Is Taylor Swift A Psychopath

Or are people drawing wildly inaccurate conclusions...

Taylor Swift

The answer is obvious… I have no idea. I don’t know the woman.

“Then why are you wasting our time with clickbaity headlines, Athena?”

Because I didn’t make this claim, this article did:

Evidence Suggests Taylor Swift Is a Psychopath

I will be clear, I came across this article when researching another post. I found the premise ridiculous, but all the same, I will react to the article as I write this so you get the in the moment response that I have to the claims made by the author. I have no idea who this person is who wrote the article, and I am not familiar with the publication, either. What I am certain of is that they do not know Taylor Swift, and therefore should not be speculating on whether or not she is psychopathic.

To be clear, I don’t know her either, and I have no idea if she is psychopathic or not. I don’t listen to her music as it isn’t music that appeals to me, but that doesn’t mean that I think the music is bad. I simply am not interested in it. What I can say for certain is this.

When it comes to celebrities there is never going to be a way to know what their neural wiring is. I hear it all the time, this person or that person is a psychopath, don’t I agree?

No.

Or, “Athena, is this celebrity or politician a psychopath? I think they are for this list of reasons. You agree with me, right?”

No.

Why? Because I do not know them and neither do you.

The emotional investment in this is pretty annoying as well. For example, I get people from both sides of the political aisle claiming that all Biden supporters, or all Trump supporters are psychopaths, or evil, or whatever other childish name-calling they can come up with, all the while forgetting that this is exactly the sort of behavior that I consider the root of many of the problems in the world. All it tells me is that you have not bothered to listen to a word that either side has to say and engage with the arguments, but would rather insult people that challenge you emotionally.

Back to Taylor Swift. No celebrity is telling you who they are when they are presenting themselves for interviews, concerts, in their songs, their roles, or anywhere else you see them in public. It is nearly always, the exceptions are so minuscule that they are barely worth mentioning, that they are presenting you a carefully crafted and honed image that doesn’t even belong to them. It belongs to their management and publicity teams that know how to make the maximum profit.

Let’s dive into this article, shall we? I know many of you are her fans. Know that I am not, but I have no dislike for her either. To me, she is an entirely neutral person. My evaluation of this article is not meant to defend her or condemn her, but rather critique the behavior of the “journalist” who thought this was a worthy thought exercise.

The newest statistics out of psychology studies report that one percent of the general population are psychopaths. With numbers that high, you probably know a psychopath, have dated a psychopath or are actually a psychopath yourself.

Wow… that’s where we’re starting? Psychopaths are just coming out of the woodwork. We’re everywhere it seems…

Psychopathy is “traditionally defined as a personality disorder characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited and bold behavior.”

That is not what psychopathy is. All that the person listed is behavior. Anyone can behave this way, and it means nothing. Antisocial behavior is a choice, diminished empathy is pervasive, and lack of remorse is a simple habit of justification. Disinhibited and bold behavior is something anyone who isn’t an introvert can obtain. Basically, they have described hundreds of millions of people that are not psychopaths, but still exist in this world.

Psychopaths (and sociopaths) fall under the diagnostic umbrella of “antisocial personality disorder.” Traits of those with antisocial personality disorders vary: They are not all serial killers and criminals. A psychopath is just as likely to be an accountant as he/she is to be a Ted Bundy-type.

This person is attempting to sound like they understand psychopathy when in reality they start off the sentence with factually incorrect information. ASPD has nothing to do with psychopathy. ASPD is a garbage diagnosis. Most psychopaths are not antisocial, and very few would ever be serial killers. Ted Bundy was not a psychopath. But but but… they tried to simp for psychopaths… Sure… and made themselves out to be ill-educated at best. Certainly not an effective simp. Though I imagine that the point was to make the blow of Taylor supposedly being psychopathic a softer one for her fans.

Jamie Lees failed on this point, entirely.

Using a combination of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), Robert D. Hare's famous Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) and various psychology articles, we've made a list of the traits of a psychopath. We posit that they might apply to international pop star Taylor Swift.

That’s Jamie’s measurement? The DSM, an insurance repayment manual, and Robert Hare, a man who wouldn’t know a psychopath if they introduced themselves to him directly and told him that they were one. He is the sort that would immediately dismiss them, while at the same time labeling the clerk at the liquor store as a psychopath because they didn’t stock his favorite bourbon.

Hyperbole, of course.

