Take a fun test on psychopaths by donalee Moulton

 

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Readings are wonderful opportunities to share your work with the world; well, at least, a small portion of it. I quickly realized, however, that standing in front of a group of people and reading would not sustain interest. To engage those kind enough to turn out to hear from me, a friend and I started to develop quizzes that reflected a theme in the book.

For my first mystery book, Hung Out to Die, that theme was psychopaths, honoring the main character Riel Brava who is a psychopath – but not the nasty kind. We created perhaps the world’s first Fun Quiz on Psychopaths. I’d like to share the first five questions with you. The remaining five will be in next month’s blog. The answers are at the end. Let me know how you did.

 

1.     Who developed the checklist mental health professionals use to evaluate psychopathy:

a.    Sigmund Freud in 1909

b.   Canadian psychologist Robert Hare in the 1970s

c.    Barack Obama after Donald Trump became president in 2016

 

2.     A 2012 study linked one psychopathic trait — known as fearless dominance — to successful US presidencies. Which US president scored highest?

a.    Theodore Roosevelt

b.    John F. Kennedy

c.     Bill Clinton

 

3.     One study found that psychopaths had favorite songs. Which one tied for number 1?

a.    “Lose Yourself” by Eminem

b.   “Oops!…I Did It Again” by Brittany Spears

c.    “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads

4.     The bar for clinical psychopathy is a score of 30 or higher out of 40. Which of these criminals scored highest?

a.    Paul Bernardo

b.    Ted Bundy

c.     Clifford Olson

 

5.     What percentage of the general population are psychopaths?

a.    About 1%

b.    About 5%

c.     About 8%

And the winning answers are:

#1

Answer: The Hare Psychopathy Checklist was developed by Canadian psychologist Robert Hare in the 1970s. It assesses patients for 20 traits such as a lack of remorse/guilt.

#2

Answer: The study looked at U.S. presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush. It found they tended to be more like psychopaths in the area of fearless dominance. Top 5:  1) Theodore Roosevelt, 2) John F. Kennedy, 3) Franklin Roosevelt, 4) Ronald Reagan, and 5) Rutherford B. Hayes. Bill Clinton was #7. George W. Bush #10.

#3

Answer: A study compared the musical tastes of people with their scores for psychopathy. They discovered “No Diggity” by Blackstreet and “Lose Yourself” by Eminem were the two favorites.

#4

Answer: Ted Bundy scored 39/40. Clifford Olson scored 38/40. Paul Bernardo scored 35/40.

#5

Answer: Research suggests that about 1% of the general population meets the criteria for psychopathy. Despite that small percentage, people who have psychopathy are 20–25 times more likely to be incarcerated than non-psychopaths, and half of all violent crimes in the U.S. are committed by psychopaths.