Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Are you a psychopath? Take the psychopathy test.



Are you a psychopath? Take the psychopathy test. Remember. . .no cheating, although if you are indeed a psychopath, you would have no compunction about cheating.

Robert Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised is the psycho-diagnostic tool most commonly used to assess Psychopathy.

Disclaimer: Your scores may have important consequences for your future, and this test should only be considered valid if administered by a qualified and experienced clinician under controlled conditions. As a life-long student and observer of abnormal psychology, I am emminently qualified to administer the test (further disclaimer: I would also consider myself qualified to perform surgery, having carved a few birds and beasts over the years). And what could be a more controlled environment than All This Is That?

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised

This is a clinical rating scale contains 20 items. Each item is scored on a three-point (0, 1, 2) scale according to specific criteria through file information and a semi-structured interview. A value of 0 is assigned if the item does not apply, 1 if it applies somewhat, and 2 if it fully applies. The items are as follows:

1 Glibness/superficial charm
2 Grandiose sense of self-worth
3 Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
4 Pathological lying
5 Conning/manipulative
6 Lack of remorse or guilt
7 Shallow affect
8 Callous/lack of empathy
9 Parasitic lifestyle
10 Poor behavioral controls
11 Promiscuous sexual behavior
12 Early behavioral problems
13 Lack of realistic, long-term goals
14 Impulsivity
15 Irresponsibility
16 Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
17 Many short-term marital relationships
18 Juvenile delinquency
19 Revocation of conditional release
20 Criminal versatility


The cutoff for psychopathy is 30 points or greater, although some studies recommend 25. If you scored even over 10, I'm not saying you're ready for the rubber room at the laughing academy, but I'm not sure I want to have you, say, babysit my children either.
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