True Crime Analysis, Breakthroughs, Insights & Discussions Hosted by Bestselling Author Nick van der Leek

“Chris Watts is a narcissistic psychopath”- now find out what YOU are

Why did Chris Watts do what he did? Simple – because he’s a narcissistic psychopath. Strange though, that following Dr. Phil the Weld County District Attorney didn’t hold a press conference letting America know the mysterious motive has been solved – and on national television:

CHRIS WATTS IS A NARCISSISTIC PSYCHOPATH

The news media, at least, took this breakthrough and ran with it, publishing locally, nationally and internationally the answer to the question that has hung like a cloud over this case, ever since it broke into the mainstream…

Why did Watts murder his pregnant wife and two daughters? Because…

CHRIS WATTS IS A NARCISSISTIC PSYCHOPATH

Mystery solved! Case closed!

Now let’s find out if you’re one too by taking this Narcissistic Personality Quiz. Be sure to leave your score in the comments section, so that society knows who to be aware of in future.

When you’re done, take this test to find out if you’re a psychopath. Once again, please be sure to post your score in the comments, as it’s in society’s best interest to know how psychopathic you are. In the interests of full disclosure, and the greater good,  I scored a 5. 

Full disclosure, I scored pretty high on the narcissist quiz, a 19. Celebrities often score close to 18. Narcissists score over 20. Having said that, I scored low on two potentially harmful indicators, “exploitativeness” and “vanity”. On the other hand, my “entitlement” score is quite high, which clearly can’t be good.

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I understand the official take on authority, but I’m not sure it’s as relevant to an author. Authority is a kind of intellectual power, the recognition that one is a valuable, insightful, intelligent thought leader or an expert in a particular field. I’m not sure whether an author aspiring to that is narcissism or a career necessity…

On another measure there’s definitely less ambiguity. On this site, and in my narratives, I am definitely guilty of entitlement. I do expect favorable treatment and am not happy when there is criticism instead of compliance. I often feel the criticism is undue, uninformed or unwarranted. I’m not sure whether this reflects entitlement in other areas, but I will have to think about and try to be aware of that going forward.

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Still looking for a Narcissistic Psychopath Test, and a definition on what that means…

More: Narcissist or Psychopath — How Can You Tell?

7 ways to tell if you’re talking to a psychopath or a narcissist

Anthony-Hopkins

49 Comments

  1. Sylvester

    As usual, I go first – what does that say about me?
    Narcissism Score: 19
    Authority: 6.00
    Self-Sufficiency: 4.00
    Superiority: 3.00
    Exhibitionism: 0.00
    Exploitativeness: 3.00
    Vanity: 2.00
    Entitlement: 1.00

    (The exploitativeness score bothered me).

    • nickvdl

      Jeepers, authority 6 – I thought 5 was the maximum. Nice going! Appreciate everyone’s honesty here. I hope this helps illustrate how useless the narcissism label is. Most of us are narcissists, and our society these days is more narcissistic than ever. Extreme narcissism is a factor, but I don’t think it in any way explains Watts, or his motive, not in the way “experts” would have us believe.

      • Sylvester

        That’s a whole different topic of conversation in and of itself – the authority we give so called “experts” to render their opinions and have them be taken seriously. I like Dr. Phil. I like Nancy Grace. What makes them experts though. I would put more stock into a licensed phD psychiatrist who actually may have examined Watts. In fact, did he have a psychological assessment whilst in jail? If so why not release it – Casey Anthony’s assessment was released.

  2. mitzi2006

    I scored 5, and I’m totally surprised by that. I always thought I was somewhat of a narcissist

  3. Sylvester

    Psychopathy Test: 6 (0-12 no psychopathic tendencies)

  4. tbp

    I scored a 2 for Narcissism and a 0 for Psychopathy. In my younger (vanity) years, I would have scored much higher for Naricissism.

    • nickvdl

      Can you see how the narcissism scale can shift. For example teenagers probably score quite highly on vanity – certain teenagers anyway.

