Title: Why Female Psychopaths Are a Different Breed | Psychology Today
Headings: Why Female Psychopaths Are a Different Breed
Why Female Psychopaths Are a Different Breed
Callous and opportunistic, female psychopaths are the rarest of a rare breed. Though they share much with their male counterparts, they may be even better equipped to elude detection.
What makes a female psychopath?
Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Unlikely to Succeed

Content: Serial killer Aileen Wuornos received a score of 32. She murdered seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990 and claimed to authorities that she would kill again. Forensic psychiatrist Wade C. Myers and two colleagues who evaluated her concluded that she probably had a biological predisposition that made her vulnerable to developing the disorder, but they believed that stress and trauma in her background had contributed to her aggression and emotional instability. When the checklist is used to assess female offenders, “the scores tend to be a few points lower than for male offenders,” Hare says, adding that “the predictive power of the PCL-R is much the same for female and male offenders.” Females with higher psychopathy scores offend at a higher rate and show deficits in conceptual reasoning, mental flexibility, and problem-solving. They excel at deception and manipulation. Using a shortened, self-report version of the checklist, a 2015 study of 343 females showed that they had higher scores on the interpersonal and lifestyle facets of psychopathy (manipulativeness, grandiosity, impulsivity) than they did on emotional and antisocial facets (lack of remorse and delinquency). article continues after advertisement
Overall, according to researchers, female psychopaths seem to be less physically violent than males. While the evidence on gender differences is mixed, females who develop the disorder may show it through verbal and relational aggression—perhaps harming someone socially through gossip or ostracism. Female psychopaths appear to have a stronger need for others’ approval, worse self-image, and more anxiety relative to males.