Weather 
Fatal attraction.
Are you on a date with someone who’s handsome and kind? They could be a psychosexual sadist.
At least that’s the theory floated by University of Alabama scientists, who found that psychopaths can exhibit desirable characteristics during a romantic outing, including humor, charm and physical attractiveness.
In other words, they’re someone you might want to swipe right on in a dating app.
“People higher in psychopathy and sadism manage to come across in ways that are emblematic of agentic boldness (confident, fun, good-looking),” the researchers wrote in a paper published in the Journal of Research in Personality.
In fact, movie portrayals — and even highly publicized real-life cases — would have people believe that psychopaths slay it on the dating scene.
The scientists cited the case of serial murderer Ted Bundy, who was notorious for using charisma and killer looks to deceive unsuspecting victims, the Daily Mail reported.
There was also Rodney Alcala, a serial killer who “famously appeared on and won the televised show ‘The Dating Game,’” per the study.
Of course, this evidence remains anecdotal. To discover how psychopaths really come across a romantic meetup, the researchers recruited 129 heterosexual university students and had them complete questionnaires measuring their levels of psychopathy and sadism.
The students were then required to embark on a speed-dating marathon consisting of eight, three-minute outings.
After each session, participants graded their partner on characteristics, including humor, kindness and attractiveness. They then indicated whether they wanted a second date.
Researchers found that people of both sexes who boasted high levels of psychopathy were selected for dates 53 per cent of the time — 10% more than those with below-average levels.
Meanwhile, those with sadistic characteristics were chosen 54% compared to 42% for non-sadists.
Researchers theorized that, along with showcasing appealing characteristics, people with high levels of psychopathy and sadism tend to be less affected by “high-pressure, anxiety-arousing” situations such as speed dating.
“This may allow them to thrive in initial dating encounters as it supports coming across as sociable, carefree, and funny as opposed to fearful, overly cautious, and reticent,” researchers wrote. They then use these traits to manipulate their marks.
Unfortunately, this flaw of attraction means so-called toxic lovers are a lot harder to pick out in a crowd.
“On a short first date, people seemed generally unable to spot any red flags linked to elevated psychopathy or sadism,” said the study’s lead author Braden T. Hall, a psychology professor at the University of Alabama, the Daily Mail reported.
But don’t start relegating romantic prospects to ugly dullards just yet; Experts estimate that just 1% of the general public has clinical levels of psychopathic personality traits.
Meanwhile, psychopathy exists on a spectrum, according to Canadian psychologist Leanne ten Brinke.
“Just like other personality traits that we know well, e.g., extraversion, openness, everyone scores somewhere from very low to very high, and a lot of people score somewhere in the middle,” she said. “Only those at the extreme high end would be considered to have clinical levels of psychopathy.”
Not to mention that not all psychopaths are violent.
Nonetheless, romancing the stone-cold is a common trend.
A 2025 German study revealed that those who have a high hookup rate on dating apps are more likely to be psychopaths.
“Individuals who have elevated levels of traits associated with a fast life history (like the Dark Triad/Tetrad traits, or sociosexuality) use visual social media platforms more intensely,” said study author Lennart Freyth, a professor at the Hochschule Döpfer University of Applied Sciences in Cologne