    • MoniQueMoniCat

      I scored similar to you – at my age now – but like you I would’ve scored much higher if I’d taken this test at a younger age, not teenage but at 30 or 40 years old. Obviously, age has tempered me.

      IMO this test is age specific. And health specific. For example, most older persons ages 50-70 are not as apt to want to show off their body, when perhaps they were 25 they would.

      Fun test though. Glad to see I have mellowed through the years!

  5. Sylvester

    I think Watts would have scored low on the Narcissim test. Mainly because he subjugated his needs to that of a more dominant personality type – Sha’nann. But you see, he got sick of it.

    • CDB

      So, potentially scored higher on the psychopath spectrum? He seemed to be fairly emotionally and empatheticaly challenged.

      But a major thing missing from both these tests seems to be to be the degree to which a person can empathize with another. One can have a huge ego, and still have empathy and feel remorse, and thus are not what would be considered a narcissist or sociopath in any clinical sense. If you ask me, Chris appeared to have a real inability to observe his actions from a position outside of himself, which demonstrates a certain inability to put himself in others shoes or anticipate what people might respond to. Remember that sociopathy is a spectrum, and we all have some traits, but when they are severe they can lead to impaired thinking that I believe we see in Chris’ botched cover up, media interview, and dissembling during his police interview. People call him passive, but I think that was largely a mask.

      • nickvdl

        It looks like you want to find a flaw with the narcissism test, because the narcissism label works for you.

        Before the murders, not immediately before, but in the years before, Watts seemed more hands on with his children than Shan’ann. He’s often holding them, on the floor with them, playing with them, feeding them, carrying them. People, including both sets of parents [his and hers] thought he was a good father. On the last day of their lives he took them to a birthday party. He brushed their hair. Bathed and dressed them.

        Yet it’s still> “He seemed to be fairly emotionally and empatheticaly challenged.”

        One of the ways Shan’ann and Nickole figured something was up with Watts was because he wasn’t being his usual empathetic self:

        “He wasn’t touching or hugging or doing stuff like that. He wasn’t being as attentive to the girls as he normally is.” – Nickole Atkinson

        https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/friend-reveals-why-shes-not-shocked-chris-watts-was-arrested-for-familys-murder/

        Now what?

        If Watts prior to the murders [in the years prior] was a colder, less affectionate dad then a lot of fathers out there that are far worse emotionally and “empathetically” than Watts. What does your assessment say about them? Are they narcissistic monsters too?

    • MoniQueMoniCat

      I think Watts was just selfish and never matured nor learned how to be a man. I saw this by watching his dad stroking his back in the police station. I found it odd and nauseating. Over protective and indulgent parents. I would NEVER have needed nor wanted that from my dad or my mom at a level of maturity. IMO Chris Watts was spoiled and has an attitude of entitlement, but that is of American culture NOT necessarily Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Albeit American culture does have some narcissistic and entitlement in it.

      Chris is more PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE than Narcissistic. Selfishness and entitlement can be at the core of either. He also enjoys violence. Non-violent people cannot even hurt an insect.

      I also believe Chris did drugs. His behavior changed immensely when he started hanging out with his mistress and IMO she is a drug user. Her voice and his sudden weight loss and then all that weight gain when he got locked up and had no access to it. Some kind of stimulant. I’d guess something more like Fen Phen or similar. My sister suddenly changed and started becoming obsessed with her body, weight loss; I found out later she was on Fen Phen. She had always been a little overweight then suddenly she was going to a gym every day and losing large amounts of weight. This went on for about a year then one day at age 52 she beat up a young woman at a stop at the entrance to her apartment complex. Just because the young woman was brushing her hair taking too long to go into the complex. My sister actually got out of her car and opened the woman’s car door and pulled her out and punched her. After that she grew cold, distant, became super selfish, and stopped calling. She had NEVER displayed any kind of violence growing up. Never.

