Psychopaths get a bit of a bad rap. In an increasingly sensitive world—one in which people are worried that using the word “crazy” might be offensive—people are strangely comfortable with using the term “psychopath” as a synonym for “worst person on Earth.”

Most people believe that psychopaths are dangerous people who should be separated from society. Despite this characterization, there are nonviolent psychopaths. In fact, people with this disorder may have some advantages over other people.

10 Psychopaths Are Better Looking

If you’ve ever wondered why all the best-looking people seem to be total psychopaths, you’re not alone. Many scientific studies have tried to explain why psychopaths are better looking than the rest of us.

According to one study, it’s in their biology. One of the biggest things that we seek in an attractive mate is symmetry. We usually don’t like people with lopsided faces. Psychopaths have more testosterone flowing through their bodies, and that makes them more symmetrical.

So, right from birth, psychopaths are given more beautiful and more symmetrical faces than the rest of the population. But it doesn’t stop there. They’re better dressers, too.

In another study on psychopathy and fashion sense, a group of people judged photographs of girls on a highly scientific “hot or not” scale. There were two photographs of each girl. One photo showed the girl dressed in clothes that she chose. The other showed the girl dressed down and with all her makeup removed.

When the girls were dressed down, there wasn’t a big difference between them. But when they were allowed to wear whatever they wanted, the psychopaths began to soar in the hotness scale. The psychopaths knew how to make themselves look good, and they took the time to do it.

The scientists concluded that most people dress for convenience or for themselves. But psychopaths dress for a purpose. They want to impress you so that they can manipulate you. As a result, they spend their days looking a lot better.

These good looks create a “halo effect.” In addition to thinking that the psychopath is pretty, people will automatically assume that she’s kinder and smarter, too.

9 Psychopaths Are Better At Reading People

Psychopaths are partially defined as people without empathy, so they shouldn’t be able to understand what people are thinking. But as it turns out, the exact opposite is true. According to some studies, psychopaths are actually better at reading people than the rest of us.

In one study, the participants watched videos of people expressing emotions. Then the participants tried to judge what those people were feeling based on microexpressions—small changes in their faces. Instead of failing miserably, the psychopaths picked up on a bit more than the rest of the participants did.

But this wasn’t true of every emotion. For example, psychopaths were no better at reading happiness in a person’s face than anyone else. However, they could read vulnerability even with small changes in a person’s face. Emotions like fear and anxiety came through loud and clear to the psychopaths. Interestingly, this was especially true of female psychopaths who were reading men.

This is another example of psychopaths having an edge because they’re working toward a goal. The psychopaths were especially good at reading emotions that they could use to influence someone else.

8 Psychopaths Are Better Conversationalists

As we’ve discussed, psychopaths are so good-looking that we think they’re charming. But it’s not just an illusion. They actually are more charming.

In social situations, most people wallow in those fits of anxiety and fear that we’ve all grown to understand. We’re afraid that people will judge us negatively, so we let it inhibit our behavior. As a result, other people do judge us negatively.

On the other hand, psychopaths don’t care what you think about them, so they can burst into a conversation without hesitation. That works out great for them. They’re so open and eager that people automatically assume that psychopaths are saying more interesting things—even if that’s not the case.

Their ability to read faces helps, too. Since psychopaths can figure out what you’re thinking through little ticks in your body, they’re better able to change what they’re saying into what you want to hear.

In fact, psychopaths are so much better at speaking than the rest of us that they don’t even have verbal ticks. Although most people will accidentally stammer out a few meaningless “ums” and “uhs” to fill the gaps in a conversation, psychopaths don’t feel that need. Instead, they choose every word carefully and deliberately.

This makes such a big difference that psychopaths have been known to fake “ums” to sound more like normal people and make the rest of us feel more comfortable.

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