The Dark Mirror Index
Edition No. 162 · daily
Updated
Sample 7,722 takes+145 since yesterdaySince 4 April 2026 · 6 axes · 20 items43 regions with 30+ takes

The Dark Mirror Index · press kit

Writing about the Index? Start here.

The Dark Mirror Index is a live dataset built from every take of the Dark Mirror, a twenty-scenario dark psychology quiz written by Kanika Batra, who is diagnosed ASPD, clinically assessed as Factor 1 psychopathy. Edition 162counts 7,722 takers after exclusions. It recomputes every morning and publishes an edition of record on the first of each month. Every figure below describes people who took this quiz, never the general public; the methodology and disclosure page states what that means and what it does not.

Contact and embargo

Next edition of record: October 1, 2026. Embargoed advance figures go to press on request: Kanika@kanikarose.com with your outlet. Interviews, a quote on a specific finding, or a cut of the data by a variable not shown here: same address.

Headline facts, this edition

Fixed phrasing, so a number quoted anywhere is the number on the page. Copy any line.

  1. 01Among 5,000+ people who took the Dark Mirror, 59% came out neurotypical: it was their highest axis of six.
  2. 0220% of 5,000+ takers lean psychopathic (their highest axis) and 3% score high on the psychopathic axis, 60 or more on a 0 to 100 scale.
  3. 03The median psychopathic score among 5,000+ takers is 15 out of 100; the top 10% starts at 45.
  4. 049% of 5,000+ takers lean sociopathic (their highest axis) and 0% score high on the sociopathic axis, 60 or more on a 0 to 100 scale.
  5. 05The median sociopathic score among 5,000+ takers is 15 out of 100; the top 10% starts at 35.
  6. 065% of 5,000+ takers lean narcissistic (their highest axis) and 0% score high on the narcissistic axis, 60 or more on a 0 to 100 scale.

Numbered, dated facts with intervals: statistics.

Story angles

  • The gap between leaning and scoring high: 20% of 5,000+ takers lean psychopathic, but only 3% score high. Most people who "come out a psychopath" on a quiz are in the traits band.
  • Age: takers under 25 average 25 on the psychopathic axis, those 45 and over average 18. The curve falls with every bracket.
  • Who looks: 84% of takers who gave a gender are women. The people checking themselves for dark traits are overwhelmingly not the people the stereotype describes.
  • Self-knowledge: 47% of takers who predicted their own type before the reveal were right; 54% said they had no idea.
  • Where: 4 countries have a hundred or more takers; the share scoring high on the psychopathic axis runs from 1% to 1%. A portrait of who there chose to look, not of the place.
  • The author on her own curve: Kanika Batra, diagnosed ASPD and clinically assessed as Factor 1 psychopathy, sat the same twenty scenarios. Her point is marked on every chart.

The author on her own curve

Kanika Batra is diagnosed ASPD, clinically assessed as Factor 1 psychopathy. She sat the same twenty scenarios on 1 September 2026. Her result is marked on every chart on the Index, and anyone who takes the quiz sees their own scores beside hers. The quiz is a self-report, not the PCL-R; the gap between the two is the point of the methodology page.

Psychopathic
75
High · higher than 99% of takers
Sociopathic
0
Baseline · higher than 5% of takers
Narcissistic
10
Baseline · higher than 52% of takers
Borderline
0
Baseline · higher than 12% of takers
Histrionic
0
Baseline · higher than 18% of takers
Neurotypical
15
Baseline · higher than 23% of takers

Charts

1200 by 675, one per axis, regenerated from the current edition on every request. Dark for social, light for a white page. Credit: The Dark Mirror Index, kanikarose.com. CC BY 4.0.

Embed this chart

Writing about this? Put the live curve in your page. It updates every morning and credits the Index.

Every axis has an embed; add ?theme=light to the iframe URL for a white page.

How to cite

Batra, K. (2026). The Dark Mirror Index, Edition 162 (n = 7,722) [dataset]. kanikarose.com. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22228971.

  • This edition of record: 10.5281/zenodo.22228971
  • All editions (resolves to the latest): 10.5281/zenodo.22228970
  • Aggregates as CSV and JSON, CC BY 4.0: open data
  • Link the phrase “Dark Mirror Index” to https://kanikarose.com/dark-mirror-index, not the homepage, so readers land on the numbers.

What not to write

  • Not “X% of people are psychopaths”. Every share is a share of people who took this quiz.
  • Not a diagnosis. A score is a band on a self-report; only a clinician diagnoses, and only with a proper assessment.
  • Not “self-identified”. Kanika is diagnosed ASPD and was clinically assessed as Factor 1 (Hare's PCL-R) by her psychiatrist.
  • Not a city or country's rate. A region on the Index is a portrait of who there chose to look.
Your numberTake the Dark Mirror, seven minutes, and see where you land on this curveThe long readDark psychology, the beginner's guideThe bookThe Sociopathic Dating Bible, the instrument this quiz grew out of

Method

The Dark Mirror is a 20-item scenario quiz. Each answer is attributed to one of six axes; a score is the share of your answers that fell to that axis, so scores move in steps of five. Your type is simply your highest axis.

Baseline
0 to 15
Present, not a feature.
Traits
20 to 35
Recognisable and common. Not the person.
Pronounced
40 to 55
The axis is shaping choices.
High
60 to 100
Dominant. The only band to read as the type.

Every axis is read in four bands: baseline (0 to 15), traits (20 to 35), pronounced (40 to 55) and high (60 to 100). Bands are fixed cut points chosen so that high means at least twelve of twenty answers went to one axis. They are the Index's reading aid, not clinical thresholds.

Percentiles are computed against everyone who has taken the quiz and recomputed daily at 09:41 UTC; each recomputation is an edition. Ties are split down the middle: higher than 91% means 91% of takers scored strictly lower, plus half of those who tied.

Regions are browser timezones, so New York means Eastern-time takers rather than the five boroughs; regions with fewer than thirty takes are held back. Nothing here is a population estimate and nothing here is a diagnosis.

Written and read by Kanika Batra, diagnosed ASPD, clinically assessed as Factor 1 psychopathy. An audience portrait, not a census.

The full method, exclusions, reliability and how to cite