Includes bibliographical references (pages 219-232) and index.

Introduction : imagine -- The seventh sense -- Ice people : the sociopaths -- When normal conscience sleeps -- The nicest person in the world -- Why conscience is partially blind -- How to recognize the remorseless -- The etiology of guiltlessness : what causes sociopathy? -- The sociopath next door -- The origins of conscience -- Bernie's choice : why conscience is better -- Groundhog Day -- Conscience in its purest form : science votes for morality.

Who is the devil you know? Is it your lying, cheating ex-husband? Your sadistic high school gym teacher? your boss, who loves to humiliate people in meetings?

We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, clinical psychologist Martha Stout reveals that shocking 4 percent of ordinary people have an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is the complete absence of conscience. They could be your colleague, your neighbor, even family. And they can do literally anything at all and feel absolutely no guilt, shame, or remorse.

In The Sociopath Next Door, Dr. Stout teaches you how to identify a sociopath and how to protect yourself from the ones who cross your path - and who may already be wreaking havoc in your life.