There are an estimated 300,000 of them living in the UK. But could you be one of them?
Now, an online tool could help reveal if you secretly have psychopathic tendencies you never knew you had.
Based on the work of Professor Michael Levenson, a psychology expert at Oregon State University, the 27-item questionnaire covers how you approach love, your life goals, and interact with others.
The results, which include a percentage score, can help people understand their rating on a psychopathy scale.
Studies show that those with high percentage scores are six times more likely to commit violent crimes, although experts say not all psychopaths end up being criminals.
Based on the work of Professor Michael Levenson, a psychology expert at Oregon State University, the 27-item questionnaire covers how you approach love, your life goals, and interact with others.
The results, which include a percentage score, can help people understand their rating on a psychopathy scale.
The questionnaire that can be accessed hereFirst ask how much you agree or disagree that success is based on survival of the fittest.
It also assesses whether you find yourself in the same type of problems over and over again.
Other lifestyle and wellness questions include how important money is to your goals, whether cheating is justified, and how much you enjoy manipulating other people’s feelings.
After completing the test, participants discover whether they have more psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies.
Sociopathic personalities are characterized by impulsive, irresponsible, and often criminal behavior. It is sometimes known as antisocial personality disorder.
According to some experts, psychopaths are born, while sociopaths are made.
The quiz also records how impulsive you are compared to other quiz participants.
However, he notes that the results should only be used as a guide, and not as “the only means of assessing an individual’s psychopathic traits.”
Generally, people described as psychopaths display traits such as antisocial behavior, falsehood, irresponsibility, and a lack of remorse or empathy.
Studies have found that psychopaths often exhibit diminished emotional responses to frightening or disturbing stimuli, allowing them to interact with such content without experiencing the discomfort or revulsion that most people would feel.
Only around 0.6 per cent of British adults are considered to have clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits.
The disorder is diagnosed using a 20-item Hare Psychopathy Checklist, which features traits such as lack of empathy, pathological, and impulsiveness.
Each is rated on a three-point scale, zero being not applicable and two being completely applicable.
Earlier this year, a British researcher warned that there are more female psychopaths than commonly thought.
Dr Clive Boddy from Anglia Ruskin University said signs of psychopathy in women are different to those in men and can come in the form of sexually seductive and manipulative behaviour.
Only around 0.6 per cent of British adults are considered to have clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits. Pictured is the Joker, often considered a psychopath.
Current scientific evidence suggests that male psychopaths outnumber female psychopaths by approximately six to one.
But Dr Boddy believes the actual ratio of psychopathy between men and women is about 1.2 to one, up to five times higher than previously suggested.
Experts used to believe that antisocial personality disorders were lifelong conditions. But now some believe they can be treated and even cured.
According to the NHS, evidence suggests that behavior can improve over time with therapy, even if core characteristics such as a lack of empathy persist.
Talking therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), are sometimes used to treat antisocial personality disorder.
Doctors say community programs can also be an effective long-term treatment method for people with antisocial personality disorders.
Social therapy addresses a person’s risk of crime and works to meet their emotional and psychological needs.
However, there is little evidence to suggest the use of medication to treat antisocial personality disorder, the health service says.
Certain antipsychotic and antidepressant medications may be helpful in some cases.
