Fatal attraction.
Are you going on a date with someone beautiful and kind? He could be a psychosexual sadist.
At least that’s the theory put forward by scientists at the University of Alabama, who found that psychopaths can exhibit desirable characteristics when dating, including humor, charm and physical attractiveness.
In other words, she’s someone you might want to swipe right on in a dating app.
“People who are more psychopathic and sadistic manage to be emblematic of agentic boldness (confident, funny, beautiful),” the researchers wrote in an article published in the Journal of Research in Personality.
In fact, cinematic depictions — and even high-profile real-life cases — would have people believe that psychopaths are killing them in the dating scene.
Scientists cited the case of serial murderer Ted Bundy, known for his charisma and killer appearance to fool his unsuspecting victims, the Daily Mail reported.
There was also Rodney Alcala, a serial killer who “appeared on and won the television show ‘The Dating Game,'” according to the study.
Of course, these testimonies remain anecdotal. To find out how psychopaths actually encounter a romantic encounter, researchers recruited 129 heterosexual college students and had them fill out questionnaires measuring their levels of psychopathy and sadism.
The students then had to embark on a speed-dating marathon consisting of eight three-minute outings.
After each session, participants rated their partner on their characteristics, including humor, kindness, and attractiveness. They then indicated whether they wanted a second date.
Researchers found that people of both sexes with high levels of psychopathy were selected for dates 53 percent of the time, 10 percent more than those with below-average levels.
Meanwhile, those with sadistic characteristics were chosen at 54%, compared to 42% for non-sadists.
The researchers hypothesized that, in addition to exhibiting attractive characteristics, people with high levels of psychopathy and sadism tend to be less affected by “high-pressure, distressing” situations such as speed dating.
“This may allow them to thrive on their first encounters, because it allows them to appear sociable, carefree, and funny rather than fearful, overly cautious, and reticent,” the researchers wrote. They then use these traits to manipulate their brands.
Unfortunately, this lack of attraction means that so-called toxic lovers are much harder to spot in a crowd.
“On a short first date, people generally seemed unable to detect red flags related to psychopathy or high sadism,” said the study’s lead author, Braden T. Hall, a psychology professor at the University of Alabama, the Daily Mail reported.
But don’t start relegating romantic prospects to ugly idiots just yet; Experts estimate that only 1% of the general public exhibits clinical levels of psychopathic personality traits.
Meanwhile, psychopathy exists on a certain spectrum, according to Canadian psychologist Leanne ten Brinke.
“Just like other personality traits that we know well, for example extroversion, openness, everyone scores anywhere from very low to very high, and many people score somewhere in between,” she said. “Only those at the extreme high end would be considered to have clinical levels of psychopathy.”
Not to mention that not all psychopaths are violent.
However, romanticizing stone cold is a common trend.
A 2025 German study found that those who have a high hookup rate on dating apps are more likely to be psychopaths.
“Individuals who exhibit high levels of traits associated with a rapid life history (such as Dark Triad/Tetrad traits or sociosexuality) use visual social media platforms more intensely,” said study author Lennart Freyth, professor at the Hochschule Döpfer University of Applied Sciences in Cologne.
Gn Health
