If you travel during rush hour, it can sometimes feel like the roads are completely filled with psychopaths.
But scientists have now determined that there is a common driving habit that may be a sign that someone is actually a psychopath.
Researchers from the University of Regensburg found a significant correlation between psychopathic traits and mobile phone use while driving.
Drivers who scored high on dark personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) were much more likely to use their phones and feel less guilty about it.
The study also found that drivers with high levels of psychopathy were a third more likely than average to have committed a traffic violation in the past 12 months.
Scientists say there’s a common driving habit that could be a sign that you (or someone you know) might be a psychopath like American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman (pictured).
In the study, researchers collected data from 989 German drivers who took surveys to assess each of the three dark triad personality traits, rated on a scale of one to five.
Their survey revealed that 61 percent of participants admitted to using their smartphone while driving at least occasionally.
However, the researchers found that higher scores for any of the three dark triad traits were related to greater phone use while driving.
The researchers, in their article published in PLOS One, writes, “Therefore, people with Dark Triad personalities tend to use their phones more frequently while driving.”
Drivers with higher scores on narcissism and psychopathy were also less likely to feel guilty about their problematic driving behavior.
Those who scored high on Machiavellianism, a personality trait often linked to manipulative behavior, were more likely to try to hide their phone use.
Researchers found that psychopathic traits, as well as narcissism and Machiavellianism, were linked to a greater likelihood of using a mobile phone while driving (file photo)
The researchers also found that psychopathic traits were a good predictor of whether someone would have committed a traffic violation.
For someone with a minimum psychopathy score of one, researchers predict there is a 9.89 percent chance of having committed a driving violation in the past 12 months.
For someone with a medium level of psychopathy, the probability of having committed a driving violation is 24 percent.
This increases to a 56 percent chance of getting a psychopathy score of 4.33, which was the highest score measured by the researchers.
Participants were also screened for problematic smartphone use (PSU), which is excessive use of phones to the point where other areas of life are negatively affected.
Researchers note that this phenomenon may be surprisingly common: 50 percent of respondents said they couldn’t live without a smartphone.
The researchers found that PSU, independent of other personality traits, was the strongest predictor of phone use while driving.
Those who responded positively to questions such as “When I get bored while driving, I spend time on my smartphone” were also much more likely to report PSU.
According to a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,142 people in the US died in car accidents in 2019.
That year, 422 people died in accidents in which at least one of the drivers was distracted by a phone.
Therefore, researchers suggest that focusing on people’s relationships with their phones could help make roads safer.
By reducing PSU rates in everyday life, researchers argue that people will spend less time on their phones while traveling and will be less distracted.
The researchers added: “Overall, PSU is an excellent predictor independently of Dark Triad personality traits.
“Since this factor can be changed more easily than personality, public safety interventions should focus on PSU.”
DID YOU KNOW HOW TO IDENTIFY A PSYCHOPATH?
Psychopaths show different traits depending on their disorder.
Common signs include superficial charm, a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsivity, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others, and a lack of remorse and empathy.
But despite popular association, not all psychopaths become murderers.
Experts say People often find psychopaths intriguing.but I can’t pinpoint why.
This is due to incongruent behavior because psychopaths tend to act a lot to deceive or deceive. imitate normal reactionssometimes rapidly changing their views and reactions.
For example, self-proclaimed psychopath Jacob Wells said that upon meeting someone, he tries to become “the most interesting person they know” and presumably adopts appropriate interests and answers to do this.
Your response also reveals another common trait: a grandiose notion of self-esteem, in the sense that you can be the most interesting person in the room.
Psychopaths occasionally tend to exhibit unconvincing emotional responseswith errors including tone of voice or body language.
This may be because they cannot understand emotions such as fear and love, but they can imitate them.
Psychopaths display different traits depending on their disorder, but common signs include superficial charm and the ability to manipulate others. Despite popular association, not all psychopaths become murderers (file image)
Generally the “emotions” of psychopaths are superficial and short-lived and there is an ulterior manipulative motive for showing them.
For example, Mr. Wells said that offers to do favors and tells false secrets to people to gain their complete trust.
He also shows insincere charm – another trait associated with psychopaths.
He says, “I keep secrets and tell them false secrets to further gain their trust, and once they trust me enough, I ask them for favors, reminding them of the favors I did for them.” “I can get literally anything from them, which is incredibly helpful.”
Psychopaths usually show a Incredible ability to manipulate others. and sometimes enjoy doing it.
Psychopaths usually have an air of superiority about them, perhaps demonstrated by Mr. Wells’ belief that he can detect other psychopaths
Even expert Dr. Hare, who devised the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) used as a diagnostic tool to determine where someone falls on the spectrum of psychopathy, warns that anyone can be fooled for a brief time. interaction with a psychopath.