The prevailing idea in society is that the majority of psychopaths and serial killers are evil geniuses. They are seen as manipulative, unfeeling, with delusional behavior that distinguishes them from everyone else. A new study reveals, however, that psychopaths are, for the most part, literally deprived of reasoning.
Experts from Harvard University have succeeded in busting the lost-standing myth about Hannibal Lecter from the cult hit The Silence of the Lambs. The film has managed to impose the idea in the social consciousness that all psychopaths are, more or less, super geniuses. But researchers have found that the majority of individuals with this kind of asocial behavior have exceptionally low levels of intelligence in comparison to the average person.
Researchers say that this can help build a more accurate understanding of psychopathy and that it may even be curable. The only real exception to this scientific theory is the exceptional intelligence of serial killer Ted Bundy. All other notorious psychopaths have below-average intelligence.
Researchers began with the fact that individuals with this type of asocial behavior are often impulsive, have run-ins with the law their entire lives and hurt themselves or others in most cases. These actions clearly indicated that they were not as intelligent as everyone else thought.
In their study, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of the results of 187 published studies that analyze the link between intelligence and psychopathy, including data on serial killers that are doing time in different parts of the world. The data conclusively shows that in 85% of the cases there exists an overlap between psychopathy and low intelligence.
Additionally, to prove their theory, the researchers conducted IQ tests on 9000 individuals. Half of these were diagnosed patients and prisoners with psychopathy, while the rest were used as a control group.
The tests conclusively reaffirmed the experts theory. The control group had 60% higher results on average.
