Connecticut has more psychopaths than any other state — but Washington D.C. is “by far” the most psychopathic place in the nation, according to a new study. The Nutmeg State has the highest percentage of people with psychopathic personality traits, including disinhibition, boldness and meanness, according to a study by Dr. Ryan Murphy at Southern Methodist University in Texas.
And the Northeast had more psychos than the rest of the country, according to the study, with New Jersey ranking in third, New York fourth (tied with Wyoming) and Maine also coming in the top 10.
California, home to Hollywood – and the Golden State Killer – came in second.
But when Washington D.C. — technically a federal district — was thrown in the mix, it came out on top.
“The District of Columbia is measured to be far more psychopathic than any individual state in the country, a fact that can be readily explained either by its very high population density or by the type of person who may be drawn to a literal seat of power,” Murphy wrote.
“The presence of psychopaths in the District of Columbia is consistent with the conjecture that psychopaths are likely to be effective in the political sphere,” he added.
But Murphy said D.C. could simply be an outlier, because it is less geographically diverse than the states in the study.
To come up with his ranking, Murphy built off a 2013 survey that looked at the levels of the “Big Five” personality traits – extraversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience – in 48 states and D.C.,based on a sample of 1.6 million people.
He then used a forthcoming paper that showed how psychopathic characteristics are translated into the “Big Five.” For example, the characteristic of meanness exhibited in psychopaths, would correspond to low agreeableness.
This finding allowed Murphy to translate the personality analysis into a score for psychopathy.
The study, which hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed, was published on Social Science Research Network.
