Dictionary of Psychopathy And Psychopathic Personality

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Psychopaths are not always a Hollywood trope of the calculating villain. The majority of them live as ordinary people in society, doing normal things.

You might have met a psychopath in your office, or in your friendly social circle, and been floored by their charm.

Inside, psychopaths are complex personalities. For one, they harbor an emotional coldness. They also have “fear-blindness,” which drives them to act impulsively without caring for the consequences. Once you recognize their typical traits, you wonder if psychopaths are aware of their true nature.

This alphabetical glossary unpacks the lexicon of psychopathy from both a scientific accuracy and the raw realities survivors often describe.

Disclaimer: This glossary synthesizes clinical, forensic, and colloquial terms. Psychopathy is a complex construct, not a formal psychiatric diagnosis (see ASPD, Dissociality). Traits exist on a spectrum, and their manifestation varies widely.

Glossary of Terms: Psychopathy & Psychopathic Personality

A

• Affect (Psychology) – The observable expression of emotional states. In psychopathy, affect is typically blunted or shallow, presenting a facade of normalcy that masks profound inner emotional poverty and detachment.
• Aggression / Aggressive Behavior – Hostile or intimidating actions. In psychopathy, hostile behavior is often instrumental, meaning calculated and goal-directed for gain, dominance, or pressure, rather than a hot-tempered reaction to provocation. Patterns of aggressive behavior, including bullying and intimidation, frequently appear in psychopathic youth and strongly predict later antisocial tendencies.
• Amygdala – A key brain region in the limbic system responsible for processing emotions, especially fear, threat detection, and empathy-related responses. Neurobiological dysfunction in the amygdala is a cornerstone of psychopathy, contributing directly to core traits: fearlessness (reduced startle response, lack of anxiety), deficits in affective empathy (inability to feel others’ distress), and impaired learning from punishment.
• Antisocial Behavior – Persistent patterns of behavior that violate social norms and the rights of others, including deceit, hostile behavior, theft, and rule-breaking. While a hallmark of psychopathy, it is not synonymous with it. Psychopathy adds a core of callous, unemotional interpersonal traits (e.g., lack of empathy, shallow affect) to antisocial behavior, distinguishing it from antisocial conduct driven primarily by impulse, anger, or environmental factors.
• Anxiousness – Notably low in primary psychopathy, reflecting emotional stability or “stress immunity” rather than vulnerability.
• Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) – A tool for assessing psychopathic traits in youth, focusing on callousness and impulsivity.
• Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) – DSM-5-TR diagnosis defined by a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of others’ rights with at least three of seven behavioral criteria, age ≥18, evidence of conduct disorder before 15, and not exclusively during schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
• ASPD vs. Psychopathy: ASPD emphasizes observable behavioral deviance, whereas psychopathy adds core interpersonal–affective traits; DSM‑5’s Section III AMPD trait model aligns more closely with psychopathy than the Section II ASPD criteria in prediction studies.
• Arrogant and Deceitful Interpersonal Style – PCL-R facet of superficial charm, grandiosity, and manipulation to exploit social bonds.

B

• “Bad Loser” – Colloquial term referring to an inability to accept defeat gracefully, and responding to another’s victory with explosive reactions.
• Black and White Thinking (Splitting) – A cognitive style marked by rigid, absolutist categorizations (e.g., people as all-good or all-bad, situations as total wins or losses). In psychopathy, this fuels instrumental morality: viewing others as either useful tools or irrelevant obstacles. It reinforces intolerance, justifies exploitation (“they deserve it”), and dismisses nuance that might elicit guilt or empathy.
• Boldness – A core trait in the triarchic model of psychopathy, characterized by fearlessness, high self-assurance, thrill-seeking, social dominance, and emotional resilience. Manifests as a bold interpersonal style, a confident, socially dominant demeanor that can mask maladaptive traits. Often appears adaptive and is associated with the “functional” or “corporate psychopath” archetype, where it can facilitate short-term career success while contributing to interpersonal risk.
• Bullying – A form of instrumental hostile behavior involving repeated, coercive intimidation to assert dominance, degrade targets, and secure social or material resources. Prevalent in psychopathic workplace dynamics, it is a calculated tool for control rather than a reactive outburst. Tactics include public humiliation, undermining competence, and social exclusion to weaken potential threats and instill fear.
• Burnout – A state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced efficacy, often induced in the targets of a psychopath. It results from relentless emotional labor (managing manipulation, gaslighting, and hostility), constant hypervigilance, and the systemic draining of psychological resources. This is a common outcome for colleagues, subordinates, or family members in the psychopath’s orbit.

