According to scientists who have devoted their lives to studying psychopaths, it’s common to associate them with being killers and outsiders to society.

However, the truth is that a psychopath could easily be someone you work with, a friend, or even a spouse.

In our social interactions, we tend to make certain assumptions such as sharing a similar worldview, possessing common knowledge, understanding words in the same way, and having comparable ideas of morality.

However, there exists a notable portion of the population, not insignificant in number, for whom these assumptions do not hold true. These individuals lack empathy and remorse and experience emotions only superficially.

In severe cases, they may not even be concerned about whether someone lives or dies. Such individuals are known as psychopaths, and while some may be violent criminals or murderers, not all of them fit this profile.

Peter K Jonason, associate professor in psychology at the University of Padua and the paper’s lead author carried out a new study to identify psychopaths.

The study found that psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, three personality characteristics together referred to as the “Dark Triad,” are more prevalent in those who have the desire to grow taller.

Psychopathy is characterized by a lack of empathy, narcissism by an exaggerated sense of self and grandiosity, and Machiavellianism by pragmatic cynicism and deception.

The team requested 367 US-based people to complete a questionnaire about the “Dirty Dozen Dark Triad,” which refers to three negative personality qualities.

Participants were asked to indicate on a scale from one to five how strongly they agreed or disagreed with statements such as “I tend to manipulate people to get my way,” “I tend to be callous or insensitive,” and “I tend to want others to admire me.”

The survey also inquired about the degree of agreement among the participants regarding statements such as “I wish I were taller” and “I am satisfied with my height.”

They based their study on the Napoleon Complex hypothesis, which holds that shorter persons are more likely to exhibit hostile behavior.

“Shorter people, especially those who wish they were taller,” according to the lead author, “are more characterised by traits that are likely to make them show-off, be confrontational and interested in power.”

The team’s results were published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

“When people cannot be physically formidable,” the authors write, “they may then be psychologically formidable instead.”

Even while associations were the same across the genders, scientists predicted these characteristics to be more common in males.

The results also showed that the traits were linked to both being short and wanting to be taller.

The findings are “the first examination of the relationship between height, height attitudes and the Dark Triad traits.

“Generally, our hypotheses were supported: all three traits were associated with the wish to be taller and shorter stature.”

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