Back in college, my friend Eric told me an interesting test he heard that psychologists sometimes use with incarcerated serial killers to determine their psychopathy. As I've been on this little sociopath/psychopath stint with the fella mentioned in my previous posts, I thought I'd share this one with you fine people as a fun way to see if you have what it takes to make the list.
The Test:
A woman attends her mother's funeral, and sees a young man across the room that she just can't take her eyes off of. She learns he is a friend of the family, but never has the opportunity to talk to him through all of the "I'm sorrys" and "this must be so difficult for yous" pressed upon her by the funeral attendants. She can't get this man out of her mind - she's fallen in love.
The following week, this woman kills her sister. Why?
ANSWER
According to these people, a "psychopath" will always solve this question exactly as this answer states. A non-psychopath will tend to overanalyze and most likely end up with an answer that sounds like an episode of a corny soap opera. Did yours sound something like this? "Oh, well, she probably discovered her sister was having an affair with the guy, and she just couldn't take it anymore because her sister is ALWAYS doing stuff like that to her, and in a fit of passion, she pushed her off a bridge, or whatever..." Congratulations. You didn't make the cut.
Having worked with a number of patients with schizophrenia, I am pretty exhausted after hearing all of the common misconceptions attributed by the media. (Schizophrenia DOES NOT mean "multiple personality disorder"... And they usually won't kill you.) So I can't help but cringe every time I hear the word "psychopath". It is so often thrown around, it's almost lost its scientific meaning. Many professionals use the terms "sociopath" and "psychopath" interchangeably, as neither of them are necessarily listed in the DSM. They're both referring to slightly shifted behavior types within the umbrella diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD). The major differences reside within the individual's penchant for violence and, interestingly enough, how successful they are at living seemingly normal lives.
Sociopaths are usually not very skilled at hiding their disorder. They strike randomly and messily, tending to struggle with integrating into society very well, if at all.
Psychopaths, on the other hand, are quite the opposite. They are charming, usually hold a job, and are most likely very educated. Guiltless manipulation of the people around them is kind of "their thing".
Both of these subsets of APD share the same qualities of social handicap; neither have a boastful capacity for empathy, guilt, respect for authority, etc. But the real kicker is, whereas sociopaths can often connect loyalty with at least one person or group, psychopaths have complete disregard for strangers and family alike. Clearly this is a dangerous cocktail.
BUT. And this is a big "but". Just because somebody is diaganosably psychopathic does NOT mean they are a dangerous person. Hell, my previous landlord was OBVIOUSLY psychopathic. He wasn't dangerous...just tried to screw me out of a couple thousand dollars... But not dangerous. ;)
So. You've taken the quiz. Where do you stand?
The Test:
A woman attends her mother's funeral, and sees a young man across the room that she just can't take her eyes off of. She learns he is a friend of the family, but never has the opportunity to talk to him through all of the "I'm sorrys" and "this must be so difficult for yous" pressed upon her by the funeral attendants. She can't get this man out of her mind - she's fallen in love.
The following week, this woman kills her sister. Why?
ANSWER
According to these people, a "psychopath" will always solve this question exactly as this answer states. A non-psychopath will tend to overanalyze and most likely end up with an answer that sounds like an episode of a corny soap opera. Did yours sound something like this? "Oh, well, she probably discovered her sister was having an affair with the guy, and she just couldn't take it anymore because her sister is ALWAYS doing stuff like that to her, and in a fit of passion, she pushed her off a bridge, or whatever..." Congratulations. You didn't make the cut.
Having worked with a number of patients with schizophrenia, I am pretty exhausted after hearing all of the common misconceptions attributed by the media. (Schizophrenia DOES NOT mean "multiple personality disorder"... And they usually won't kill you.) So I can't help but cringe every time I hear the word "psychopath". It is so often thrown around, it's almost lost its scientific meaning. Many professionals use the terms "sociopath" and "psychopath" interchangeably, as neither of them are necessarily listed in the DSM. They're both referring to slightly shifted behavior types within the umbrella diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD). The major differences reside within the individual's penchant for violence and, interestingly enough, how successful they are at living seemingly normal lives.
Sociopaths are usually not very skilled at hiding their disorder. They strike randomly and messily, tending to struggle with integrating into society very well, if at all.
Psychopaths, on the other hand, are quite the opposite. They are charming, usually hold a job, and are most likely very educated. Guiltless manipulation of the people around them is kind of "their thing".
Both of these subsets of APD share the same qualities of social handicap; neither have a boastful capacity for empathy, guilt, respect for authority, etc. But the real kicker is, whereas sociopaths can often connect loyalty with at least one person or group, psychopaths have complete disregard for strangers and family alike. Clearly this is a dangerous cocktail.
BUT. And this is a big "but". Just because somebody is diaganosably psychopathic does NOT mean they are a dangerous person. Hell, my previous landlord was OBVIOUSLY psychopathic. He wasn't dangerous...just tried to screw me out of a couple thousand dollars... But not dangerous. ;)
So. You've taken the quiz. Where do you stand?
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