C

• Callous and Unemotional Traits – Childhood indicators of psychopathy, marked by low empathy, low guilt, and shallow affect that in DSM-5 are formalized under the “with limited prosocial emotions” specifier for conduct disorder in youth.
• Callous/Lack of Empathy – PCL-R item for emotional coldness, indifference to others’ pain, and instrumental harm.
• Callousness – Core deficit in caring for others’ welfare, enabling exploitation without qualms.
• Charm – See Glibness / Superficial Charm.
• Childhood Trauma – Severe adverse experiences (e.g., physical or emotional mistreatment or neglect) that serve as potent environmental catalysts. While not the sole cause, trauma can exacerbate and shape genetic and neurobiological predispositions toward psychopathy, potentially increasing callousness, hostile behavior, and the early emergence of antisocial behavior, particularly in the “secondary psychopathy” variant.
• Clinical Profile of Psychopathic Behaviors (Cleckley’s Criteria) – The seminal set of 16 characteristics outlined by Hervey Cleckley in The Mask of Sanity that describe the “paradoxical” psychopath. Key traits include: superficial charm, absence of delusions, unreliability, untruthfulness, lack of remorse, egocentricity, poverty of deep emotions, unresponsiveness in interpersonal relations, and a failure to follow any life plan. This profile emphasizes the mask of normalcy over blatant criminality.
• Cognition – Impaired social and moral reasoning processes, tied to prefrontal and amygdala dysfunctions.
• Cognitive Functions – Moderated by psychopathic traits, affecting emotional competence under stress.
• Coldheartedness – Extreme meanness blending boldness with cruelty and lack of guilt, often environmentally triggered.
• Conduct Disorder (with LPE) – Youth diagnosis of rule-violating behavior, with the specifier “limited prosocial emotions” requiring at least two of lack of remorse, callousness, unconcerned about performance, or shallow/deficient affect for 12 months across settings.
• Con Artist / Conning and Manipulativeness – The archetype of the charming deceiver who cons others for personal gain, embodying psychopathic versatility. This maps directly to the PCL-R trait of conning and manipulativeness: a pattern of deceitful, ruthless exploitation, unconcerned with the suffering inflicted on victims.
• Consumptive Modeling – A relational pattern akin to energetic or psychological vampirism, where the individual systematically drains others’ emotional, financial, or social resources. Characterized by low ethics and parasitic dependence, this involves creating scenarios where others constantly provide support, solve problems, or absorb emotional chaos, leaving them depleted while the psychopath remains unburdened and entitled.
• Corporate Culture – The collective values, norms, and practices within an organization. A toxic corporate culture can be actively shaped or exploited by individuals with psychopathic traits, fostering environments that reward ruthless competitiveness, manipulation, short-term gains over ethics, and bullying. This leads to widespread low morale, fear, high turnover, and eroded trust, while the psychopath often ascends by appearing “decisive” or “results-driven.” There can be heightened interpersonal clashes in teams led by psychopaths, eroding cohesion.
• Corporate Psychopath (Successful Psychopath) – A non-clinical term describing individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits (particularly boldness and low disinhibition) who thrive in competitive corporate, political, or high-stakes professional environments (e.g., finance, law, surgery). They leverage charm, fearlessness, and strategic manipulation for power and success, often without engaging in overt criminality.
• Criminal Versatility – PCL-R item for diverse offenses, with pride in evading detection.
• Criminality – Strong link to psychopathy, especially in impulsive or organized crime.

