/dark-mirror-index/people
Who scores what, by who answered.
After the reveal, and since 2 September 2026 on the screen before it, takers can add three optional taps: age bracket, gender, and what they do. Before the reveal, one more: which way they expect it to fall. This page cuts the axes by those answers. Each group counts only the people who answered that tap, so it is a portrait of who chose to say, not of everyone who took the quiz.
The clearest line in the data is age: takers under 25 average 25 on the psychopathic axis, and takers 45 and over average 18. The mean falls with every bracket between.
Of takers who gave a gender, 84% are women. The people checking themselves for dark traits are overwhelmingly not the people the stereotype describes.
By age
Mean score per dark axis and the share scoring high (60 or more) on the psychopathic axis, with a 95% interval.
| Group | Takers | Psychopathic mean | Sociopathic mean | Narcissistic mean | Borderline mean | High on psychopathic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 25 | 345 | 25 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 6%4 to 8% |
| 25 to 34 | 356 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 3%1 to 5% |
| 35 to 44 | 200 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 11 | 2%1 to 4% |
| 45 and over | 113 | 18 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 4%1 to 9% |
By gender
Same reading. Non-binary and prefer-not-to-say appear once they clear the floor.
| Group | Takers | Psychopathic mean | Sociopathic mean | Narcissistic mean | Borderline mean | High on psychopathic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woman | 744 | 20 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 4%3 to 5% |
| Man | 146 | 22 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 1%0 to 5% |
Under 30 takers, so held back for now: Non-binary, Prefer not to say.
By what people do
Coarse buckets aligned with the categories Kevin Dutton's 2011 survey used, so the two can sit side by side once the buckets fill. Most are still under the floor; the ones that are not are shown.
| Group | Takers | Psychopathic mean | Sociopathic mean | Narcissistic mean | Borderline mean | High on psychopathic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive or founder | 33 | 26 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 9%3 to 24% |
| Sales or marketing | 56 | 20 | 18 | 11 | 10 | 2%0 to 9% |
| Medicine or nursing | 86 | 20 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 2%1 to 8% |
| Tech or engineering | 60 | 24 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 8%4 to 18% |
| Arts or creative | 50 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 8 | 0%0 to 7% |
| Education | 47 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 4%1 to 14% |
| Police, military or public service | 37 | 24 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 3%0 to 14% |
| Hospitality or retail | 50 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 15 | 4%1 to 13% |
| Student | 121 | 25 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 6%3 to 11% |
| Not working right now | 110 | 18 | 18 | 13 | 13 | 1%0 to 5% |
| Something else | 140 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 2%1 to 6% |
Under 30 takers, so held back for now: Law, Media, content or influence, Finance, Trades.
What people expected, and what they got
1,491 takers answered the question before the reveal. 812 (54%) said they had no idea. Of the 679 who named a type, 47% scored the type they expected.
| Expected | Takers | Scored it |
|---|---|---|
| Neurotypical | 273 | 81% |
| Borderline | 231 | 21% |
| Narcissistic | 75 | 16% |
| Psychopathic | 43 | 72% |
| Sociopathic | 40 | 23% |
The people who were rated
37 people have been rated by someone who knows them on Read Someone, the same twenty-scenario instrument asked from the outside. They are kept apart from everyone above: a rating is one person's view of another, and the two samples never mix. Of those rated, 46% read as neurotypical and 16% lean psychopathic, against 59% and 20% among people who answered about themselves.
By who they are to the rater
Mean score per dark axis and the share scoring high on the psychopathic axis, among rated people, by relationship.
Not enough takes yet in any group. The floor is 30.
Under 30 takers, so held back for now: My partner, My ex, A parent, A boss or colleague, A friend, A sibling, Someone else.
Groups under 30 takers are held back until they can say something. Means are of people who took this quiz and answered the tap; nothing here estimates a population, and no score is a diagnosis. Method, exclusions and intervals: methodology.
Add yourself to the count.
Seven minutes, twenty scenarios, then your band and percentile on every axis against everyone above.