The introduction is made. The pleasantries are exchanged. Questions are asked. "You're well?" "Your kids are good?" "Work satisfying?"

 "And now, bear with me, just a few itty bitty questions to find out if you might be a psychopath."

Really.

For those of you who feel vaguely insecure about how well you might read people, there's actually a checklist. Developed by a psychologist named Robert Hare and discussed in a book by the journalist Jon Ronson.

So. I took a test. Note, a test rather than the test. I found that there are a number of these tests on line. OKCupid, for example, an online dating site, had a version.

Is there some irony that an online dating site would have a myriad of personality tests to evaluate your mental health and the mental health of others?

Nah, probably not. 

If you think that you shouldn't take the test, for fear of how high you'll score, one psychologist told Ronson, "don't worry, you're not a psychopath". "Callous/lack of empathy" is one of the traits. If you really care if you are, or so he suggests, you're not.

Probably just a good old fashioned, garden variety neurotic.