D

• Dark Triad – Cluster of psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, sharing low emotional empathy and manipulative callousness.
• Deficient Affective Experience – PCL-R factor of absence of remorse, shallow emotions, and lack of responsibility.
• Defenses (Projection, Denial, etc.) – Mechanisms like blaming others or rationalizing harm to evade self-reflection.
• Delinquency – Youth antisocial acts, a predictor of persistent psychopathic criminality.
• Detachment Domain – In the DSM-5’s Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD), this domain typically involves social withdrawal, intimacy avoidance, and anhedonia. In the psychopathic personality variant, this domain is notably low, facilitating their bold, engaging, and superficially charismatic interpersonal style. The absence of detachment allows them to engage others instrumentally without the inhibitions of social anxiety or need for deep connection.
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) – Handbook omitting “psychopath” but approximating via ASPD.
• Disinhibition – A triarchic model trait of impulsivity, poor planning, and urge control failures. Indicates high impulsivity, weak restraint, and poor emotion regulation linked to externalizing risk.
• Dissociality – ICD-11 replaces categorical PDs with a severity rating plus trait specifiers; dissociality indexes callousness, lack of empathy, and disregard for others within the unified “personality disorder” framework.
• Dissocial Personality Disorder (DPD) – Legacy ICD-10 categorical label F60.2 that listed “psychopathic” and “sociopathic” as synonyms; superseded conceptually by ICD-11’s dimensional model.
• Domestic Severe Relationship Aggression – A pattern of coercive or harmful behavior in intimate relationships. Often linked to psychopathic Factor 1 traits that involve callousness (emotional coldness), manipulation, and an absence of remorse.
• Dopamine / Reward System Dysfunction – Neurobiological theory suggesting psychopaths may have a hyper-responsive dopamine reward system. This drives intense, compulsive goal-seeking (for money, status, dominance, or thrill) but is disconnected from typical emotional and social brakes (e.g., fear, empathy, bonding), leading to relentless and often exploitative pursuit of rewards.
• Dual Personality (Contextual Morality / Jekyll and Hyde Phenomenon) – The ability to present starkly contrasting facades to different audiences (e.g., charming benefactor to superiors, tyrannical figure to subordinates). This is not Dissociative Identity Disorder, but a strategic, calculated persona-switching used to maximize gain, triangulate others, and protect one’s reputation while engaging in exploitative behavior privately.Presenting contrasting facades to different audiences for strategic gain.

E

• Early Behavioral Problems – PCL-R item for pre-teenage issues like lying, theft, or hostile behavior.
• Egotism – Self-serving exploitation via deception or coercion, fueling psychopathic gain.
• Empathy Deficits – A profound, core deficit in psychopathy, encompassing both affective empathy (the inability to feel or resonate with others’ emotions, allowing harm without emotional recoil) and cognitive empathy impairments (the inability to accurately read social cues like facial expressions or vocal tone). This dual deficit is central to their manipulative prowess and emotional coldness.
• Emotional Paradox (Cognitive vs. Affective Empathy) – A core psychopathic deficit. Psychopaths often retain cognitive empathy (the intellectual ability to recognize and understand what others are feeling) but lack affective empathy (the capacity to feel or resonate with those emotions). This allows them to manipulate others emotionally while remaining personally detached and unmoved by suffering.
• Emotional Shallowness (Shallow Affect) –  A profound poverty in the depth and range of emotions. Experiences of joy, sorrow, love, or fear are superficial, short-lived, and performative rather than deeply felt. This PCL-R trait results in an absence of lasting emotional bonds, a lack of genuine passion, and an emotional landscape that is flat and utilitarian, enabling detachment from the harm they cause.
• Exaggerated Portrayals (Media Stereotypes) – Sensationalized portrayals often frame people with psychopathic traits as extreme villains or masterminds. These depictions feed public misunderstandings and overshadow the more common reality of individuals with subclinical or “successful” psychopathic traits who operate in everyday professional and social settings without obvious misconduct, which makes them harder to identify.

