On psychopaths, dark traits, and "dark empaths," with Nadja Heym

A talk with Nadja Heym, a psychology researcher who specializes in dark traits, like psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism, and who has researched so-called "dark empaths": people with dark traits who have a good amount of empathy. We delve into some nuance in the area of psychopathy. Topics discussed include: How she defines psychopathic traits; The misuse of the term "psychopath" (and related misuse of other terms like "narcissist"); Can we say from a brain scan if a brain is "psychopathic"?; "Bad seed"-like concepts of how psychopaths arise; Can an environment (like a highly competitive job) make someone have more psychopathic traits?; What are "dark empaths"?

Support the show

To get ad-free episodes, and more, get a premium subscription. To learn more about the show, go to behavior-podcast.com. I'm on Twitter at @apokerplayer. See a summary of my work.

Learn more and sign up for a premium subscription at PeopleWhoReadPeople.com.