Is the Female Psychopath More Duplicitous Than the Male?

Marina Warner, Professor at Birkbeck College, London, has reviewed and examined many of the most enduring “myths” that have permeated societies throughout history.¹ By “myth,” she does not mean a fictional element, but a theme seen across time and cultures. Warner concludes that in the folklore of the past, classical and medieval, the “female beast … was sometimes cunning — and purposely concealed her true nature.” She contrasts that with “male beasts … [that] don’t possess the same degree of duplicity. … [W}hen evil comes in female guise, you have to beware.”² Does this concept have any relevance in psychopathy? Can female psychopaths be considered more deceitful than males?

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Difficulty identifying a female psychopath

It may be harder to spot a female psychopath. Typically the woman presents herself as more “demure, coquettish and seductive” and often poses as a ‘damsel in distress.'"³ The "damsel in distress" sometimes hides behind her role as caregiver and will adopt a disheveled “poor me” appearance, as she seeks to manipulate and win. Many may even be more willing to accept her plaintive, conniving alibis and explanations because of her skillful use of manipulation. “She is effective at getting what she wants by the parasitic ‘bleeding’ of others, often appearing as a helpless individual in need of infinite amounts of help and sympathy.”⁴ She uses this in her conning tactics to manipulate others.

Greater phony “affect” may mask dangerousness

Actual cases of female psychopaths demonstrate that they are indeed dangerous as they masquerade behind a fictitious persona. In Rorschach tests, female psychopaths present with more "affect" than non-psychopathic women and male psychopaths.⁵ That “affect” is part of their camouflage to reduce their chance of detection. The affectation may take several forms … from flamboyant displays of emotion to crocodile tears. While statistics show that they tend to be less violent, many are violent and have murdered.⁶ They routinely deprive their own children of love, and torture others emotionally and psychologically without any guilt, shame or remorse. They know how to cheat, swindle, embezzle and bully.

Feigning remorse to seek sympathy

Cunning and duplicitous that they are, when their guilt is discovered, they know and understand full well the rules of society and that displaying a lack of guilt could be “personally damaging.”⁷ So they feign remorse by crying hysterically when found out, or by telling others how much they love their children and that they are good mothers. Whatever the situation that she is confronted with and wants to escape, or even if she is caught red-handed, the woman is effective at acting out emotion or pseudo-emotion. She feigns feeling because intrinsically she has no true feeling of guilt or remorse. When it comes to guilt or remorse, men are more forthcoming about not having guilty feelings. They are also “overtly narcissistic.”⁸ You may or may not see him for what he is, but his behavior may put you on guard faster than the female.

Discovering the female psychopath is a challenge and her personality disorder may even be overlooked by clinicians. The reason she fools others is because she purposely conceals her true nature, and she is a champion in the art of deception. She is indeed more duplicitous than the male.