The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty - Simon Baron-Cohen (2011)
APPENDIX 2. HOW TO SPOT ZERO DEGREES OF EMPATHY (NEGATIVE)
How to Spot a Person with Borderline Personality Disorder
A psychiatrist or clinical psychologist looking at someone with suspected borderline personality disorder turns to DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th Edition), the book of rules for how to diagnose a mental health condition. For this diagnosis, the person needs to show at least five out of eight of the following signs:
1. Unstable and intense interpersonal relationships
fluctuating from clingy dependency to withdrawal, from being supernice to unreasonably demanding, from seeing someone as all good (idealization) to all bad (devaluation)
endlessly searching for the perfect caregiver
wanting to be a soulmate and yet fearing intimacy, believing she will lose her identity and cease to exist in relationships
being highly manipulative in relationships (e.g., being hypochondriacal, being inappropriately seductive, making suicidal threats) to get attention
2. Impulsivity
potentially self-destructive drug or alcohol abuse
sexual promiscuity, stealing, excessive spending
extreme eating or extreme dieting
3. Extreme mood swings, from depression to anger to elation and enthusiasm, each mood lasting only a few hours
4. Inability to control anger
raging and getting into fights
throwing objects at people during domestic arguments
threatening them with knives, often triggered by something trivial
directing anger at closest relationships, such as a child, parent, therapist, or partner
5. Suicidal threats or self-mutilation, a way of saying, “I am in pain; please help me!” Suicidal threats are eventually ignored by others as they realize these are attention-seeking.
6. Identity confusion
feeling unsure about self-image, career, values, friends, or even sexual orientation
feeling that he is faking it and will be discovered as a fake
falling easy prey to a cult leader offering to tell him who he is and how to think
7. Extreme emptiness
loneliness or boredom
mood swings
drug abuse to escape the emptiness
8. Extreme fear of abandonment
clinging to others
being terrified of being alone in case she ceases to exist
How to Spot Someone with Antisocial Personality Disorder
Diagnosed when someone shows a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age fifteen years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:
1. Failure to conform to social norms of lawfulness, including performing acts that are criminal offenses
2. Deceitfulness
repeated lying
use of aliases
conning of people for personal profit or pleasure
3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
4. Irritability and aggression,a including physical fights and assaults
5. Reckless disregard for the safety of self or others
6. Consistent irresponsibility
repeated failure to sustain work commitments
repeated failure to honor financial obligations
7. Lack of remorse
indifference to having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from someone
rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from someone
How to Spot a Young Person with Conduct Disorder
For this diagnosis, a young person must persistently violate the basic rights of others or societal norms, as manifested by three (or more) of the following actions in the previous twelve months:
1. Aggression toward people and animals
bullies, threatens, or intimidates others
initiates physical fights
uses a weapon that can cause serious physical harm (e.g., a bat, brick, broken bottle, knife, gun)
is physically cruel to people and/or animals
steals while confronting a victim (e.g., mugging, purse snatching, extortion, armed robbery)
forces someone to have sex
2. Destruction of property
deliberately engaging in fire-setting with the intention of causing serious damage
deliberately destroying others’ property
3. Deceitfulness or theft
breaking into someone else’s house, building, or car
lying to obtain goods or favors or to avoid obligations (i.e., “cons” others)
stealing (e.g., shoplifting, forgery)
4. Serious violations of rules
staying out at night despite parental prohibitions before age thirteen
running away from home overnight
truanting from school beginning before age thirteen
How to Recognize a Narcissist
People who are Zero-Negative Type N show five (or more) of the following:
a grandiose sense of self-importance
a preoccupation with fantasies of success and power, beauty, or ideal love
a belief that he is “special” and should associate with people who are also of high status
a need for excessive admiration
a sense of entitlement
a style of exploiting others
a complete lack of empathy
an envy of others or a belief others are envious of him
arrogant attitudes