The one shocking thing Netflix gets wrong about psychopaths, according to a psychologist

Most of us build our entire understanding of psychopaths from true-crime TikTok and whichever serial-killer documentary we fell asleep to on Netflix. Basically: Slick hair, charming smile, 180 IQ, and probably studying law. But according to criminal psychologist Dr Julia Shaw, who actually works with real murder cases, that image is hilariously wrong, and there is one big misconception.

Dr Shaw spends her days helping police during investigations and acting as an expert witness in court. Not exactly your average LinkedIn job description.

Credit: Netflix

“I’m interested in why people do terrible things,” she told LADbible’s Honesty Box. “The darkest sides of humanity.”

You know, casual. Here’s the bit that will make every true-crime fan rethink their entire personality. Dr Shaw says psychopaths aren’t the criminal masterminds people imagine.

According to Dr Shaw, the idea that psychopaths are all spooky geniuses is basically a Hollywood invention: “People think psychopaths are all super clever — that is not true. If you look at people with a diagnosis of psychopathy, you almost always see they have a below-average IQ.”

So those James Bond villain types?  Yeah… most real psychopaths aren’t outsmarting anyone.

“Yes, they’re manipulative,” she said, “but they’re often also quite bad at being manipulative. Not in a clever way, necessarily”.

So next time someone brags that they can “tell when someone’s lying because they’ve watched Mindhunter twice”, maybe relax.

Credit: Netflix

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Also, not every murderer is a psychopath. Another twist! Just because someone kills someone doesn’t automatically make them a psychopath. Contrary to popular belief, and every crime documentary ever, it’s not a neat one-to-one label.

While Dr Shaw doesn’t diagnose psychopathy, she did reveal the ultimate shortcut for spotting a narcissist. Psychologists literally tested 20 different questions and then went: “Hmm… what if we just ask?”

So, the “single-item narcissism scale” was born. The entire test is just one question: “Are you a narcissist?”

And the best part? Narcissists will proudly say yes. Sometimes with extra flair. As Dr Shaw puts it: “A narcissist would probably answer, ‘Uh, yeah… but I’m better than most people’.”

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Featured image credit: Canva