The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Connecticut among the most psychopathic states, study says
Connecticut ranks among the top five psychopathic states, according to a recent study.
The state ranks number three in terms of psychopathy, according to study author Ryan H. Murphy, of Southern Methodist University, behind the District of Columbia and Maine.
Though Murphy states a difference between psychopathy and true psychopaths — with diagnosed psychopaths making up a small percentage of the total population — he writes that, for the purposes of his paper, “psychopathy as thought of as a spectrum.”
Murphy’s study — produced in 2018 but published in March — used data from previous work that probed personality traits of residents from the 48 contiguous U.S. states.
Murphy is just looking at psychopathy. A previous study found that regions within the United States have overall psychological traits. The Midwest and the South were found to be “friendly and conventional;” the Southwest and Pacific Northwest were found to be “relaxed and creative;” the Northeast and Texas were described as “temperamental and uninhibited.”
Murphy took the data from that previous work to rank states’ psychopathy. He defines psychopathy in terms of three character traits: Boldness (low neuroticism and high extroversion), meanness (low agreeableness) and disinhibition (low conscientiousness).
The results showed some regional trends, though there are exceptions.
Northeast states tended to be more psychopathic — Washington D.C., Maine, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Delaware and New Jersey were all in the top 10. But both Vermont and New Hampshire were rated very low in terms of psychopathy.
“The inclusion of Maine along with the high population areas of the United State support the interpretation that psychopathy is clustered around the Northeast and not just population centers, although Vermont and New Hampshire contradict this interpretation,” Murphy wrote.
Likewise, shoehorned in among the Northeast states was Wyoming, which Murphy notes as significant: “Wyoming is an odd data point, ranking high in psychopathy given its place in the country and its lack of population.”
The high level of psychopathy in Washington D.C. is also statistically significant. Murphy suggests that it’s not only because of the high population but because of the type of professions clustered there.
“The District of Columbia is measured to be far more psychopathic than any individual state in the country, a fact that can be readily explained either by its very high population density or by the type of person who may be drawn to a literal seat of power,” he wrote.
In an attempt to put his findings into context, Murphy used a previous study to examine professions with high rates of psychopathy.
He lists the most psychopathic jobs as CEO, lawyer, media, salesperson, surgeon, journalist, police officer, clergyperson, chef and civil servant.
NEW BRITAIN — Members of the 30,000strong Council 4 AFSCME are supporting a workerfriendly slate of candidates headed by Republican Sebastian Giuliano for mayor of Middletown.
“Seb Giuliano is a proven leader and consensus builder who has won the trust of Middletown public service employees over the course of his distinguished career,” Council 4 Executive Director Jody Barr said in a prepared statement.
Giuliano received the endorsement of Council 4’s Delegate Assembly Oct. 10.
“I am honored to have the respect and the support of those whose vocation it is to provide services to the people of Middletown. They may all rest assured that their respect and support is returned in equal measure,” Giuliano said in a press release.
Council 4 delegates also voted to endorse the following candidates for Common Council: Democrat Meghan Carta, and Republicans Anthony Gennaro, Hope Kasper, Mike Marino, Philip Pessina and Matthew Scarrozzo.
Gennaro is a member of Local 1361 of Council 4 (the Middletown Police Union), while Marino and Pessina are retired members of the same local union, according to the release.
“We are proud to have earned Council 4’s support,” Marino said in the release. “As a retired union president, I personally appreciate the importance of respecting workers’ rights and the collective bargaining process. As endorsed candidates, we are committed to working together to protect and grow the highquality public services that our Middletown community deserves.”
Candidates for municipal office completed questionnaires over the past three months on a series of policy issues important to the members of Council 4’s local unions and their communities. Members of the union’s political action committee reviewed the responses, interviewed the candidates and made recommendations for endorsement in the 2019 General Election to the Council 4 Delegate Assembly, the release said.
“The group of candidates we’ve endorsed for Mayor and Common Council demonstrates our commitment to supporting those who support working people and who respect unions,” said Derek Puorro of Local 1361, a Middletown police sergeant who sits on Council 4’s local political action committee and chairs the union’s public safety council.
Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees represents approximately 30,000 women and men in the public and private sector across Connecticut.
Visit ouncil4.org for information.