or addiction, thirst for stimulation, and impulsive behaviors.
All of these traits can help point to a potential psychopath upon questioning. In addition, expert psychologists believe that these traits could become evident at the young age of just 10 years old, according to a 2011 article by Madeleine Brand and Sanden Totten for KPCC.org.
Researchers also observed that, when it comes to pets, psychopaths more often prefer Dogs rather than Cats, because Dogs are more obedient and easier to manipulate.
And when people die, psychopaths don’t usually mind, even if they’re close to the deceased. On the other hand, they would grieve the passing of a canine companion, because they often believe that Dogs offer unconditional love.
HOW PSYCHOPATHS DEAL WITH CUTE ANIMALS
According to a study among individuals with psychopathic traits conducted by Grace Carroll and colleagues in 2020, psychopaths don’t particularly like animals whom normal people generally perceive as cute.
Psychopaths can identify the “cute” feature in animals, but they don’t care. The lack of empathy for both human and nonhuman animals is one of the typical traits of a psychopath.
In addition, some are known to display harsh or violent behavior.
HOW DOGS SENSE A PSYCHOPATH
According to a 2015 interview conducted by The Dodo’s Stephen Messenger with Dr. Lillian Glass, an expert in body language and communication, Dogs could help us determine whether or not a person is a psychopath. All of this is due to their intuitive nature and ability to pick up when something is not going right during an initial meeting with a person.
Psychopaths are also unlikely to interact or respond to affectionate Dogs if they aren’t the animal’s parents.
Dogs are very sensitive to sound, so the tone of a person’s voice may also be an indicator of whether or not a person is genuinely friendly to them. This means that Dogs are intelligent enough to interpret the body language and tone of voice of a person.
CAN YOUR DOG DETECT A SERIAL KILLER OR SOMEONE WITH ILL INTENTIONS?
The answer is yes.
According to an article published in Neuroscience and Behavioral Reviews, Dogs often know the difference between good and bad people. They take subtle cues from a person’s voice and body language. They might also react defensively or avoid those showing psychopathy traits.
Dogs have a very good memory, so they don’t forget if a person was mean to them. They can then identify patterns in other people with similar traits — that is, those who would likely also be harsh towards them.
DID YOU KNOW?
Serial killers most probably have a long history of animal cruelty before they escalate to killing people.
SNIFFING OUT THE BAD GUYS
It might be surprising that your furry friend can be a little psychologist in their own way. Studies have demonstrated their unique ability to determine the psychopathic traits and ill intentions of other humans.
Psychopaths don’t respond well to the cuteness of animals, which can also be a giveaway.
Since Dogs are very keen to observe even small cues, they might be able to tell if a person is generally good or bad. It counts to pay attention to how our animal companions react to strangers!
