By ANTHONY JOSEPH for MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 11:55 EST, 15 August 2015 | UPDATED: 13:38 EST, 15 August 2015
Want to see if someone is a psychopath or not? Try yawning at them. If they yawn back, you’re okay and proceed to befriending them if you wish. If they don’t, perhaps steer clear—they could be distinctly anti-social.
Scientists reveal that people with low empathy levels don’t copy the gestures of others.
- Scientists have found that the more psychopathic characteristics people have, the less they are affected by ‘contagious yawning’
- Researchers from Baylor University tested 135 students for anti-social traits
- Those who scored highly on ‘cold-heartedness’ were less likely to yawn when shown video clips of facial expressions
Most people will yawn if someone around them yawns. Normal mammals are said to be unable to resist ‘contagious yawning.’
US President Barack Obama yawns during the East Asia
Summit plenary session in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in 2012
The researchers from Baylor University in Texas published their findings in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
Read more: Psychopaths don’t yawn study
See also:
Psychopath Resistance 