Why? Well, Taylor Swift exhibits a multitude of behaviors that are in line with a diagnosis of psychopathy. She's the most ambitious blonde since our lady Madonna, and like Madonna she's turned herself into a holier-than-thou media monster hell-bent on presenting perfection. This rubs many observers the wrong way. Basically, tons of people think that she's become the music industry version of Anne Hathaway: attractive, talented, hard-working and helplessly annoying.

Why is ambition a negative thing or something that would be assigned to psychopathy? Plenty of non-psychopathic people are ambitious. It doesn’t make them psychopaths at all. Also, the wording here is very inflammatory. Again, not a Swift fan, but I don’t consider her as “holier than thou”. This is sort of reading like someone who specifically dislikes Swift and wants to knock her down several pegs which usually comes from jealousy.

Also, what is with the Anne Hathaway hate? I, again, don’t have any feelings one way or another about Anne Hathaway, but there is this faction of people who really hate her for some reason. It’s very strange to me, and the fact that the Anne Hathaway hate makes its appearance in this article makes me curious about the author’s intentions. It also makes me suspect that “Jamie” is a female name in this case as this sort of cattiness tends to be a female trait.

We have a special interest in Swift and psychology, so here we examine the traits of the psychopath and explore how they might relate to Taylor Swift.

Whoooo is “we”?

Seriously, who is “we” in this sentence? The general public? I can say with certainty that “I” as part of the general public do not care about Taylor Swift and her brain formation. The only reason I am addressing it is because “you” have decided that it is of relevant consideration and have also decided that “psychopathy” needed to be brought into this conversation. In fact, I should be in bed right now, but no. Here I am, debunking your nonsense about a celebrity that you wish you were… At least, that’s how your article reads… to me.

Psychopaths exhibit glib or superficial charm and often have disarming personalities.

Taylor Swift wants everyone to feel like they are her best friend. Just try to be in a room with her without Swift offering to pose for a selfie with you. She seems perpetually “on” in a way that is unnatural and Robin Williams-like. With a constant media spotlight on her life, even her bad days seem Truman Show manufactured. She charms everyone from babies to the elderly with ease and looks like a Barbie while she does it. Creepy.

She’s nice so she’s a psychopath? Seriously? Oh no, wait, she’s nice, and a consummate professional… so psychopath? Am I reading that correctly? Are you kidding? I don’t have her life, and thank goodness for that, I would find it exhausting, but she seems to handle the public spotlight fairly well. You, Jamie, have no idea what she is like when the door finally shuts between her and her fans, and for all you know, she collapses in exhaustion, happy that she was able to sign that last autograph even though she has the flu and feels atrocious. Not only do you have no idea, you have decided that the notion of her being a consummate professional is “creepy”. That’s just weird. Other people can be charming. It is not a psychopath-only trait.

Psychopaths learn to mimic and display false emotion to hide their lack of empathy and genuine human connections.

She does this so much. Just click this link.

The image above is what the author wants you to look at. You can find a collection of photographs like this associated with most celebrities. It means that they are doing their job. Regardless of how they feel or think about whatever rubber chicken dinner function they are expected to turn up at, they damn well better appear very grateful for whatever award is being thrust into their arms for the night. It is non-negotiable. The idea that she has the audacity to respond appropriately of course should be villianized. Seriously…?

Psychopaths are often wildly successful.

Even Swift's seemingly altruistic moves are self-profit motivated. Last year she published an essay in the Wall Street Journal about the value of artists and their work. Just a few months later she pulled her entire catalog from Spotify. The executives at Spotify publicly begged for her to come back, but T-Swizz wasn't having it. So what happened after that? Her latest album, 1989, hit record sales numbers. She sold 1.28 million copies during the first week alone. Why? Because kids actually paid for it instead of just streaming it. The psycho is a genius.

Okay, there is a lot in this paragraph. Let’s start with the idea that Taylor Swift is the one making the marketing decisions for her music catalog. That is very unlikely. Celebrities have teams of different professionals around them to make their lives run. She is not sitting on the phone, twirling her hair, and figuring out how to get more money out of Spotify. That is a financial person on her team. That is what they are paid for.

However, let’s just go with the argument that she is indeed all-powerful and does every little thing herself and hasn’t died from overwork yet. Even if she did mastermind the whole pull the music from Spotify so they begged for her return, that’s just business, and good on her for making herself a nice chunk of change. Is the person’s argument that if you make good business decisions you must be a psychopath because neurotypicals are stupid? That’s just silly. We don’t make up that much of the population and good business decisions are everywhere on a daily basis. No, they aren’t all born from a psychopathic mind.

