So what is a psychopath? Dr. John Hare, a Canadian psychiatrist has come up with a valuable list of characteristics that give them away. Hare defined psychopaths as “…predators who use charm, manipulation, intimidation, sex and violence to control others and satisfy their own selfish needs. Lacking in conscience and empathy, they take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without guilt or remorse. What is missing, in other words, are the very qualities that allow a human being to live in social harmony.”
Incidentally, the term sociopath is no more, being subsumed under the psychopath label. See the new DSM-V, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).
link: http://www.dsm5.org/...
By all means, read “The Psychopath Test” (2011) Jon Ronson.
link: http://www.nytimes.com/...
Hare convened a group of psychiatrists in 1975, who pooled their knowledge about psychopaths, and at the close of their meeting they had come up with a 20-point checklist (the Hare PCL-R list) that had great diagnostic power in weeding out psychopaths and separating them from normal people. An interviewer would ask the subject a series of questions, and look at body language, turns of phrase, affect, and involuntary tics that were more revealing than the actual answers. Normal people would score below 10 on the scale; psychos came in around 30-40. Psychopaths don’t have all of these traits, but enough of them to kick their scores way up high. Unlike normal people, they do not respond to punishment, and they would wear their psychopathic nature as a badge of honor.
Here they are:
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 behavioral controls
Item 11: Promiscuous sexual behavior
Item 12: Early behavior 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
Just sit back, watch Newt Gingrich and see how many items you could check off looking at his speeches and his body language. Would you like to see this man as your president?