Dexter is commonly held as one of the greatest screen serial killers in history, but is he strictly a psychopath by traditional medical parameters? There are a number of ways you could pose the question, but the most valuable, and probably the most definitive comes thanks to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist - Revised (PCLR,) a twenty point list that helps distinguish the potential Dexters from the less dangerous Dwight Schrutes of the world, who are just a little unhinged, and thus less likely to start wrapping you in cling and sticking knives in you. In essence, psycopathy is a controversial disorder - a disability of the mind that results in aggressive or seriously irresponsible behaviour. By the latter definition, the majority of today's celebrities would probably qualify, but there are more definitive features that imply the presence of a serious psychopathic imbalance, and thanks to the PCLR, you too can give yourself the Psycho test. Each of the 20 points on the list below come with a rating for each point on a scale of 0-2, with a cutoff score of 30. So basically, if you're seeing yourself in too many of the characteristics before, it's probably time to move yourself away from friends, family and any other life, in case you are suddenly overcome with the urge to kill. Here are the 20 key points: 1. Glibness/Superficial Charm 2. Grandiose Sense of Self worth 3. Need for Stimulation/Proneness to Boredom 4. Pathological Lying 5. Conning/ Manipulative 6. Lack of Remorse or Guilt 7. Shallow Affect 8. Callous/Lack of Empathy 9. Parasitic Lifestyle 10. Poor Behavioural Controls 11. Promiscuous Sexual Behaviour 12. Early Behaviour Problems 13. Lack of Realistic, Long Term Goals 14. Impulsivity 15. Irresponsibility 16. Failure to Accept Responsibility for Own Actions 17. Many Shortterm Marital Relationships 18. Juvenile Delinquency 19. Revocation of Conditional Release 20. Criminal Versatility. So, where does Dexter qualify on the list? He certainly lacks remorse for his actions, appears to crave stimulation and expresses shallow affect. He lies and manipulates with apparent ease and appears to lack appropriate empathy even in his close relationships. His actions clearly are irresponsible in relation to danger to others and he rationalises, even justifies his murderous behaviour. There is early maladjustment and a suggestion of childhood delinquency. What is missing, however, is the chaotic impulsivity, although one could argue Dexters code provides order where chaos may have otherwise developed. So, if the PCLR is considered the gold standard measure for identifying psychopaths, it would appear that the laymans view of a cunning and controlled individual may not be that accurate. Rather the psychopath is a fairly chaotic person, prone to impulsivity and lack of control. Moreover the contemporary views of white collar psychopath the CEOs and Powerful Politicians, who conduct their business without regard for others, may also be erroneous... unless of course, they are moonlighting with violent acts, which is of course what our Dexter does. Thankfully studies suggest the prevalence of possible psychopathy is between 0.6 and 1.2% in the population, hence you would be very unlucky to find yourself working or living with one, or indeed being one yourself! We're also teaming up with Paramount to give 3 lucky WhatCulture readers the chance to win a copy of the final season of Dexter on DVD.