A retired FBI agent has revealed a chilling personality type he says is more dangerous than a psychopath.
Joe Navarro, who spent 25 years as a special agent and supervisor in counterintelligence and counterterrorism, said one percent of the population are psychopaths.
Speaking with LADbible, Navarro defined this group as lacking a conscience, not bound by rules, and tending to come in and out of the system for terrible crimes.
While many researchers consider psychopaths to be the most malevolent and dangerous of them all, the former FBI agent believes that a malignant narcissist ‘does the most damage on an interpersonal level.’
Malignant narcissism is defined as a severe condition that combines standard narcissistic traits with antisocial behavior, paranoia and a sadistic enjoyment of others’ suffering.
Mental health professionals often cite historical and political figures like Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin as textbook examples of malignant narcissism.
‘A malignant narcissist overvalues themselves and devalues others, and that discrepancy causes great harm,’ Navarro said.
He added that it is usually males with the personality and females as victims, suffering from both emotional and financial effects.
While many researchers consider psychopaths to be the most malevolent and dangerous of them all, the former FBI agent believes that a malignant narcissist ‘does the most damage on an interpersonal level’
Navarro joined the FBI at the age of 23, making him one of the youngest agents in the agency’s history.
During his career, he worked as a criminal profiler and was a founding member of the FBI National Security Division Behavioral Analysis Program, which applies behavioral psychology and personality assessments to national security investigations.
Navarro spoke with LADbible this week, where he revealed his take on the most dangerous personality.
‘I have to say from the mail that I have received over the last 10 or 12 years since writing that book that the malignant narcissist is probably the one that does the most damage,’ he said.
Malignant narcissism is not an official mental health diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), the standard reference book used by mental health and medical professionals in the US to diagnose and classify mental disorders.
However, it is a clinical term for the most harmful end of the narcissism spectrum.
Signs of a malignant narcissist include a lack of remorse, disregard for people’s pain or feelings, feeling attacked or tricked, and needing to be in charge through lies, fear and manipulation.
‘While certain criminals who rob banks and rob people tend to be in the area of psychopathy or sociopathy, the malignant narcissist tends to do, I think, the most interpersonal damage,’ Navarro said.
Joe Navarro, who spent 25 years as a special agent and supervisor in counterintelligence and counterterrorism
Navarro crossed paths with Ted Bundy’s (pictured) orbit as a young rookie officer in 1975 when he investigated the disappearance of 15-year-old Susan Curtis from a college campus where he was on patrol duty
As for psychopaths, Navarro said they can not be easily spotted, as many are very functional.
He gave serial killer Ted Bundy as an example, noting how he was very good-looking, erudite and the judges loved him.
‘If he was walking down the street, could you point and say, “Well, there goes the psychopath,”‘ said Navarro.
‘No. You really have to observe their behaviors and how they treat others and how they view others and whether or not they have a conscience.’
Navarro crossed paths with Ted Bundy’s orbit as a young rookie officer in 1975 when he investigated the disappearance of 15-year-old Susan Curtis from a college campus where he was on patrol duty.
Years later, serial killer Ted Bundy confessed to abducting and murdering Curtis just before his execution in 1989.
Navarro has openly shared his lingering sorrow over not recognizing Bundy as a predator at the time, believing he may have even seen Bundy cruising the campus that night