Also, not all psychopaths are geniuses. Can we please be done with this myth? It’s really old. How is the argument that we are all masterminds of all things, yet psychopaths are exclusively studied in prisons? Both ends of this nonsense are irrational, but somehow that is the prevailing stereotype of psychopathy. We are both incredibly intelligent, and all in prison somehow. Sigh…

Also also, let me just say, that whoever came up with the pull the music to get a better deal is doing their job. That is what they were hired for, and that doesn’t make them a psychopath. Could they be? Sure. But there is nothing about that move that is psychopathic in nature. It’s just getting the best deal possible.

Psychopaths are highly adaptable and often extremely intelligent.

Just this week Ryan Adams released an album that exclusively features track-by-track cover versions of Swift's latest album, but done in the style of the Smiths. Taylor Smiths? Bet she had to look up the Manchester mopes. Seriously, do you think that Taylor Swift has ever spent even one night sitting all dour in her bedroom and listening to the Smiths or the maudlin music of the university station? No way. But guess whose music is available on Spotify? Ryan “MySpace Hair” Adams. That means that Swift is still getting a check from Spotify and other streaming services. Clever girl.

Good lord, I hope that this article is satire. I am fully open to that being a possibility as I am not familiar with the publication nor the author, but this claim is really spectacularly bizarre. Taylor literally has nothing to do with anything in this paragraph. People make covers all the time. The lawyers are the ones that figure out which ones violate copyright laws and which ones are financially smart to go after. Plenty of times it is decided that even if a line is a bit blurry, to leave something alone because it is beneficial to the artist. However, if it is a blatant violation it gets taken down because precedent is a real thing.

Psychopaths can easily influence or manipulate others.

A few months ago Ms. Swift wrote yet another note and convinced one of the most powerful corporations in the world to change its streaming policy in favor of “young songwriters” and cash-poor indie artists. Apple knows better than to question Queen T and they acquiesced immediately.

Wait… so… she did something nice for other artists and that makes her a psychopath?

*narrows eyes*

I mean… usually not the stereotype I am used to people going for when it comes to psychopathy, so a bit weird there, but did it ever occur to you that she was made aware of something that was bothersome to indie artists and thought, “Hmm, maybe I can use my platform to effect change in an area that change would be slow to come otherwise”? That seems… I don’t know, just a decent thing to do. It doesn’t seem to benefit her in any way, so what’s the supposed angle here?

Could and would a psychopath do something like this? Sure, I could see that being the case. If it was considered necessary action. It doesn’t cost anything, and it may seem like something that needs to be done, so it is. However, doing so isn’t “psychopathic” in nature either. I truly hope this is satire.

Holy lord guys. This is a really long article. I haven’t read ahead, but there is a page two, and I am only halfway through page one. This will be a two-part series. I will finish page one in this part, and do page two next week. At the end, let’s all hope Jamie Lees says, “ Ha ha, fooled you. Taylor Swift is just some random celebrity that I decided to troll the Swifties with. Gotchya!”

Anyway, on with page one… and it’s going to be a minute, so hang in there.

Psychopaths appear to be much more humble than the average person.

Despite being one of the most successful pop stars ever, Taylor Swift constantly portrays herself as a victim, a nerd or as the underdog. (See “You Belong With Me” video and lyrics.) This is a move that makes psychopaths seem less threatening so that they can actually become more powerful. Swift has been pushing this platform since the very beginning of her career, expressing in interviews that her classmates hated her, boys hate her, other performers hate her. All of that might be true (and maybe many are just a bit jealous) but if they view her poorly it's not because she's a nerdy victim. She's been a powerhouse for almost a decade and she is absolutely, in no possible way an underdog. Don't let her trick you into thinking otherwise.

All right, this touches on one of the reasons I am not really interested in her music. It is all about breakups and relationships. It obviously isn’t going to be something that I would have much of an interest in. That being said, it is also one of the strongest arguments against her being supposedly psychopathic. She understands these feelings and writes about them effectively. Can I do that? Sure, because I spent my entire life learning cognitive empathy, but she’s pretty young, which means that she either is a very fast learner, or she actually knows what those emotions are and writes about them relateably. Which do you think it is? Because I am guessing it is the second of those two options.

Also, the victim mentality is not psychopathic. Psychopaths don’t want to appear weak, nor do we like sympathy or pity. Narcissists do, and I am sure that other mental issues have this attached to it as well, but I have no idea if she has anything like that, or if she just reads the room effectively. The victim complex has been super popular in the last decade or so, and the victim Olympics are alive and well. Banking on that is, again, just good business. If she wants people to buy her music, she has to appeal to the people who are likely to do so. If culturally it is chic to be a victim, she will assume the mantle of a victim. It would make her smart, not psychopathic.

