Do Psychopaths Experience Fear?

Some studies and observations challenge the axiom of psychopaths as fearless.

Posted December 11, 2025 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

The prototypical psychopath is pictured as callous, unemotional, impulsive, and fearless. While psychopaths may seem fearless, it does not mean they are not fearful. Fearlessness is not always the opposite of fearfulness. From my own observation, the psychopathic female is especially fearful and anxious.

Psychopaths can experience fear

Psychopathy researchers Sylco Hoppenbrouwers, Berend Bulten, and Inti Brazil analyzed 16 research reports relating to psychopathy that included measures of fear . 1 Their review suggested that those with high levels of psychopathic characteristics had a significant deficiency in threat detection and responsivity, not an absence of fear. They concluded that psychopaths "seem to be able to consciously experience fear as an emotion , which contradicts the general notion that lack of fear is a core component of psychopathy.” 2 They also pointed to various neurobiological correlates that might underpin their conclusion and noted the importance of additional research. 3 Their findings about fear echo assertions made in 1976 by Yochelson and Samenow in their seminal work The Criminal Personality . 4

The Criminal Personality and a Psychopath’s Fear

Criminal justice researchers Yochelson and Samuelson believed that the psychopath experiences frequent fears and worries but is extremely cautious about showing this because it would suggest weakness and vulnerability of character. 5 They assessed a population of maximum security inmates and determined that every one of them, including the “conscienceless” ones, experienced fears. “These men had the same fears as the noncriminal. They were hypersensitive to what was said about them. Through a shutoff mechanism, a criminal could rid himself of conscience and any other fear that might stand in the way of what he wanted to do. To be sure, not all criminals had the same fears. But fearfulness as a trait was present in every one of them.” 6

Female psychopaths and fear

Research has suggested that females may experience greater fear and display even higher levels of anxiety than men. 7 An analysis of incarcerated females referenced in work by psychologists Jason Smith, Carl Gacono and Ted Cunliffe determined that “there was no group difference related to anxiety between psychopathic and non-psychopathic women.” 8 Their emotionality had a superficial quality to it, and, from all outward appearances, the female psychopath often seems to take matters in their stride. But do they?

Personal experiences depicting the female psychopath’s fear and anxiety

My mother displayed high levels of psychopathic personality traits. Callous unemotionality, lying , and victimizing others were her hallmarks. While fearless when victimizing others, at certain times she would display fear. I remember how fear was a prime motivator of many of her actions. She never wanted to be found out and tried hard to blend into her surroundings. This enabled her manipulation schemes. That was why she sent me to a parochial day school like the parents of many neighboring families.

There were many occasions where my mother made me lie to my teachers because she was afraid of being found out. An early incident revealed her fear to me. One day, my first-grade teacher encouraged students to buy their mothers a “ spiritual bouquet” card for Mother’s Day. Every child bought the card, except me. I had asked my mother several times over the week, but she never gave me the money for it. When my teacher asked me why I did not buy it, I told her that my mother was not religious and did not want such a card. Back home that evening, I told my mother what I had said to the teacher. She reacted fiercely because I had told the truth, but she then quickly gave me the money to buy the card the next day. She was afraid she might have been found out.

Time and again through the years, valium and alcohol were the salves for her fears. She was far from fearless. She was unable to confront her fears because she needed to protect the pyramid of lies and intentional distortions that constituted her false face, her psychopathic persona. Whenever she felt at risk, she would create a reinforcing and convincing story built with believable lies. Then the alcohol would flow, or the valium would come out. This continued right up to her death at 91 years of age.

Hoppenbrouwers, Sylco S., Bulten, Berend H. & Brazil, Inti A. (2016). Parsing Fear : A reassessment of the Evidence for Fear Deficits in Psychopathy. Psychological Bulletin . Vol. 142.573-600.

2, 3. Hoppenbrouwers. 593.

Yochelson, Samuel and Samenow, Stanton E. (1976). The Criminal Personality, Volume I: A Profile for Change. New York, NY: Jason Aronson.
Lynam, Donald R., Miller, Joshua D., and Derefinko, Karen J. (2018). Psychopathy and Personality . In C.J. Patrick (Ed.). Handbook of Psychopathy, 2nd Edition. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. 259-280. 275.
Smith, Jason M., Gacono, Carl R., and Cunliffe, Ted R. (2021). Understanding Female Offenders : Psychopathy, Criminal Behavior, Assessment, and Treatment. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. 210.

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Winifred Rule is a member of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy and author of Born to Destroy , the first instructional book on the female psychopath, based on her experiences and lessons learned from living with two psychopaths.

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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.