The Sociopath Next Door

Sociopaths are often pictured as violent criminals, yet Martha Stout argues that they are frequently ordinary people with an undetected disorder whose chief feature is a lack of conscience. By her estimate about 4 percent of people, roughly one in twenty-five, have it, so most readers will already know one.

The book explains how such people can seem more charming or interesting than those around them, and why their lack of real feeling leaves others easily drawn in. Sociopaths can imitate emotion, but they remain indifferent to the suffering of others and tend to seek domination and thrills. Stout describes the moment a reader realises that a person they worked for, loved or voted for fits the pattern, and asks what to do with that knowledge.

Her advice includes questioning authority, being wary of flattery, and not joining the game when a sociopath beckons. The book suits general readers who want to recognise manipulation. Edition note: published by Harmony in 2005, 256 pages, ISBN-13: 9780767915816.