If this isn’t satire, it is muscle-destroying with all the massive reaches this article is making.

Also, it is very unlikely that she comes up with the concepts for her videos. Again, she has a team for that. A team she pays a lot of money to to keep her at the top. That’s their whole deal.

Psychopaths disregard laws, believing that rules don't apply to them.

If you or I tried to perform at Rockefeller Plaza, we'd promptly be arrested. Taylor Swift doesn't care. She just brings in her whole stage and causes a serious disturbance. She probably didn't even get a ticket.

For the love of all that is holy… what?

Seriously… satire… right?

I had no idea what this was referring to, but what I can tell you is this. No one shows up anywhere and does a concert with full lighting and sound without it being planned. That’s… not how concerts work. Watch a video on a full-scale concert setup and you will see what I mean. it’s a production in every sense of the word. She didn’t just “show up”. She was invited, she accepted, there was a contract in place, the number of songs she did was decided, and everyone knew what was going on. There was no dropping in and just deciding to perform.

Psychopaths have many short-term relationships.

Slut-shaming young women is bogus, so let's just skip this one. You've probably already drawn your own conclusions on this topic, anyway.

Insinuations are still the same as outright saying it… I mean…

I haven’t the hangup about “slut shaming”. However, if you are going to claim that it is untoward, and then do so anyway, that’s just catty as hell. That speaks more about you than it does her.

Just saying

I should also note that if you are reading the actual article, the part that says, “your own conclusions” is a hyperlink that leads to a broken link, but I will guess that it was some rundown of her relationships. I could wayback machine it, but I don’t care that much.

Psychopaths have behavioral problems during childhood.

Swift's family relocated to Nashville when she was fourteen so that she could pursue her dream of becoming a country star. But what if her family hadn't gone for this plan? Can you imagine the intensity of a teenage Tay-Tay tantrum? Yikes

How many times am I going to hope and wish this to be satire? If this isn’t satire, this person thought that this was a point. Just… what? It has nothing, no substance, nothing to draw any sort of conclusion or even thoughts about. It’s simply saying, “Can you imagine if she threw a tantrum? How traumatic would that be?”

All kids throw tantrums, and there is no evidence that she was a difficult child. Psychopaths are difficult to deal with as children, but there is no argument in this paragraph. Just the author encouraging you to use your imagination. Good lord.

Yay! The last one for page on, and it’s stupid! Let’s finish this post because I have to be up early.

Nope, I was wrong, there are two more. This one shouldn’t count because it literally says nothing:

Psychopaths have a tendency to display violent behavior.

Watch the "Blank Space" video.

Sigh… no we don’t, and assigning homework in the form of a written and acted performance piece does not an argument make. No points for you Jamie.

Psychopaths are pathological liars and enjoy the thrill that comes from fooling people.

That video for “Blank Space” is actually Taylor Swift coming out as a psychopath. Are we so blind as to miss that? She must feel pretty smug for having waved it in our faces and we just obliviously sang along. Take note of these lyrics:

- "Love's a game / Want to play?"

- "Got a long list of ex-lovers / They'll tell you I'm insane"

- "Find out what you want / Be that girl for a month"

- "I can make all the tables turn"

- "Boys only want love if it's torture / Don't say I didn't... warn you"

- "Darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream"

Psychopaths are not pathological liars to start with, but these lyrics are certainly not something a psychopath would write or even think of.

Love is a game, want to play- Nope I don’t. Too much drama in that noise.

Got a long list of lovers/They’ll tell you I’m insane- Nope, they all try to come back… for years.

Find out what you want/be that girl for a month- Then what? Then you have to deal with that person and playacting a role you don’t want to begin with if you’re a psychopath.

I can make all the tables turn-… and? Oh, and not psychopathic. Just girl power BS

Boys only want love if it's torture / Don't say I didn't... warn you- That would be sadism, not psychopathy.

Darling, I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream- Oh the edgeloriness in this lyric. That’s just painful. Also not psychopathic.

All right, that’s part one. I am not writing part two tonight, I am going to bed. This took WAY longer than I expected, and I definitely did not anticipate a page two. Either this person wrote a very lengthy troll article, or they are monumentally obsessed with Taylor Swift and not in a good way. In the sort of, follow her to the hotel and try to gain entry under the guise of being the housekeeping staff way to hide under her bed so she can listen to her sleep, kind of way.

Not a good thing. I hope that you are a troll, Jamie Lees. If not, seriously, get help. Immediately.

Until next week guys.