It's a fine line between madness and madness

ALAN PERROTT reports on the theory that many normal people share the characteristics of psychopaths.

Osama bin Laden, Lord Jeffrey Archer, John F. Kennedy and Diana, Princess of Wales: larger-than-life personalities or borderline psychopaths?

Some psychologists and psychiatrists believe everyone is slightly mad.

English psychology Professor Adrian Furnham rattled the ice in a few gin and tonics last week when he suggested that the genteel philandering perjurer Lord Archer may have a psycho lurking in his psyche.

His judgment was based on Cattell's long-standing 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire, a complex assessment matrix which rates 16 temperament variables on a scale from 1 to 10.

Such factors include a rating between fully introverted to utterly outgoing, relaxed and tense, serious and happy-go-lucky.

Fortunately, not every potential slasher picks up the axe and runs with it.

Professor Furnham says a psychopath can lead a successful, law-abiding life.

"Many normal people also have some of these characteristics which include lying, risk-taking, superficial charm and a poorly integrated sex life ... being obsessed with money and control is often linked to psychopathic personality."

Someone who appears more Freddy Kruger than Mary Poppins for 10 of the 16 personality variables can be said to have a psychopathic personality.

If you want to try some do-it-yourself analysis there is always the internet.

A quick search for personality tests produced more than 610,000 entries. Who needs Sigmund Freud?

Auckland psychologist Sara Chatwin says the biggest problem with such potentially glib tests is definition - one person's psychopath is another's life and soul of the party.

"In this field there is a school of thought that says we all have psychopathic tendencies and another saying we don't, and they both have evidence to support their point of view."

This dilemma comes down to the problem of pinning generalisations onto an infinitely diverse population - in the immortal words of Brian of Nazareth, "we are all individuals".

For Ms Chatwin, it's not simply a case of tendencies, it is more a matter of whether or not we surrender to them and our temptations.

She is not sure where former US President Bill "I-did-not-have-sex-with-that-woman" Clinton would fit on the psychopath register.

Each population establishes its own patterns of behaviour and boundaries. Suicide bombers are heroes to some communities.

Was Mr Clinton's heartfelt denial over Monica Lewinsky a white lie, a distortion or a statement of fact according to his own morals?

Ms Chatwin said anyone worried about being a psychopath should visit a good doctor.

But the complexity doesn't end there.

Once you have decided you are a psychopath, and found a good doctor, you then have to work out where you fit on the psychopathic spectrum.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, there are four general subtypes.

There is the distempered psychopath, usually a male who flies into instant rages, and has powerful cravings and an extremely strong sex-drive. A notorious example was the Boston Strangler.

There is the charismatic psychopath, the charming, attractive liar with an irresistible gift of the gab, such as the Rev Jim Jones, who died with nearly 1000 cult members in the 1978 Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana.

A primary psychopath is one who does not respond to punishment, apprehension, stress or disapproval. He or she does not follow any life plan and appears incapable of genuine emotion.

The fictional Hannibal Lecter would be a classic case.

Last but not least is the secondary or neurotic psychopath, the risk-taker who may suffer from overpowering guilt, but cannot resist the temptation of a forbidden object or activity - such as a paedophile.

But that's a long way from the theory of a madman lurking inside the sanest of us.