Science is Fun Fridays!

 

Psychopaths make up about 4.5% of the population, but most people have learned about them through movies.  A group of psychologists spent three years watching 400 movies containing characters who could be described as psychopaths.

They whittled the list down to 105 males and 21 females portrayed in film since 1915, selected based on the realism and clinical accuracy of their profiles.

Some of the most famous psychos, such as Norman Bates (Psycho) and Travis Bickel (Taxi Driver) are actually psychotic as opposed to psychopathic.  They are disconnected from reality and suffer from delusional ideation.

Hannibal Lecter, "the most famous and caricatured example of a psychopath," does not make the grade.

One of the best portrayals of a psychopath is the above Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem, in No Country for Old Men.

"We lack information concerning his childhood, but there are sufficient arguments and detailed information about his behavior in the film to obtain a diagnosis of active, primary, idiopathic psychopathy, incapacity for love, absence of shame or remorse, lack of psychological insight, inability to learn from past experience, cold-blooded attitude, ruthlessness, total determination, and lack of empathy."

Another good portrayal they referenced is Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Michael Rooker played real life serial murderer Henry Lee Lucas.  (This is a pretty heavy horror movie though, FYI).

"The main, interesting theme [in this film] is the chaos and instability in the life of the psychopath."

Even with the misrepresentation in movies, the team believes these fictional characters can be valuable for illustrating several aspects of forensic psychiatry, such as personality disorders, paraphilia, expert witness characteristics, and legal system procedures.

IFL Science