Researchers at McGill University in Canada found a faster, more effective way to spot a psychopath — and protect yourself from toxic interactions. Just pay attention to the posture a person prefers.
Researchers reported:
- Psychopaths prefer a posture that displays power and a desire to dominate.
- A person’s posture can reveal a lot about their character.
- Understanding the link between mind and body helps identify people you can trust.
Imagine a stranger walking toward you. You wonder whether to be polite or keep your distance. Then something in the stranger’s posture makes you want to steer clear — you think they might be a psychopath.
First, who do we mean by “psychopath”? These are people with a personality disorder who often seem perfectly normal — even attractive — yet are unable to feel genuine emotions or remorse for their actions.
Key traits of psychopaths:
- High self-confidence. They often have narcissistic tendencies and consider themselves superior to others.
- Lack of empathy. They typically don’t feel compassion or guilt.
- Fake sincerity. Psychopaths can make a good impression and often display false friendliness.
- Manipulativeness. They use flattery and deceit to manipulate others.
- Risk-taking. They behave impulsively and take risks without regard for consequences.
What researchers found about body language and psychopathy
A research team led by Soren Vanio-Teberge and Jorge Armoni studied whether body language directly reflects a person’s mental states and emotions. They found that certain postures are associated with psychopathic personality traits, Psychology Today reported.
The posture that most strongly correlates with psychopathic traits is an “open, upright, and broad stance,” which signals an intention to command and dominate others. Conversely, someone ready to yield to others most often slouches and withdraws.
To reach this conclusion, the scientists ran a series of experiments involving 608 people. During those experiments the team analyzed photographs of volunteers standing in natural poses. The researchers also took physiological measurements from the participants.
Early in the study, the scientists saw that people with a straighter posture showed higher levels of traits associated with psychopathy. Across the other trials, these participants’ preferred posture remained consistent.
What if someone adopts that pose because they trained in dance or sports as a child? Someone who isn’t a psychopath can change posture. In the study, participants who habitually struck a dominant pose but scored low on psychopathy measures also showed a wide range of other stances over time.
The authors emphasized the connection between body and mind and explained how a particular bodily signal can help interpret a person’s mental state.
Photo: pixabay.com
