20 Questions Experts Use To Identify Psychopaths

Today's Friday • 5 mins read

Psychopaths do NOT feel guilt, remorse, empathy, or sorrow. It’s this lack of emotions that makes them unsafe to be around.

If you listen to them long enough, the psychopathic criminal will justify their evil acts. All along, as they talk to you, they will be planning an attack on you, just to show how they do it.

That said, not all psychopaths are violent criminals, serial killers, or deranged mutilators, as the movies portray. Many of them live like everyone else, their true nature invisible to us.

These high-functioning psychopaths learn to hide who they really are early on.

How Experts Identify A Psychopath?

Psychopathy refers to a sense of high impulsivity, low remorse, and thrill-seeking. – Paulhus & Williams, 2002

Psychologists use these three tests to determine a psychopathic personality:

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 2003): Most widely used test to diagnose psychopathy in jail and forensic settings. It has 20 items based on interviews and file records of offenders. The cutoff score for the diagnosis of psychopathy is 30 out of 40.
Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996): An index of personality traits that have been described in historic conceptions of psychopathy.
Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005): A newer tool that contains 154 items, organized into eight facet scales.

Psychopathic Personality Self-Assessment Based on PCL-R

The following is a self-assessment based on Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The PCL-R is a highly specific clinical tool used by trained professionals, often in forensic or clinical settings. For alarming scores, please consult a qualified mental health professional.

Psychopathic Personality Self-Assessment

1. I’ve always found it easy to convince people to do favors for me.
2. When I know someone is struggling, I think of them often and hope they’re doing OK.
3. Other people make so many stupid mistakes compared to me.
4. I don’t see a problem with lying if it helps me get what I want.
5. If someone told me that I hurt their feelings, I would feel badly.
6. In truth, I find most people boring or stupid.
7. People often blame me for things that are actually their fault.
8. People who refuse to break rules out of principle are foolish; they’ll never get ahead.
9. Seeing someone cry has little effect on me, other than maybe irritating me.
10. It’s fun to antagonize people just to see how upset they get.
11. I get uncomfortable at the thought of committing a crime.
12. I usually know just what to say to make other people do what I want.
13. I’ll do whatever it takes to feel a thrill.
14. It is important to honor financial obligations.
15. Everyone else seems emotional and whiny compared to me.
16. Helping other people instead of focusing on myself is usually a waste of time.
17. I don’t understand people who are anxious or fearful all the time because nothing really scares me.
18. Some people just aren’t meant to succeed in life, and that’s not my problem.
19. I wear my heart on my sleeve.
20. If a rule or law would get in the way of my goals, I feel justified in breaking it.

20 expert questions to identify psychopaths

Signs of Psychopaths

The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) by Robert Hare (1991) identifies two factors:

Factor 1: “Selfish, callous, and remorseless use of others.”
Factor 2: “Chronically unstable, antisocial and socially deviant lifestyle.”

The PCL-R points out these hallmarks of psychopathy:

a strong lack of empathy
impulsivity and aggression
lack of social connectedness
persistent criminal or violent behavior
Machiavellianism and manipulative behavior

The original PCL-R has a psychopathy cutoff score of 30 in the United States and 25 in the United Kingdom, out of a maximum of 40. A cutoff score of 25 is sometimes used for research purposes.

The Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) identifies two distinct signs of a psychopath:

Fearless dominance (FD) factor, reflecting social aggressiveness, stress immunity, and fearlessness.
Self-centered impulsivity (SCI) factor, reflecting egocentricity, exploitativeness, hostile rebelliousness, and lack of planning.

Final Words

Psychopaths are terrifyingly charming. That’s the first part of what makes them dangerous.

They can mimic social norms and expected emotions to trap their victims. They make sure they are seen as smart, articulate, polite, and even likable.

The second part is the lack of empathy, remorse, and guilt. Once they have their victim, they will treat them as an object to test how humans react in a certain painful situation.

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√ Also Read: Can Psychopaths Feel Empathy? You’d Be Surprised To Know!

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