Are You a Psychopath?

Have you ever wondered if you or your friends have psychopathic tendencies? Ever wonder how they test for psychopaths? The good news is if you are afraid you might be a psychopath then chances are you are not. Generally, psychopaths have no empathy and in turn could care less if they exhibit the traits. Not all psychopaths are crazy killing monsters, in fact some are actually able to climb to positions of high places, where they in turn affect the lives of many.

So how do psychiatrist decide who is a psychopath or who isn't? Many, until this day, use what is known as the Bob Hare Checklist. If you score over 30 out of 40 on the test than you are deemed a psychopath and the scariest part is they consider it incurable. That means that once you are labelled, chances are you will never be released from the institution. The scientific reasoning is that you have a deficiency in Amygdala, which lies in the brain, and is responsible of feelings such as fear and guilt.

The checklist consists of 20 items. For each item you can give a score of 0-2. If, at the end of the checklist, you have over 30, you can consider yourself a psychopath.

To give you an example, I have decided to analyse Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide, Mohamed Badie, and see what he would score on the list based on what I find online. I am very liberal with giving out twos, but then again he is an extremist.

Item 1: Glibness/superficial charm

One could argue that his beard alone is charming, and considering that he has been able to reach the to top of the Brotherhood ladder means a lot of people have had to find him as such. Score: 2

Item 2: Grandiose sense of self-worth

This one is a given. For evidence just watch any of the number of speeches he gives. He considers himself as some great authority figure above all others. Score: 2

Item 3: Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom

All I know is if he wasn't prone to boredom, he wouldn't be sitting in Raba'a El Adaweya right now. Score: 2

Item 4: Pathologically lying

Considering that he says a variety of bullshit on a daily basis, I feel very confident giving him full marks for this one. Score: 2

Item 5: Cunning/manipulative

To stoke the fires of protest, he actually claimed that visions of Angel Gabrielle could be spotted at their rallies. Of course, this in turn manipulates thousands into believing that they are better Muslims and that Allah is on their side. Manipulative? Absolutely. Score: 2

Item 6: Lack of remorse or guilt

Telling his followers to attack the military, knowing full well that their blood will likely be spilt sounds like a lack of guilt to me. Score: 2

Item 7: Shallow affect

Whenever the Brotherhood called for dialogue with other parties, their attempts were very shallow at best. They seem to have a blatant disregard for other parties opinions. Score: 2

Item 8: Callousness/lack of empathy

Anyone who isn't afraid of calling others to perform jihad, is a callous asshole, who doesn't care who dies as long as he achieve his means. He couldn't care less how many people die in protest as long as it makes the military look bad. Score: 2

Item 9: Parasitic lifestyle

Considering he is rarely seen protesting, one could argue he lives vicariously through Brotherhood supporters, and will push them to do things that he himself wouldn't do. Score: 2

Item 10: Poor behavioural controls

Inciting people to be violent is what I would consider to be poor behaviour. Score: 2

Item 11: Promiscuous sexual behaviour

Not sure about this one and I can't find anything on his Facebook suggesting such, however if sexual jihad is officially made a fatwa, I am sure he will be the first to lead by example. Generally men in power are scum bags, so I will be generous. Score: 1

Item 12: Early behavioural problems

If you are going to loosely throw out the term jihad whenever it suits your cause then you have no problem with death. If that is the case then something must have fucked you up when you were a child. Score: 2

Item 13: Lack of realistic long-term goals

Thinking that Morsi will be put back in the power is not a realistic goal. The Brotherhood's time for ruling is over - thinking you can force your way back to top against the will of the people is not a legitimate long term goal. Score: 2

Item 14: Impulsive

After the eight days of Israel-Hammas fighting, Mohamed Morsi was able to broker a truce. Almost immediately after, Badie impulsively came out with statements saying that “jihad is obligatory” and that peace talks were a “game of grand deceptions.” Score: 2

Item 15: Irresponsibility

Almost everything he says these days is irresponsible. Calling for jihad = irresponsible. Enough said. Score: 2

Item 16: Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

After the deaths of supporters in clashes with the military, he never once accepted the fact that he had radicalised them and incited violence with his speeches. Instead, he solely blames the military. The blame should have been shared and he never acknowledged that, calling for more action instead. Score: 2

Item 17: Many short-term marital relationships

I can't really comment on this as I haven't been able to find much information about his marriage life so I will be nice. Score: 0

Item 18: Juvenile delinquency

There's little on his early life to be found online. Score: 0

Item 19: Revocation of conditional release

He has been in jail before and if his view were radical back in the day, they seem to have only gotten worse with time. I don't think there was conditions on his release, but if there were I am sure he would have broken them. Score: 1

Item 20: Criminal versatility

He has been in jail once, and currently has an arrest warrant out for him. Also, one can assume with the wealth he has gathered that something criminal was involved. Score: 2

So in total he scores a 34 out of 40, which would definitely label him as a psychopath. Let's hope he sees a professional as soon as possible. If he does, that will be the last we hear of him FOREVER. Obviously, I would have loved to do the test on Morsi, but I think he is more of an idiot than a psycho.

For more information on psychopathy and an awesome read I strongly recommend Jon Ronson's The Psychopath Test.