F

• Factor 1 PCL-R (Interpersonal/Affective) – The core personality dimension of psychopathy in the PCL-R, encompassing traits such as glibness, grandiosity, pathological lying, manipulativeness, lack of remorse, shallow affect, callousness, and failure to accept responsibility.
• Factor 2 PCL-R (Antisocial Lifestyle) – The behavioral dimension of psychopathy in the PCL-R, including need for stimulation/proneness to boredom, parasitic lifestyle, poor behavioral controls, early behavioral problems, lack of realistic long-term goals, impulsivity, irresponsibility, and juvenile delinquency.
• Failure to Accept Responsibility for Own Actions – PCL-R denial of accountability, blaming victims or circumstances or fate.
• Fearlessness – A reduced neurobiological and psychological response to threats, punishment, or anxiety. Enables risky, impulsive behaviors without normal inhibitions. In social contexts, this low fear can pair with assertiveness to create a boldness subtype known as fearless dominance, which aids in constructing leadership facades and social manipulation.
• Financial Resource Control – A pattern of instrumental control and parasitic exploitation in which one person manages or restricts access to money and assets to create dependency. Tactics can include limiting a partner’s financial autonomy, interfering with employment, taking over accounts, or misusing shared resources. This extends the individual’s control from emotional influence into material life, making independence difficult for the target.

G

• Gaslighting – A form of psychological manipulation that makes a target doubt their own perception, memory, or judgment; common tactics include countering, withholding, trivializing, denial, and diverting. A hallmark of psychological abuse by individuals with psychopathic traits, used to erode a victim’s reality and increase dependency.
• Genetic Factors – Moderate heritability, especially for callous-unemotional traits in psychopathy.
• Glibness / Superficial Charm – A key interpersonal trait in psychopathy, referring to a smooth, engaging, and insincerely charming social presentation. This alluring veneer is used to disarm, manipulate, and create a favorable first impression, effectively masking predatory intent and inner emotional emptiness. It is a critical entry point for psychopathic influence.
• Grandiosity / Grandiose Sense of Self-Worth – Exaggerated sense of self-importance, superiority, and entitlement. In psychopathy, this manifests as an inflated self-view, arrogance, a belief in being special or above social rules, and predatory confidence. Distinct from the more vulnerable insecurity seen in covert forms of narcissism.
• Guilt – Absent moral distress post-harm, unburdened by ethical weight.

H

• Hare Psychopathy Checklist – The seminal 20-item diagnostic tool for assessing psychopathic traits in forensic and clinical research settings. Scored from 0 to 40 based on a semi-structured interview and file review. A common cut-off score of ≥30 in North America is often used to classify an individual as a “psychopath” in research and forensic contexts.

I

• ICD‑11 Personality Disorder Model – Dimensional system that codes severity (mild, moderate, severe) and specifies trait domains such as dissociality, disinhibition, detachment, negative affectivity, and anankastia, replacing multiple categorical PD labels.
• Impulsive Intimacy Patterns – PCL-R casual, coercive encounters. A tendency toward casual or poorly regulated intimate encounters. In psychopathy, this reflects impulsivity, thrill-seeking, and disregard for emotional consequences.
• Impulsivity – Rash, unplanned actions without consequence consideration, PCL-R staple.
• Instrumental Aggression – Calculated physical or emotional hostile behavior used to gain advantage, achieve dominance, or pressure others. This reflects the predatory style often associated with psychopathic traits.
• Integrity, Lack Of – Moral flexibility, dishonesty as a default for self-advancement.
• Interpersonal Abuse – Thriving under toxic supervision due to stress resilience.
• Interpersonal Factor – PCL-R interpersonal deceit and grandiosity cluster.
• Irresponsibility – PCL-R chronic unreliability in obligations or plans.
• Irresponsible Lifestyle – Impulsive, sensation-driven existence without long-term vision.

J

• Juvenile Delinquency – PCL-R youth crimes reflecting antagonism and exploitation.

L

• Lack of Empathy – The inability to feel or understand others’ pain. Core affective deficit that is central to psychopathy constructs and represented by the ICD-11 dissociality trait domain.
• Lack of Realistic, Long-Term Goals – PCL-R aimlessness, nomadic failure to plan ahead.
• Lack of Remorse or Guilt – PCL-R indifference to victims’ suffering. A central ASPD criterion and part of the DSM-5 LPE specifier for conduct disorder.
• Low Anxiety – Emotional flatline, no nervousness in high-stakes scenarios.
• Loyalty, Conditional – Fealty only when beneficial, discarded otherwise.
• LPE  (Limited Prosocial Emotions) – A specifier for Conduct Disorder in the DSM-5, indicating the presence of callous-unemotional traits (e.g., lack of remorse, empathy, shallow affect, unconcern about performance). This specifier identifies a more severe and persistent pattern of antisocial behavior in youth, considered a developmental precursor to psychopathic traits in adulthood.

