Psychopathy (personality trait)

What psychopathy means as a trait

Films use "psychopath" for a cold-blooded villain. Researchers use the word differently. In studies of ordinary adults, psychopathy is a trait on a scale, like any other. Everyone sits somewhere on it.

Higher scorers tend to get bored quickly, take risks, say things bluntly and not dwell on guilt for long. They also tend to stay calm when others panic. Lower scorers think before acting, feel bad quickly when they've hurt someone and soften hard news.

Where the idea comes from

The modern idea started with the American psychiatrist Hervey Cleckley, whose 1941 book The Mask of Sanity described patients who seemed charming but felt little guilt. Later, Robert Hare built a checklist used by trained clinicians, mainly in prisons and courts. That's the clinical side.

Alongside it, researchers built short self-report scales to study the trait in everyday people, such as students and office workers. In 2002, Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams placed this everyday version in the dark triad. That's the sense our test and this page use.

Three parts: boldness, meanness, disinhibition

A widely used way to break the trait down is the triarchic model, set out by Christopher Patrick and colleagues in 2009. Boldness is staying calm, confident and fearless under stress. Meanness is low empathy and a willingness to be harsh. Disinhibition is acting on impulse and having trouble with self-control.

These parts don't always come together. Someone can be bold without being mean. That's one reason a single score never tells the whole story.

Everyday signs

You get bored fast and act on impulse. You like a bit of danger, like fast driving or risky sports. You tell people hard truths without softening them, and rules feel more like suggestions.

Sad stories may not move you much. You stay cool in moments when other people panic. Most people recognise a few of these in themselves; the trait is about the overall pattern.

Why moderate levels can help

A bit of this trait can look like calm under pressure, fast decisions and the nerve to say what others won't. Those are handy in emergencies, competitive sport, a tough negotiation or giving honest feedback.

Some researchers argue that the boldness part, in particular, links with handling stress well. The harder parts tend to be meanness and impulsiveness, especially when they show up together.

At work

Higher scorers may thrive in fast, high-stakes settings and enjoy jobs where boredom is rare. They may be willing to make unpopular calls.

The risks are cutting corners, breaking rules and hurting colleagues with bluntness. A 2012 review of workplace studies by Ernest O'Boyle and colleagues linked the trait with more behavior that harms the workplace, such as rule-breaking, and with a small drop in job performance.

In relationships

Higher scorers can be exciting and spontaneous partners. Others may sometimes feel hurt by their bluntness, worried by their risk-taking or unsure whether their feelings are noticed.

Lower scorers often feel very aware of other people's feelings, which can make them caring partners and sometimes over-apologetic ones.

Softening the downsides

Before you say something sharp, ask how you'd want to hear it. When you get the urge to act right now, wait ten minutes and check whether it still makes sense.

If you've upset someone, say sorry even if it feels small to you. It usually isn't small to them. Find safe outlets for thrill-seeking, like sport, rather than risks with money or other people.

Trait vs clinical psychopathy

Psychopathy is not an official diagnosis in the DSM-5, the main US manual for mental health conditions. The closest diagnosis is antisocial personality disorder. Clinical psychopathy assessments are done by trained professionals using long interviews and records, not quizzes.

So a high score here does not make anyone a psychopath. Please don't use this page to label yourself or others. If you're worried about your own behavior or someone else's, talk to a counselor or therapist.

How our test scores it

Our dark triad test has 9 statements for this trait, 3 worded the other way round, such as "I say sorry right away when I've been rude". You get 0 to 4 points per answer, and the mean of the 9 is shown out of 100. A score under 40 is low, 40 to 60 is in the middle, and anything over 60 is high.