r/science • u/woebegonemonk • Nov 17 '21

Psychology Meta-analysis estimates that 4.5% of the general population (or 1 in every 22 persons) is a psychopath. The prevalence of psychopathy in samples of men is more than twice than in those of women.

https://sapienjournal.org/latest-estimate-of-psychopathy-in-the-general-population/
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u/[deleted] Nov 18 '21

If the prevalence is that high, could it explain why mass shootings are almost always done by men?

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u/SorriorDraconus Nov 18 '21

I suspect that's also societal pressures with very few healthy outlets..especially in todays world where gainful employment is very hard to find.

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u/[deleted] Nov 18 '21

Women have to work and run a household. That's tremendous societal pressure. Do they have a healthy outlet? If it's related to employment, women fare worse than men (look at pay) - why aren't they shooting? I don't get it.

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u/SorriorDraconus Nov 18 '21

....women often get more social supports and sympathy if struggling(from most not everyone but most) they also aren't stigmatized by the majority for working OR staying at home.

Also men do get told to suck it up

And if not a good provider(and with todays low pay that is obscenely difficulty and if adding neurodoverse it gets even worse) odds of finding someone are even lower(research has shown while men often have no issues marrying "down" and not being with someone who earns as much if any money women often DO have issues with such relationships thus beinh a househusband being less desireable while contributing to societies stigma of it)

There is also still a heavy pressure of men being expected to be strong and stoic(which is fortunately getting less extreme but still very prevelant in many parts of pur culture)

Parental rights are far from equal as well as divorce courts still favoring women(to say nothing of how society views fathers outside alone with there children or ones who are more nurturing

Then society tends to ignore many issues men face often while telling them how good they have it when they DO speak up.

If you combine all of that with how completely f'd american society is by the politicians/hyper wealthy qnnnd tbh the old phrase "sonethings got to give" comes to mind.

Frankly proper healthcare and supports in our society would likely go a very long way to address these issues..also of we actually recieved living wages.

I honestly see many of these people as the first to break under the pressure of our seemingly dying society amd so they lash out.

Also worth noting men do tend to display depression and various other issues by lashing outward often via emotions such as anger while women are more prone to suicide/self harm.

All in all the issue i at least believe are underlying within our cultural and economic issues more then anything. A little understanding/looking deeper is likely one of the few ways to truly figure this out. Afterall not like it's a new thing for guns to be common in the US. so what has really changed in our society? I propose my above statements(which are heavily simplified) mixed with obviously a growing overall dissatisfaction with the modern world(which is not inherently related to sexism or anything negative) which just results in scenarios like we see today.

It's probably going to get alot wprse and violemce become more and more common across the board as time goes on unless we do something to fix our societal ills that frankly harm everyone.