Some people do not have a conscience. This is an idea that developed during the last century, based upon psychological observations of male inmates.

Consequently, the anti-social behavior observed in this prison population forms the basis for much of what we now know about psychopathy, or what mental health professionals refer to as “anti-social personality disorder.”

Since then, it’s been widely accepted that most people with strong anti-social traits are male. Now, though, a handful of social scientists are beginning to question this assumption, pointing out that malignant narcissism, or psychopathy, may take a different form when the perpetrator is a woman.