Everyone has been fascinated by a good psychopathic fictional character: just look at the incredible popularity of characters like Dexter Morgan or the most disturbing of them all: Hannibal Lecter .How easy it is for us to detect these characters on television! However, is there any quick way to know if you are a real-life psychopath?
With this single question can you know if you are a psychopath?
Well, not exactly.But the results are equally interesting.Social networks have been talking about a single question used by psychologists to determine if someone has psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies. The question is essentially a short enigma about the motive of a murder>, and the most common way to tell it is this:
«While I was at the funeral of her own mother, a girl saw a man she didn't know.She fell in love with him at that very moment , and only a few days later, the girl killed her own sister.»
The question is: What was the reason for killing her sister?
Feel free to take a few minutes to deliberate.Are you ready? As said, only psychopaths can reach the following conclusion:

Answer: The girl expected the man to reappear at her sister's funeral.
If you have given precisely this answer, we are afraid to tell you that you would not be out of place in the Hannibal Lecter series! Of course, this is-in fact-useless as a diagnosis.
The answer is not a valid diagnosis, but it is worth thinking
If you are familiar with psychology, you probably know that this form of "diagnosis" is completely useless.As with any psychological disorder, psychopathy is diagnosed through a history of behavior and series of tests administered by a psychologist.Despite its great presence in popular culture, there is still considerable debate in the psychological community regarding its validity as a specific disorder.It was not until the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) that psychopathy was mentioned explicitly as a diagnosis, and even then, it was only in the context of other disorders.
Clearly, psychopathy is a complex diagnosis; is not exactly the type of disorder that a psychologist could identify m Just one question.In addition, the question itself is defective.Psychopathy implies a lack of empathy and a lesser response to fear, rather than uncontrollable murderous impulses; Although psychopaths do not fear the consequences of killing someone, that does not mean they spend their lives waiting for the moment to dismember their next victim.
So why are these formulas so popular? His interest boils down to something really simple: The promise that a simple question can dig up hidden depths within someone.Unfortunately, however, people are too complex to find out based on the answer to a single question .Combined with the current cultural obsession with psychopaths, it is no surprise that this "test" has lasted more than a decade.
If you liked this topic you can not miss our article on Is it a narcissistic? With this ONLY question you will know
Image: The Silence of the Lambs
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