The research carried out by the Levenson psychopath scale, devised in 1995, shows that 25% of the population of the United States has some psychopathic tendencies. So the chance that you will meet a psychopath at some point in your life is very high. Research also shows that psychopaths tend to favour employment in law and managerial positions. The easy route when writing about a psychopath is to make them a serial killer, but there is so much more scope when creating a psychopathic character. What about a psychopathic boss who terrorises his employees? Or maybe a charity worker that cannot form an emotional bond with his work? Before you begin writing the backstory to your character, here are some of the characteristics you need to take into account.

Psychopaths are very emotionally manipulative. They have to have their own way, period. If you don’t play by their rules, then they will take any action to make you pay the consequences. In a work environment, they will use flattery to gain the trust of higher management so if an employee complains about them, the complaint will not be believed. Since a psychopath has no empathy for anyone but themselves, they will make excellent liars. They do not care how much their lies affect others or the consequences of their actions. Even if the other person found out that the psychopath has been spreading rumours, this would have no emotional effect on them.

The number one characteristic of psychopaths is not knowing how to feel any empathy for others. So they will mirror others' reactions to emotional situations. If a loved one of a character passes away, then the psychopathic character will show sympathy to a degree, and say they are sorry, but they will not actually feel the emotion. So, for example, you can show them acting sympathetic, then resuming normal behaviour devoid of any feeling immediately afterward. They are masters at behaving differently according to whoever is around them. A psychopath can come from a happy or dysfunctional family. The psychopath will tend to have a negative outlook on life and the world around them if their childhood has been an unhappy one.

A psychopath can form relationships even if they feel no emotion for their partner. One clever way you can show your character is a psychopath is to make them speak in the first person, even if the subject matters involves them and their partner. For example, if your character was taking a trip with their partner, they would say, ‘I am going to Hawaii next week,’ instead of ‘We are going to Hawaii next week.’

Psychopaths have to be in control and this is not simply a control freak, this is far more extreme. If someone crosses them or refuses to comply with their demands, they will exact revenge. They will plan the revenge in minute detail, even if the revenge takes them years to execute. A psychopath will feed off the misery their revenge causes to the other person.  

Psychopaths are complete narcissists. If someone doesn’t like them, it is because they are jealous. In their mind, they are the best at everything, even if the results prove they are not. They will somehow manipulate the results, and take the credit for others' work. For example, if their employee is successful on a project, then the psychopath believes they are only that way because he/she is their boss and mentor. The world and everyone in it loves them and wants to be just like them. They will give compliments to others, but only if it furthers their agenda. Some observant people will see through the facade but many will not. The psychopath is a very good actor.