The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is a diagnostic tool used to rate a person’s psychopathic or antisocial tendencies. People who are psychopathic prey ruthlessly on others using charm, deceit, violence or other methods that allow them to get with they want.
In broad terms, the symptoms of psychopathy include: lack of a conscience or sense of guilt, lack of empathy, egocentricity, pathological lying, repeated violations of social norms, disregard for the law, shallow emotions, and a history of victimizing others. The twenty traits assessed by the PCL-R score are therefore:
- callousness and lack of empathy
- criminal versatility
- cunning and manipulativeness
- early behaviour problems
- failure to accept responsibility for own actions
- glib and superficial charm
- grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self
- impulsivity
- irresponsibility
- juvenile delinquency
- lack of realistic long-term goals
- lack of remorse or guilt
- many short-term marital relationships
- need for stimulation
- parasitic lifestyle
- pathological lying
- poor behavioural controls
- revocation of conditional release
- sexual promiscuity
- shallow affect (superficial emotional responsiveness)
Chandler: Hannibal Lecter, better roommate than you!
– Friends (1996) Season 2, Episode 19; “The One where Eddie won’t Go” [No. 43]
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