Some individuals speak of traumatic events in a tone and a surprisingly neutral body language: according to experts, this lack of synchrony between emotion and gestures can reveal the presence of psychopathic traits
There is a detail in the human behavior that many ignore, but which could hide something much deeper and disturbing. Have you ever listened to someone to tell a shocking event, like a mourning or a serious accident, without the slightest tremor in the voice, without gestures, without an expression on the face? According to experts, this total disconnection between visible words and emotions It could be the signal of a psychopathic trait.
In other words, When body language does not reflect in any way the emotional content of the speechwe could find ourselves in front of an alarm bell.
Flat voice, impassive face and zero gestures
Forensic psychologist launched the alarm Jessica Taylorauthor of the book Sexy But Psychowhich for years has been studying the psychological signals of disturbed personalities. According to his experience, one of the most surprising traits in people with psychopathy It is precisely the total absence of consistency between what they tell and how they tell it:
One of the most disturbing things I know during clinical interviews is when someone speaks of an extremely traumatic or painful experience in an absolutely calm way. The tone remains flat, the face is unexpressive and there are no body movements to underline emotions.
This lack of synchrony is not only a question of a reserved nature or self -control. It is a distortion of the normal empathic processwhich involves the way our brain elaborates and returns visible emotions.
Psychopathy does not always mean dangerous
It is important to clarify: Psychopathy does not always manifest itself violently or evidently. Many subjects with this disorder are perfectly inserted in society, often with successful or apparent roles. However, according to Taylor, one of the constants is the difficulty – or the total inability – to experience real empathy.
Those who have psychopathic traits can tell the death of a loved one with the same tone with which to describe the weather of the day. The body remains firm, the face does not change, the hands do not move. In practice, Their way of communicating is emotionally flatas if the experience had never really touched them.
This condition also has a neurological explanation: Some studies on brain scans They showed that in people with psychopathic traits it is observed a reduced activation of the areas of the brain associated with empathy and the recognition of emotions. This makes it more difficult for them to get in tune with the moods of others, even if they can learn to imitate them superficially.
That’s why the signal to be observed carefully is the discrepancy between content and body language: It may seem like an insignificant detail, but it could reveal much more than we imagine.
