City living and psychopaths: The scary connection

If you live in a city and enjoy city living, research shows you have a higher likelihood of exhibiting psychopathic tendencies… at least according to a recent study by the Journal of Environmental Psychology. 

Are psychopaths drawn to cities?

In an attempt to explore the relationship between dark personality traits and the psychological construct of nature connectedness, the study examined how someone who prefers urban-dwelling might have a higher likelihood of exhibiting those psychopathic traits. 

Part of the study took a deep dive into exploring the living preferences of those in association with dark triad traits. Across three independently sampled studies based in the US, there was a high preference for city living within the subgroup exhibiting the darker traits. 

Those wishing to live fast-paced, exploitative, and parasitic lifestyles —some of the “Dark Traits”⁠—self-reported the dark triad traits, psychopathy being one. City living was more appealing compared to rural living.

Knowing this, researchers wanted to find out if the connection to nature, or lack thereof, had anything to do with these psychopathic tendencies. Highlights from the University of Derby backed study included:

• Psychopathy is inversely associated with nature connectedness.
• High scoring on psychopathy was associated with a preference for an inner-city living but did not match residential history.
• The nature-based IAT may not be a valid measure of implicit nature connectedness.

Nature connectedness – how connected someone is with nature – has long been a strong indicator for positive mental health, better relationships, and stronger social skills such as empathy.

Put another way, someone connected to nature is more than likely to possess the above-mentioned character traits than someone who is not or someone who tends to possess psychopathic tendencies. Those people have less connection to nature, the study concluded. 

It is important to point out that while popular media representation paints psychopathic tendencies as the next Charles Manson or the kid who kills innocent family pets, psychopathic tendencies are common in nature and are not always extreme.

Don’t worry if you live in a city for work; this doesn’t mean you’re a crazy person. Dean Fidio, one of the researchers, said it this way, “Indeed, many people who exhibit high degrees of psychopathic traits take up work in areas of medicine (e.g., surgeons) and the army owing to their ability to stay cool and calm under pressure and to make judgments that are not based on emotion.”

So if you found yourself worried about whether or not living in a city means you’re a psychopath, don’t worry; you’re most likely just fine. However, there is some merit to the research. 

Tying it all together

The relationship between nature and character traits could be indicative of several things. For starters, those who are more connected with nature tend to have those more human-like traits instead of self-fulfilling characteristics. Additional research may indicate that getting involved in nature could be a new or beneficial form of behavior intervention. 

Someone who is focused on themselves – living in a city – isn’t concerned with nature. Perhaps, taking them from the city and helping them connect to what nature has to offer could help manipulate some of those tendencies associated with psychopathy.

That said, there is plenty of research that still has to be done. Connecting the dots and correlating that those with more psychopathic tendencies live in cities because those said tendencies don’t consider socioeconomic factors, workplace work, schooling, and more. 

So there are still plenty of questions that still need to be answered. However, future policy and mental health interventions could benefit from incorporating nature. Regardless, those who have those seedy-like traits are more likely to be found in urban areas!