According to a test devised by an Oxford professor, Your-Not-So-Humble-Correspondent is 48% psychopathic. Or something like that. Specifically, I received a score of 48% on the "psychopathic spectrum." I guess this means I am closer to completely sane than to stark, raving bonkers--but not by much.
I posted these results on Facebook, commenting half-jokingly that I thought the result sounded a bit low. Turns out, though, I was right--the score is low: The average result for men is, in fact, 50%. I am thus less psychopathic than the average man--or less masculine than the average psychopath. Not sure which is worse. Women, interestingly, score, on average, 38% on the psychopathic spectrum.
Of course, one can presumably skew the results. Participants are asked to indicate their level of agreement with each of 11 statements, and, for the most part, the "more psychopathic" answer is fairly obvious. For example, the test asks participants their level of agreement with statements like, "I would have no problem cheating on my partner if I knew I could get away with it," or "I think it's OK to step over other people to achieve my own ambitions."
It seems fairly obvious that the more one agrees with those statements, the more "psychopathic" one is going to be ranked. If one wants to be ranked lower, then, one could simply indicate strong disagreement. The question then, is this: Are men truly more innately psychopathic than women? More possessed of socially undesirable characteristics? Or are they just more honest about their shortcomings? And if so, is being honest about one's psychopathy in and of itself crazy?
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