The Dark Mirror Index
Edition No. 188 · daily
Updated
Sample 11,076 takes+44 since yesterdaySince 4 April 2026 · 6 axes · 20 items48 regions with 30+ takes

/dark-mirror-index/where/za

South Africa, by who looked.

46 people in South Africa have taken the Dark Mirror since the Index began recording country. 67% of them came out neurotypical, 13% lean psychopathic, and 2% score high on the psychopathic axis (95% interval 0 to 11%), against 3% of all takers. This is a portrait of who in South Africa chose to look, not of South Africa.

Under 100 takers, so South Africa is listed but not yet ranked against other countries.

AxisMean hereMean, everyoneScore high hereEveryoneLean here
Psychopathic1817.7085590465872152%0 to 11%3%13%
Sociopathic1414.9607258938244850%0 to 8%0%13%
Narcissistic1011.0301552907186710%0 to 8%0%2%
Borderline1211.7325749368002890%0 to 8%0%4%
Histrionic55.975506158856010%0 to 8%0%0%
Neurotypical4239.8830805344889826%16 to 40%28%67%

Other countries with enough takes

Country is read from the connecting address when the quiz is submitted, from 2 September 2026; earlier takes carry no country and are not on this page. Shares are of takers in South Africa who took this quiz; nothing here estimates the country's population, and no score is a diagnosis. Method and exclusions: methodology.

Add South Africa to the count.

Seven minutes, twenty scenarios, then your band and percentile on every axis against everyone above.

Take the Dark Mirror
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
South Africa on the Dark Mirror Index: 2% of 46 Takers Score High on Psychopathy