I think its important to separate dishonest people, sociopaths and psychopaths.
Dishonest people simply treat honesty as a factor - if they will get a better return by being dishonest, they are willing to do so. This is pretty common. You should never believe someone is honest until you have a track record, and never rely on honesty. Honesty has a long-term payoff, so always be extra-suspicious in one-off deals etc.
'The 48 Laws of Power', and 'Thinking Strategically' are good reads for this.
A sociopath is: "a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience". Most sociopaths will reveal this if you 'get them talking', and prod them in the direction of topics that would reveal their attitudes. This is what police interrogators often do - pretend to sympathize with the individual to get them to open up.
Another big tell is 'are they ever wrong?'. If they never seem to be wrong about anything, and always weasel it into them 'being right', that's a big red flag. I automatically distance myself from these people, including family members. A normal, healthy-minded individual can accept being wrong at least some of the time.
A psychopath is: "a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior". These people will typically trigger a 'something is off' instinct if you see them or talk to them, and if they don't (highly functional psychopaths) their friends, lack thereof, or other peoples reaction to them can be a good gauge.
Dishonest people simply treat honesty as a factor - if they will get a better return by being dishonest, they are willing to do so. This is pretty common. You should never believe someone is honest until you have a track record, and never rely on honesty. Honesty has a long-term payoff, so always be extra-suspicious in one-off deals etc.
'The 48 Laws of Power', and 'Thinking Strategically' are good reads for this.
A sociopath is: "a person with a personality disorder manifesting itself in extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience". Most sociopaths will reveal this if you 'get them talking', and prod them in the direction of topics that would reveal their attitudes. This is what police interrogators often do - pretend to sympathize with the individual to get them to open up.
Another big tell is 'are they ever wrong?'. If they never seem to be wrong about anything, and always weasel it into them 'being right', that's a big red flag. I automatically distance myself from these people, including family members. A normal, healthy-minded individual can accept being wrong at least some of the time.
A psychopath is: "a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior". These people will typically trigger a 'something is off' instinct if you see them or talk to them, and if they don't (highly functional psychopaths) their friends, lack thereof, or other peoples reaction to them can be a good gauge.