| Revision as of 10:51, 30 January 2003 edit213.48.249.251 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 10:53, 30 January 2003 edit undo213.48.249.251 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit → | ||
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| The items are as follows: | The items are as follows: | ||
| INTERPERSONAL DIMENSION | |||
| Interpersonal | |||
| ------------- | ----------------------- | ||
| Glibness/superficial charm | Glibness/superficial charm | ||
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| AFFECTIVE DIMENSION | |||
| Affective | |||
| --------- | ------------------- | ||
| Need for stimulation/-proneness to boredom | Need for stimulation/-proneness to boredom | ||
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| BEHAVIORAL DIMENSION | |||
| Behavioral | |||
| ---------- | -------------------- | ||
| Promiscuous sexual behavior | Promiscuous sexual behavior | ||
Revision as of 10:53, 30 January 2003
Theoretically, psychopathy is a three-faceted disorder involving interpersonal, affective and behavioral characteristics.
Interpersonally, psychopaths are manipulative, grandiose,egocentric and forceful. Affectively, they are shallow and non-empathetic; they do not experience empathy, guilt or remorse. Behaviorally, they are impulsive, irresponsible and sensation seeking.
In contemporary research and clinical practice, psychopathy is most commonly assessed with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R), which is a clinical rating scale with 20 items. Each of the items in the PCL-R is scored on a three-point scale according to specific criteria through file information and a semi-structured interview. Score 0 if the trait is absent, 1 if it is possibly or partially present and 2 if it is present. The item scores are summed to yield a total score ranging from 0 to 40 which is then considered to reflect the degree to which they resemble the prototypical psychopath. A score > 30 supports a disgnosis of psychopathy.
The items are as follows:
INTERPERSONAL DIMENSION
Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Pathological lying
Conning/manipulative
Lack of remorse or guilt
Shallow affect
Callous/lack of empathy
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions
AFFECTIVE DIMENSION
Need for stimulation/-proneness to boredom
Parasitic lifestyle
Poor behavioral controls
Early behavioral problems
Lack of realistic, long-term goals
Impulsivity
Irresponsibility
Juvenile delinquency
Revocation of conditional release
BEHAVIORAL DIMENSION
Promiscuous sexual behavior
Many short-term marital relationships
Criminal versatility
A note of caution - the test must be administered by a trained mental health practitioner under controlled conditions for it to have any validity.