Encore: Why psychopathy is more common than you think, with Abigail Marsh, PhD

In 2022, psychologist Abigail Marsh told the story of the stranger who saved her life. Her car had spun out on a dark freeway overpass and stalled in the fast lane. She was sure she was about to be hit. Then a man appeared, ran across the freeway, got her car running, and disappeared into the night. That moment set her on a path to study not just psychopathy, but its opposite: people who donate kidneys to strangers. Marsh’s research suggests that both extremes sit on a single “caring continuum,” and that most of us are somewhere in the middle.

What psychopathy actually is

Psychopathy is a personality construct, not a formal diagnosis in the DSM. It is defined by three clusters of traits: callousness (insensitivity to others’ suffering), a bold and fearless interpersonal style, and disinhibition (poor impulse control). The most famous diagnostic tool, the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R), was developed in an all-male prison population, which means it may miss how psychopathy manifests in women and non-criminal settings. In women, for example, psychopathic traits are more likely to show up as social aggression, emotional bullying, and manipulation rather than physical violence.