Scientists have come up with a new way to help you spot a psychopath

The more psychopathic traits a person has the less likely they are to be affected by contagious yawning, according to a new study.

The research, published in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences, noted that contagious yawning has been strongly linked to empathy - a trait psychopaths notoriously lack.

Scientists gave personality tests to 135 male and female students and found those less susceptible to contagious yawning had more psychopathic traits. If you don't tend to yawn when other people do, don't worry. Researcher Brian Rundle, who worked on the study, told the Times (£)

While this is a really interesting finding, if you don’t respond to contagious yawn it doesn’t mean you have something wrong with you.

He added: "A lot of these people are still very pleasant people, it is just clear they’re not able to connect with you as much as other people are."

More: Contagious yawning and psychopathyMore: The difference between psychopaths and anti-social people lies in brain activity, experts claim