# Psychopath Test **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312 "2003-03-26T16:39:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/21 "2003-03-26T22:11:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rube E. Tewesday \* > \*\*“Mounted beggars race their steeds?” What _is_ that supposed to mean? I mean, I get each word, but is it supposed to be a saying or something? > > Or am I a potential mass murderer? \*\* Beats me. I’ve been wondering that myself. Care to elaborate, **jk1245**? .:Nichol:. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/22 "2003-03-26T22:48:21Z")
I thought the girl was a Siamese twin who offed her sister so that she would be “normal” – does that mean I have multiple personality disorder or something? ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/23 "2003-03-26T23:56:50Z")
Some basic questions should make you skeptical: 1. Psychological tests like these are always “developed by psychologists”, but seldom are they ever named and their credentials given. If a “reputable psychologist” really developed the test, why isn’t his name and credentials given, as they usually are in real psychological tests? 2. Why is a real test developed by a reputable psychologist being distributed freely via e-mail? 3. Considering that one of the most widely used psychological test (the MMPI) consists of literally hundreds of questions, how valid and reliable can a test be if it consists of only one question? Furthermore, if this test is so reliable and valid, why did psychology bother constructing a test like the MMPI, or continue using it to this day? ---
**Author:** ![biddee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@biddee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biddee)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/24 "2003-03-27T00:40:01Z")
I think the mounted beggars thing refers to the saying, ‘If wishes were horses, beggars would ride’…but i may be wrong…does this make me a psychopath…hahaha ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/25 "2003-03-27T01:34:57Z")
Can I be the charming investment banker psycho from American Psycho 😃 and not the angry Times Square taxi driver psycho from Taxi Driver:mad: \> ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/26 "2003-03-27T02:24:58Z")
They told him he was eating albatross. Ted and Judy were goldfish. The bicycles were playing cards. He fell out of a hot-air balloon. He asked the ‘gry’ question. Thanks, **ethilrist** and **empfsu1** ---
**Author:** ![Motog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Motog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motog)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/27 "2003-03-27T02:30:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nichol\_storm \* > \*\*Beats me. I’ve been wondering that myself. Care to elaborate, **jk1245**? > > .:Nichol:. \*\* I think it refers to the fact that not many beggars are likely to legitimately own horses - ie. they stole the horse and are riding away in a hurry. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/28 "2003-03-27T02:30:30Z")
Here’s my interpretation: A beggar can’t afford a horse, otherwise he wouldn’t be a beggar. So, a mounted beggar is riding somebody else’s horse. Since it isn’t his horse, he has no particular interest in taking proper care of it, so, he races it, because, hell, why not. On the other hand, somebody who is riding his own horse would go easy on it, because if the horse breaks a leg he would have to buy a new one. The beggar doesn’t have to worry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Dana27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Dana27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana27)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/29 "2003-03-27T02:39:59Z")
I figured she killed her sister because she was so enraged by not having gotten his number. I figured she went crazy and just snapped. I guess I’m not a psychopath. Maybe I need an anger management course. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/30 "2003-03-27T02:53:02Z")
I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why she killed her sister. So I’m even less psychopathic than you are 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/31 "2003-03-27T03:52:25Z")
oops. Sorry, I should have elaborated. **Manduck** has it. It means (or so the book said) that people tend not to take for granted things they don’t own or have a personal stake in. Anyway, that passage has always stuck out in my mind because it seemed a dramatic conclusion just because a guy didn’t know this particular proverb. Hell, I didn’t know what it meant either, and to this day, that book is the only place I’ve ever heard it. Like I said, there were probably other clues during the interview, and in the end, the guy was guilty,so I guess all’s well that end’s well. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/32 "2003-03-27T03:53:32Z")
Crap. Tend **to** take advantage of… ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/33 "2003-03-27T03:55:22Z")
:sigh: **tend to take for granted…** Time to call it a night. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/34 "2003-03-27T04:07:02Z")
Okay, so I got the right answer to the first test… and I had no idea what the “mounted beggars” quote was about. This bodes very poorly for friends and acquaintances of MaddyStrut! mwahahahahahaha! ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/35 "2003-03-27T04:33:49Z")
Ya know, just because you have a teeny tiny moustash, a Jewish physician, and an interest in art, doesn’t mean that you think like Hitler. The test is absurd. Had your response been “She killed her sister in an attempt to defraud her employer of $1,000,000” perhaps you would be getting closer. A true psychopath has little interest in anything other than money. A cute guy at a funeral wouldn’t even make a dent. (You know - that pesky lack of ability to form human relationships and all that.) ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/36 "2003-03-27T04:36:44Z")
Here I was thinking that the guy was responsible for conducting funeral services. I don’t think the girl has what it takes to be a really good psychopath. She leaves too much to chance. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/37 "2003-03-27T08:01:35Z")
Hmmm, when I read the OP I immediately thought “it’s obvious, she wants to arrange for another funeral to see him again.” In my defense, I’ll point out I know a lot of psychopaths. ---
**Author:** ![Pixiesnix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/898d66/32.png) [@Pixiesnix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixiesnix)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/38 "2003-03-27T08:10:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh, and did you know that in GB 1/200 is a psychopath, while in USA that number is 1/100? :chants: WE’RE NUMBER ONE!! WE’RE NUMBER ONE!! Sorry, couldn’t resist. ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/39 "2003-03-27T13:20:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > \*\*Ahem! This is GQ! Do you have a cite for that assertion of yours? > > QtM, MD \*\* lucky for me, I found a complete transcript of the TV show it was mentioned in. "Part 2 Narrator: In America it’s estimated that one in 100 of the population is psychopathic, but psychopaths make up 20% of the prison population and this criminal 20% is responsible for half of all violent crimes. It’s a fact that law enforcement agencies take very seriously. " from this site: [http://www.hare.org/links/equinox.html](http://www.hare.org/links/equinox.html) ---
**Author:** ![elfje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19b73/32.png) [@elfje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfje)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312/40 "2003-03-27T13:23:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earl of Sandwhich \* > \*\*elfje writes: “Oh, and did you know that in GB 1/200 is a psychopath, while in USA that number is 1/100?” > > Cite? \*\* transcript of TV show where it was mentioned: [http://www.hare.org/links/equinox.html](http://www.hare.org/links/equinox.html) scroll down to part 2. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/psychopath-test/164312.md?page=3)