M

• Machiavellianism – A Dark Triad trait characterized by a cynical worldview, strategic long-term manipulation, and a focus on cold, calculated power-seeking. It shares with psychopathy a core of callous manipulation but is distinguished by higher levels of planning, patience, and cognitive (rather than impulsive) control. Often considered the “mind” where psychopathy is the “emotion” of the Dark Triad.
• Malicious Humor (or “Mean” Humor) – A style of humor characterized by cruelty, ridicule, or mockery at the expense of others, often targeting vulnerabilities, misfortunes, or social anxieties. For psychopaths, this is not simple teasing but a tool for social testing, dominance, and covert hostile behavior. It allows them to deliver insults under the guise of “just joking,” gauge a target’s resilience, and degrade others while maintaining plausible deniability. This reflects the meanness trait of the triarchic model.
• Manipulative – The core interpersonal skill of psychopathy: covertly influencing the emotions, beliefs, and actions of others for personal gain, without regard for their well-being. This goes beyond persuasion to include gaslighting, guilt-tripping, love-overloading, and triangulation. Effectiveness stems from exploiting normal human empathy and social bonds, which the manipulator understands intellectually but does not feel.
• Many Short-Term Marital Relationships – PCL-R pattern of fleeting, unstable partnerships.
• Multiple-Victim Severe Offender – An extreme archetype marked by repeated acts of serious physical harm driven by psychopathic traits.
• Meanness – A triarchic model trait of cruelty, disdain for attachments, and exploitation. Indicates lack of empathy and predatory exploitativeness, reflecting aggressive resource seeking without regard for others.
• Moral Values, No – Dismissal of ethics as weakness for the masses.
• Malignant Narcissism – Overlap with grandiosity, fearless predation.
• Mask of Sanity – A term coined by psychiatrist Hervey Cleckley to describe the central paradox of psychopathy: a superficially normal, charming, and intelligent exterior that masks profound emotional poverty, irresponsibility, and an absence of conscience. The “mask” allows psychopaths to blend into society while their internal world remains detached and untroubled by ethics or deep relationships.

N

• Narcissism – Dark triad egocentrism, amplifying psychopathic self-focus.
• Negative Affectivity Domain – Low anxiousness in DSM-5 psychopathy model.
• Negative Ego – Untamed self leading to narcissistic-psychopathic pathologies.
• Neurobiological Model – Brain dysfunctions (amygdala, prefrontal) explaining traits.
• Never Admits Guilt/Responsibility – Absolute refusal to own wrongs.

O

• Only Goal Is to Get What He Wants – Selfish drive overriding all else.
• Orbitofrontal Cortex – Dysfunctional area impairing moral decision-making.
• Organized Crime – Psychopathic forte, leveraging versatility and charm.
• Overt Narcissism – Obvious grandiosity in psychopathic displays.

