The Psychopath Test
Jun. 15th, 2011 10:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
davywavyThe psychopath test, a bit of quick 'n' easy pop psychology, has been doing the rounds lately due to being given a dose of publicity by Jon Ronson writing a book about it and the people who score highly on it.
In short the test (Robert Hare's PCL-R, if you're interested) is a list of twenty questions, and the higher you score the more likely it is you're a psychopath. That's not a killing people and eating them sort of psychopath that is, but an amoral and pushy little git who doesn't care if they have to tread on a few toes to get ahead sort of psychopath.
The point being made in the press is that people who score highly on the test are also people who tend to do well in business and so this shows how the capitalist system is actually being run by - omg! - psychopaths out for themselves and not benevolently for everyone.
I'll leave you to pick yourself up off the floor and dust yourself off after that revelation.
What Jon Ronson's book and the surrounding reportage fail to observe is that the same people would rise to the top of any system; the people who are global business tycoons now would be members of the Poltiburo under a Communist system and you'd be shot in the face for saying they were psychopaths; this doesn't strike me as any sort of particular improvement. However, people who want to believe that capitalism is teh ev1l have been all over this one like the rash I once got after a night out at 5th Avenue in Manchester in 1991.
Anyway, the twenty characteristics of a psychopath the test looks for are as follows. Why not score yourself? Rate yourself 0 for never, 1 for sometimes and 2 for always:
1.Glibness and Superficial Charm – Smooth-talking, engaging and slick.
2.Grandiose Self-Worth – Greatly inflated idea of one's abilities and self-esteem, arrogance and a sense of superiority.
3.Needs Stimulation/Prone to Boredom – An excessive need for new, exciting stimulation and risk-taking.
4.Pathological Lying – Shrewd, crafty, sly and clever when moderate; deceptive, deceitful, underhanded and unscrupulous when high.
5.Manipulative – Uses deceit and deception to cheat others for personal gain.
6.No Guilt/Remorse: no feelings or concern for losses, pain and suffering of others, coldhearted and unempathic.
7.Emotional Poverty – Limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness.
8.Lacks Empathy – A lack of feelings toward others; cold, contemptuous and inconsiderate.
9.Parasitic Lifestyle – Intentional, manipulative, selfish and exploitative financial dependence on others.
10.Poor Behavioral Controls – Expressions of negative feelings, verbal abuse and inappropriate expressions of anger.
11.Promiscuity – Brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs and an indiscriminate choice of sexual partners.
12.No Realistic Long-Term Goals – Inability or constant failure to develop and accomplish long-term plans.
13.Impulsiveness – Behaviors lacking reflection or planning and done without considering consequences.
14.Irresponsible – Repeated failure to fulfill or honor commitments and obligations.
15.Fails to Accept Responsibility for Own Behavior – Denial of responsibility and an attempt to manipulate others through this.
16.Many Short-Term Marital Relationships – Lack of commitment to a long-term relationship.
17.Early Behavior Problems – A variety of dysfunctional and unacceptable behaviors before age thirteen.
18.Juvenile Delinquency – Criminal behavioral problems between the ages of 13-18.
19.Revocation of Conditional Release – Violating probation or other conditional release because of technicalities.
20.Criminal Versatility – Diversity of criminal offenses, whether or not the individual has been arrested or convicted.
To my dismay, I only score eleven. I MUST TRY HARDER.
What's your score?
In short the test (Robert Hare's PCL-R, if you're interested) is a list of twenty questions, and the higher you score the more likely it is you're a psychopath. That's not a killing people and eating them sort of psychopath that is, but an amoral and pushy little git who doesn't care if they have to tread on a few toes to get ahead sort of psychopath.
The point being made in the press is that people who score highly on the test are also people who tend to do well in business and so this shows how the capitalist system is actually being run by - omg! - psychopaths out for themselves and not benevolently for everyone.
I'll leave you to pick yourself up off the floor and dust yourself off after that revelation.
What Jon Ronson's book and the surrounding reportage fail to observe is that the same people would rise to the top of any system; the people who are global business tycoons now would be members of the Poltiburo under a Communist system and you'd be shot in the face for saying they were psychopaths; this doesn't strike me as any sort of particular improvement. However, people who want to believe that capitalism is teh ev1l have been all over this one like the rash I once got after a night out at 5th Avenue in Manchester in 1991.
