A new study ranking U.S. states in order of psychopathy found the "northeast of the US is the most psychopathic region," namely a number of blue states earning the "dubious" distinction of the most psychopathic, according to a Quartz report.
A Southern Methodist University study by Ryan Murphy found Connecticut to be the most psychopathic state, followed by California, New Jersey, and New York (tied for fourth with Wyoming).
Added in the study was Washington, D.C., which "had a psychopathy level far higher" than any state, according to the report – albeit because it is a small, entirely urban area and not as geographically diverse as a state.
"The presence of psychopaths in District of Columbia is consistent with the conjecture found in Murphy [2016] that psychopaths are likely to be effective in the political sphere," Murphy concluded in his study.
Using the established definition of psychopathy as composed of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness, per the report, Murphy measured "levels of big five personality traits (extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience) in each state."
"Boldness corresponds to low neuroticism and high extraversion, meanness corresponds to low agreeableness, and disinhibition corresponds to low conscientiousness," Murphy wrote.
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