There’s a telltale sign that you might be a psychopath - ‘schadenfreude’

Most of us have had a giggle at someone who’s having a bad day – for instance, a celebrity falling off a stage, or someone rich going bankrupt.

But chortling at other people’s misfortune – known as ‘schadenfreude’, or ‘harm joy’, in psychological terms – could be a sign you’re a psychopath.

Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia reviewed psychological research into ‘schadenfreude’ – and found it was strongly linked to so-called ‘dark triad’ personality traits.

People with so-called ‘dark’ personality traits span a huge range, from being a scheming Machiavellian to being a preening narcissist – or an amoral psychopath.

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Researcher Scott Lilienfeld said, ‘Our literature review strongly suggests that the propensity to experience schadenfreude isn’t entirely unique, but that it overlaps substantially with several other ‘dark’ personality traits, such as sadism, narcissism and psychopathy.

‘Moreover, different subforms of schadenfreude may relate somewhat differently to these often malevolent traits.’

Lead researcher Professor Philippe Rochat said, ‘We all experience schadenfreude but we don’t like to think about it too much because it shows how ambivalent we can be to our fellow humans,’ Professor Rochat said.

‘But schadenfreude points to our ingrained concerns and it’s important to study it in a systematic way if we want to understand human nature.’

‘Schadenfreude is an uncanny emotion that is difficult to assimilate. It’s kind of a warm-cold experience that is associated with a sense of guilt.

‘It can make you feel odd to experience pleasure when hearing about bad things happening to someone else.’