BEHIND THE MASK- UNDERSTANDING THE TWISTED PSYCOLOGY OF SERIAL KILLERS

6 min readJun 21, 2024

There was a boy- named Hugo, who was sitting on the carpet scrutinizing his younger sister who was busy talking to her dolls. Suddenly Hugo got up, irritated, snatched the doll from her younger sister’s hand, and smashed it across the wall. The doll broke into pieces and his sister started crying. Least affected by this, he said, “ Now that doll is dead, and you can’t play with it.” 25 years later, Hugo was arrested and charged with the murder of 6 young women.

How can the act of smashing a doll eventually turn into killing living beings?

Here we are, diving into the dark minds of serial killers, navigating through their thought processes, and eventually carving out the answers to our question,

“ Serial killers- born, made, or both?”

CHARASMATIC OR CRUEL- EXPOSING THE TRAITS OF SERIAL KILLERS:

In depth analysis of the psychology and behavior of serial killers have highlighted that these individuals possess such distinct characteristics that leads to such cruelty.

· They lack empathy

· Incapable of remorse

· Desire for revenge

THE DARK TRAID:

Dark triad is a term in psychology that describes three closely related traits which are associated with psychopathic behavior. It includes Narcissism, Machiavellianism , and psychopathy.

1) NARCISSISM:

It is characterized by pride, egoistic behavior, and lack of empathy.

Serial killers have a narcissistic personality, they seek validation by murdering people, while having no empathy for their feelings.

2) MACHIAVELLIANISM:

Characterized by manipulation and exploitation of others.

Serial killers are Machiavellian individuals, they employ cunning strategies, plan their murders, and are able to effectively manipulate their victims.

3) PSYCOPATHY:

Characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impulsivity, selfishness, callousness, and remorselessness.

Psychopathic individuals exhibit a profound lack of empathy and guilt, coupled with superficial charm. This trait is strongly associated with violent and criminal behavior, as these individuals are often fearless, impulsive, and unable to form genuine emotional bonds, making them capable of committing heinous crimes without remorse.

· DO THEY HAVE AN EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH IQ LEVEL?

Although the media depicts serial killers as someone who is as clever as a fox, and has intellectual superpowers, however, studies on the contrary have proven that many serial killers possess an average IQ.

The average person has an IQ of around 95–105. The average serial killer, according to The Serial Killer Information Center, has an IQ of 94.5. Slightly below the lower side of average. The stats prove that repeat murderers are generally slightly less intelligent than the average member of society.

MENTAL ILLNESS BEHIND THE MURDERS:

ARE ALL MURDERERS MENTALLY RETARDED?

Imagine this, killing mercilessly, still no remorse; can a mentally stable person do that?

Well, studies conducted reveals a shocking fact, “NOT ALL MURDERERS ARE PSYCOPATHS!”

It is true that severe mental illnesses are found more often among mass murderers. About one in five are likely psychotic or delusional, according to Dr. Michael Stone, a forensic psychiatrist at Columbia University who maintains a database of 350 mass killers going back more than a century, but the rest of these murderers do not have any severe, diagnosable disorder.

Moreover, a survey conducted regarding mass murders in the United states in 2013 reveals that 18% of cases were not diagnosed by any mental illness.

TRAITS UNMASKED:

Do you know the signs of a serial killer? Read this article to find out!

Many serial killers exhibit various traits that have been linked to certain disorders.

· TED BUNDY:

America’s famous serial killer, Ted Bundy- Extremely wicked, shockingly evil, responsible for killing over 30 young women, possessed some unusual traits that has been diagnosed as certain disorders by health professionals.

Bundy’s ability to live a double life continues to be puzzling. How did he attend college, build a political career and have a long-term relationship all while assaulting and murdering at least 30 women between 1973 and 1978?

Well, the answer lies in diagnosis by Dorothy O. Lewis.

Bundy was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder by Dorothy O. Lewis. Bipolar disorder is characterized by mood swings and episodes that last for over two weeks.

An analysis done by Widiger, a professor in the Department of Pscyhology at the University of Kentucky revealed that Bundy had the following traits:

antagonism (deceptive, manipulative, callous, exploitative and arrogant);
extraversion (engaging and assertive);
high conscientiousness (skilled, competent, thoughtful, organized and diligent)
low neuroticism (glib charm and fearlessness).

· JEFFREY DAHMER:

Jeffrey Dahmer is infamous for raping and murdering seventeen boys and men between 1978–1991, but what was his diagnosis? Well, he was diagnosed with three different mental disorders, including borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and a psychotic disorder.

During his trail, two different psychologists diagnosed Dahmer with the following conditions:

· Borderline personality disorder

· Alcohol dependance

· Psychotic disorder

· Necrophilia ( sexual attraction towards corpses)

· DENNIS RADER:

Dennis Rader is an American serial killer, who murdered 10 people over a span of three decades before his arrest and confession in 2005. He called himself BTK because he bound, tortured, and killed his victims.

Although Rader occasionally killed or attempted to kill men and children, he typically targeted women. His victims were often bound, sometimes with objects from their homes, and either suffocated with a plastic bag or manually strangled with a ligature.

. He had ten victims. Rader was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

· NOW THE QUESTION IS, ARE ALL SERIAL KILLERS MALES?

Well, serial killer is not a gender centric role; it might seem that all serial killers are males, however, history has proven that female serial killers have always been present.

CHILDHOOD TRAUMA- IS IT A SEED FOR PLANTING SERIAL KILLERS?

A famous saying goes by,

“ Not every trauma creates a killer, but most of the killers are created from trauma”

Remember the story of Hugo? You might be wondering what turned him into a merciless killer? Well, let his past narrate his story.

Hugo, standing in the corner, was secretly listening to all this;

“ I’ll kill you if you try to meet your parents again”

“ I-I-I-I uh mmm so-oo-orry”

A sharp clash rang out as the glass shattered, and Hugo’s mother’s hand was bleeding, and his father left the room. The young child standing there, with teary eyes, could just feel pity for his mother, after all, he himself was afraid of his cruel father.

15 days later, when Hugo came back from school, his father said, “ kid, your mother is dead, now help me bury her”

The innocence of the child fled away, hatred boiling up, his intestines burning as if someone has put a burning matchstick in it, and he stabbed his father.

This was the first murder committed by this young one, and 25 years later, this same young boy was charged with the murder of 6 young women.