Media Spotlight: The Psychopath Test

4 July 2011 | By Samuel Dale

Around 1% of human beings are psychopaths who do not have the range of emotions and feelings normal people do.

A psychopath is a chemically unbalanced individual who feels no empathy, remorse or guilt and has a grandiose sense of self-worth. They hide behind excellent mimicking skills and are manipulative.

Jon Ronson’s investigation into the traits of psychopaths leads him not just to mental institutions, but also to boardrooms and political leaders. He uses a legendary test devised by psychiatrist Bob Hare that identifies 20 character traits to spot a psychopath.

Psychopaths, unlike those with other mental illness, can integrate into society and convince people they are sane.

Tony, who is locked in Broadmoor mental institution, claims he faked his own madness to escape a prison sentence.

He believed a mental institution would give him a smoother ride than prison but once doctors worked out he was faking he underwent Hare’s psychopath test and has spent 12 years institutionalised.

A high test score implies psychopathy. Ronson takes Al Dunlap, chief executive of manufacturer Sunbeam, through the questions and his answers indicate he’s a strong candidate to be classified as a psychopath.

But as Dunlap freely admits, many psychopathic attributes are also those admired in leadership. They can include sexual promiscuity, failure to accept responsibility for one’s actions, a grandiose sense of self-worth, being manipulative and a need for stimulation.

Dunlap says his impulsiveness is quick decision-making. What others might call manipulative he describes as inspiring and he defines his lack of emotion as a cool, inquisitive demeanour.

Ronson explores the possibility that the 1% of psychopathic human beings who lack consciences are responsible for most of the negative things of humanity.
Recalling that a stone thrown in water causes ripples that affect the whole pond he points out that since psychopaths are prone to be leaders, theses stones can cause huge ripples.

Hare believes many of the negative features of capitalism are caused by a handful of powerful psychopaths distorting everything. He says a lack of human empathy led to the financial crash and is convinced they caused it.

Impulsiveness, having no concern for the consequences of one’s actions, and a need for stimulation are psychopathic traits that led Hare to believe stock exchanges are packed with them.

Psychopaths can also manipulate those who don’t share their chemical imbalances to do things that will harm others. If psychopaths really are so common and do rise to powerful roles the impact on humanity must be huge. The entire business world would be distorted.

Ronson refers as well to conspiracy theorist David Icke who believes blood-sucking lizards have shape shifted into humans to perform evil on humankind.

While appearing fanciful Ronson muses that the idea is not so different to the possibility that a disconnected bunch of psychopaths hold powerful roles.

This is a fascinating read and offers a new theory on why bad things happen and the causes of the financial crash. Inevitably it makes you wonder who might be a psychopath and apply the test to those you know. Considering that 1% of human beings are psychopaths it’s likely you’ve come across one.

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