P

• Parasitic Lifestyle – Dependence on others without reciprocation. Psychopaths (and narcissists) prefer to live parasitic lifestyles, where they exploit others for personal gain without feeling guilt or remorse. This behavior is characterized by a lack of responsibility and a tendency to manipulate others to fulfill their own needs.
• Parentification (Emotional Parentification) – Rare reversal where the child ends up enabling the psychopathic caregiver. Emotional parentification is the pattern where the child provides emotional support or stability to the caregiver in ways that strain their development. This can lead to mental health issues, including depression and anxiety.
• Pathological Lying – Compulsive, effortless deceit without motive.
• PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist-Revised) – Gold-standard 20-item forensic tool. Clinician-rated 20-item instrument scored 0–40 using interview and file review; organized into broad factors and intended for trained use in forensic and clinical research contexts, not as a DSM/ICD diagnosis.
• PCL:SV (Screening Version) – Abbreviated PCL-R for rapid assessments.
• PCL:YV (Youth Version) – Adolescent adaptation of PCL-R.
• Personal Infallibility – Believes they are always right. Unshakable conviction in personal flawlessness, with dismissal of evidence or feedback as irrelevant.
• Poor Behavioral Controls – PCL-R anger outbursts and hasty hostile behavior.
• Poor Sense of Humor – Inability to appreciate wit beyond sarcasm.
• Power Hungry – Insatiable control cravings over people and outcomes.
• Predatory Dominance – Believes the strong have a right to destroy the weak, justified as seeing vulnerability as an invitation for exploitation.
• Prefrontal Cortex – Impaired regulation of impulses and emotions.
• Primary Psychopathy – Innate, low-anxiety subtype versus secondary.
• Promises Something for Nothing – Empty vows to lure without intent.
• Productivity – Undermined in psychopathic-led groups via chaos.
• Psychiatric Morbidity – Elevated rates of co-occurring mental disorders, particularly in imprisoned psychopaths. Common comorbidities include substance use disorders, other personality disorders (especially narcissistic and borderline), and paraphilic disorders, which complicate treatment and prognosis.
• Psychopathic Traits – Spectrum from boldness to meanness, workplace perils.
• Psychopathy – A research construct characterized by interpersonal–affective detachment alongside disinhibited/antisocial tendencies; not a formal DSM or ICD diagnosis and commonly operationalized using instruments like the PCL‑R.
• Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) – Hare’s original, basis for revised versions.
• Psychoticism – Overlap in bold, disinhibited antisociality.

R

• Reactive Abuse – Victim’s provoked response mistaken for equivalence.
• Revocation of Conditional Release – PCL-R repeated parole violations.
• Rumination – Absent in psychopaths, unlike guilt-plagued others.

S

• Scapegoating – Blaming others to deflect from own flaws.
• Secondary Psychopathy – Environmentally induced, anxious subtype.
• Self-Centered Antagonism – Disdainful exploitation of vulnerabilities.
• Serial Offender (Repeat Harm Pattern) – An archetype marked by a remorseless and escalating pattern of serious physical hostile behavior.
• Serotonin – Imbalances linked to impulsive hostile behavior.
• Shallow Affect – Reduced emotional depth and superficial emotions, no deep bonds. Referenced in psychopathy assessments and within DSM-5’s LPE specifier language.
• Sociopathy – Environmentally shaped antisociality, akin but distinct. An informal synonym historically used for antisocial/dissocial presentations; not a DSM diagnosis, and in ICD‑10 appeared as a synonym under F60.2.
• Splitting – Defense seeing others as all-good or all-bad.
• Staff Turnover – High rates in psychopathic-led organizations.
• Stress Immunity – Resilience to abuse, aiding survival in toxicity.
• Superficial Charm – See Glibness / Superficial Charm.
• Supply – Admiration harvested like narcissists, but colder.

T

• Trauma bond (traumatic bonding) – A powerful emotional attachment that forms under conditions of a power imbalance with intermittent harsh treatment and intermittent positive attention. This creates a strong and confusing bond that overrides the victim’s logical assessment of the relationship. The unpredictable cycle strengthens dependence and increases the risk of returning even after separation.
• Triarchic Model – Boldness, meanness, disinhibition framework. An integrative framework defining psychopathy in terms of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition, with validated self-report measures such as the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM).
• Triangulation – Pitting parties against each other for control.

U

• Unemotionality – PCL-R factor of flat affect and detachment.

V

• Victim Blaming – A manipulative tactic where the person responsible for harm shifts responsibility onto the target. In psychopathy, this reflects a core component of their worldview organized around dominance and deflection of accountability. It destabilizes the target by making them doubt their own role in the act, devalues the victim’s experience, and strengthens the psychopath’s control.
• Victim Shaming – A harsher form of victim blaming that includes moral judgment and contempt. It targets the victim’s character or emotional reactions after being harmed, portraying the target as weak or flawed, and reinforcing control. Psychopaths shame victims by labeling their normal reactions as signs of mental illness, moral flaws, or social contempt.

W

• Withdrawal – Low in psychopathy, favoring bold engagement.

For more related terms, read Dictionary of Narcissism & Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

√ Also Read: 4 Types of Psychopaths: Traits of Psychopathy Explained 

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