The word “psychopath” evokes thoughts of serial killers – guys like Ted Bundy, Charlie Manson, John Wayne Gacy. But Dr. Robert Hare, creator of the 20-point Hare PCL-R (Psychopathy Checklist-Revised), disabuses us of that idea. He says business, religious and political leaders can also be psychopaths.
Jon Ronson explains in his book The Psychopath Test:
“Serial killers ruin families,” shrugged Hare. “Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies.”
It wasn’t only Hare who believed that a disproportionate number of psychopaths can be found in high places. Over the following months, I spoke to scores of psychologists who all said the same.
Political psychopaths? We’ve never heard of such a thing, at least not since Obama took office.
Here’s Hare’s test. Think of a politician – any politician – and run down the list. For each item, evaluate the subject as a 0, 1 or 2. A total of 30 or more out of 40 indicates a psychopath.
Item 1 Glibness/superficial charm
Item 2 Grandiose sense of self-worth
Item 3 Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Item 4 Pathological lying
Item 5 Cunning/manipulative
Item 6 Lack of remorse or guilt
Item 7 Shallow affect
Item 8 Callous/lack of empathy
Item 9 Parasitic lifestyle
Item 10 Poor behavioural controls
Item 11 Promiscuous sexual behaviour
Item 12 Early behaviour problems
Item 13 Lack of realistic long-term goals
Item 14 Impulsivity
Item 15 Irresponsibility
Item 16 Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
Item 17 Many short-term marital relationships
Item 18 Juvenile delinquency
Item 19 Revocation of conditional release
Item 20 Criminal versatility
As far as politicians go, if we didn’t know it was a psychological test, we would’ve guessed “resume.”
– Written by Bonfire of the Absurdities
Source: Guardian UK