Anyway, the twenty characteristics of a psychopath the test looks for are as follows. Why not score yourself? Rate yourself 0 for never, 1 for sometimes and 2 for always:
1.Glibness and Superficial Charm – Smooth-talking, engaging and slick.
2.Grandiose Self-Worth – Greatly inflated idea of one's abilities and self-esteem, arrogance and a sense of superiority.
3.Needs Stimulation/Prone to Boredom – An excessive need for new, exciting stimulation and risk-taking.
4.Pathological Lying – Shrewd, crafty, sly and clever when moderate; deceptive, deceitful, underhanded and unscrupulous when high.
5.Manipulative – Uses deceit and deception to cheat others for personal gain.
6.No Guilt/Remorse: no feelings or concern for losses, pain and suffering of others, coldhearted and unempathic.
7.Emotional Poverty – Limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness.
8.Lacks Empathy – A lack of feelings toward others; cold, contemptuous and inconsiderate.
9.Parasitic Lifestyle – Intentional, manipulative, selfish and exploitative financial dependence on others.
10.Poor Behavioral Controls – Expressions of negative feelings, verbal abuse and inappropriate expressions of anger.
11.Promiscuity – Brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs and an indiscriminate choice of sexual partners.
12.No Realistic Long-Term Goals – Inability or constant failure to develop and accomplish long-term plans.
13.Impulsiveness – Behaviors lacking reflection or planning and done without considering consequences.
14.Irresponsible – Repeated failure to fulfill or honor commitments and obligations.
15.Fails to Accept Responsibility for Own Behavior – Denial of responsibility and an attempt to manipulate others through this.
16.Many Short-Term Marital Relationships – Lack of commitment to a long-term relationship.
17.Early Behavior Problems – A variety of dysfunctional and unacceptable behaviors before age thirteen.
18.Juvenile Delinquency – Criminal behavioral problems between the ages of 13-18.
19.Revocation of Conditional Release – Violating probation or other conditional release because of technicalities.
20.Criminal Versatility – Diversity of criminal offenses, whether or not the individual has been arrested or convicted.
To my dismay, I only score eleven. I MUST TRY HARDER.
What's your score?
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no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 10:30 am (UTC)On a procedural note, doesn't telling people that it's a test for psychopathy likely influence their answers in one direction or another?
no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 10:33 am (UTC)The Corporation made the point that companies are treated legally as individuals and required by law to act in their own best interest. It came to the conclusion that this inevitably resulted in them acting like psychopaths, a conclusion which is once again debatable.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 10:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 10:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 11:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 11:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 11:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 11:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 11:19 am (UTC)In D&D terms, most large organisations become Lawful Evil almost inevitably.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 11:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 11:37 am (UTC)http://davywavy.livejournal.com/341384.html
no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 11:17 am (UTC)H
no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 11:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 12:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-16 05:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 02:00 pm (UTC)I would have thought that was true of many? Certainly many of my associates from around that time shared those attributes and have since mellowed similarly.
I knew the young were crazy
no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 04:12 pm (UTC)Life is so cruel.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 04:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 02:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-15 04:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-16 01:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-16 03:56 pm (UTC)It would however be noteworthy to point out that the qualities that make people who could be considered sociopathic in the 'good at business' sense also apply to hypomania which leads us back to the number of people retroactively diagnosed with Bipolar disorder who greatly excelled in their fields.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-17 04:23 am (UTC)I ran the course of a relationship with a bipolar woman, so I'm well aware of how wide that range can be, and the sensitivity of the issue.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-17 08:46 am (UTC)As the husband of a bipolar psychology grad, I've actually read through bits of the DSM (apparently this is what psych students consider a 'party game') and essentially, anyone can be diagnosed with something, particularly when it comes to personality disorders.
One of the major criteria for diagnosis seems to be 'caused sufficient problems in your life to come seek mental health diagnosis' in cases of ruthless, determined individuals who are achieving what they want in life (I am top in my business and don't really care about my string of failed relationships, because I'm awesome) why would they seek diagnosis? They're doing just fine.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-22 10:18 pm (UTC)JmC
Crazy how?