A study has looked at what songs people with psychopathic personality traits like and dislike. Here are the results.
It’s not always easy to tell the difference between people with psychopathic personality disorder and other personality-related disorders, but there are some traits that can help you recognize them. Many studies have examined psychopaths and their traits, and one even found out what their favorite songs are.
Researchers at New York University wanted to find out which songs they like the most and which they like the least. The results may come as a surprise to many.
Psychopaths’ favourite songs
One of the study’s leaders, Pascal Wallisch, revealed that true psychopaths make up around one per cent of the population, with the proportion of people in prison ranging from 15-25%. Their project with Nicole Leal involved 200 psychology students.
First, they filled in a questionnaire asking about their psychopathic traits, then they had to listen to 260 songs and rate them on a seven-point scale. The researchers then examined the overlap between participants who scored high on the psychopathy scale and their ratings of the songs.
Eminem scored highest on the psychopathy scale with his song Lose Yourself and Blackstreet with the song No Diggity; Justin Bieber’s song entitled What Do You Mean also made the list.
Songs that psychopaths don’t like
It also emerged that persons with psychopathic personality traits liked The Knack’s My Sharona and David Guetta and Sia’s Titanium the least, and Dire Straits’ Money For Nothing and The Wayward Wind were not their favorites either.
The researchers want to make it as easy as possible to identify psychopaths. Pascal Wallisch added that they are often portrayed in the media as axe murderers, serial killers, but in reality they are not, and they are not like the Joker in Batman. Rather, they blend into society, and they may even work in your immediate environment.