MARYLAND — Well, this is intriguing. The nation's capitol, Washington, D.C., has more psychopaths than any other area of the country, according to a new study. It could be explained by the high population density "or by the type of person who may be drawn a literal seat of power," according to Ryan H. Murphy, the author of the study from Southern Methodist University.

While The District was ranked No. 1 in the report, Maryland was ranked at an unhealthy No. 12 and neighboring Virginia was ranked No. 11 in the study, which examined a cross section of the "big five" personality traits — extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism — and how they relate to psychopathy in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. "The presence of psychopaths in the District of Columbia is consistent with the conjecture that psychopaths are likely to be effective in the political sphere," Murphy wrote in the study, adding that D.C. is an outlier because it is an entirely urban geographic area.

Murphy pointed to the "odd placement" of Wyoming compared to neighboring states like Montana, which ranked 43rd, and Idaho, which ranked 22nd. He said one explanation is that Wyoming is the least-densely populated state in the contiguous United States, but he also suggested that big cities may hold a particular allure for psychopaths. For the study, which has not been peer reviewed, Murphy analyzed the results of personality surveys given to thousands of residents in each of the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. It was published this month by the Social Science Research Network.

Murphy's study built on one in 2013 that separated the United States into three broad psychological regions and looked at correlations with key political, economic, social and health indicators. It classified the mid-Atlantic states as "temperamental and uninhibited," states in middle America as "friendly and conventional" and those in the West as "relaxed and creative."

Murphy used that data to calculate a new score based on personality traits that indicated psychopathy.

So, what does psychopath mean? If you're thinking about the nefarious characters you see on "Criminal Minds," you're missing the mark, according to Scientific American. Psychopaths are "superficially charming" and "tend to make a good first impression on others and often strike observers as remarkably normal," the magazine wrote.