      She started referring to our relatives as “those people,” and told me she didn’t need family. We don’t speak to this day. She used to be my best friend and she used to be so fun and loving. Her entire personality changed and she never admitted to her drug use.

      Narcissist is the new buzz label for anyone these days but it really doesn’t fit Chris. Chris was obviously doing some kind of stimulant.

      Also, to be a vicious killer doesn’t require one to have any specific personality disorder. But it does usually and often involve some kind of stimulant or alcohol, we can count the alcohol out in this case, and focus on STIMULANT.

    • MoniQueMoniCat

      LOL! If Shanan is your idea of a “dominant personality type,” I shudder to think what you’d think of the women in ITALY (where I live). In comparison, she comes off to me as being rather needy. Actually, having been around super dominant personality types all my life, neither her nor Chris appear to me as being dominant personalities at all. This could simply be due to different cultures, but she doesn’t appear to me as being dominant even by American standards.

      He obviously does some kind of stimulant for weight loss, and she was just an energetic self-conscious typical American women who want it all, spreading herself too thin. I don’t even find either one of them particularly dominant at all. Both are NEEDY and people-pleasers.

      One day, maybe soon, we are going to hear that Chris was taking some kind of substance, some type of stimulant, that caused his sudden change including weight loss; and the reason for his sudden weight gain of 40 lbs when he was locked up and unable to obtain it. He actually displays textbook traits and behaviors. Not all murder their entire family but violence is surely typical. Back in the 1990s it was Fen Phen, but today it is called something else, there’s always something new out there for people obsessed with weight loss. Find the dates Chris started losing all his weight, and you’ll see his “sudden” change correlates with that. His mistress does some kind of drugs too. She might have even introduced him to it especially since he changed so much around that same time. I’m surprised no one is going there. I mean the sudden weight loss and the violence, both big red flags.

      • Mustang Sally

        Wow! I did not know he has gained 40 lbs. since his incarceration. Where did you read that? It would seem to be quite an indication your theories have more than passing merit.

      • Shannon

        They took Thrive, which makes you not want to eat, caffeine stimulate.
        I don’t think they did drugs. Maybe a drink or two.
        By any standards Shanann was a Dominant Controlling Freak.
        Have you seen her Videos?

      • Shannon

        As for weight gain, no more Thrive. 3 meals a day, no activity.
        You might gain some weight, bit doesn’t look like 40 lbs….lol

  6. Karen

    I’m completely surprised at my being a narcissist. Which is probably narcissistic in itself (surprised but not shocked) -16
    Phscopothy -2 although in my younger days I think my score would have been much higher
    Thanks, Nick. I always wanted to know

  7. mitzi2006

    What I noticed that was evidence that this guy truly had two masks was when the first detective was interviewing him and made that comment that it sounds ridiculous with his statement that if he or Shanann had wanted to cheat they’d talk about it, Chris was so polite. Detective left the room then and Chris was going to pick up his drink than put it back and let out a breath and said Ohhhhhhh f**k, detective came back in right after and Chris was just as polite as before saying he was just looking at their pic of shanann and girls. The look on his face when he said the ohhh f**k remark was like a different person. That’s when I believed the neighbor who said Chris gets crazy when they’d hear their fights

    • nickvdl

      Which video and what time in the video. Good observation btw. He also swears in front of his father, but as you say, with the cops he’s respectful. He knows how to play a different face to different folks.

      • Captain Cassidy

        Check out “code switching.” We all tend to act differently around friends than we do around major authority figures, but code switching is like swapping an entire personality out. Black Americans code switch around cops, for example. Technically code switching is alternating between languages depending on context, but it’s catching on as a behavioral idea. The distinct impression I get from black people is that they know it’s happening and deeply resent the feeling they get that they must do it to avoid harm.

        I wonder now if Chris similarly resented having to present his mask? I always got the impression from his communications with his girlfriend that he felt freer around her, like more authentic, maybe for the first time in his life. It had to be just intoxicating for a totally repressed, bound-in, controlled guy like he seems like he was.

      • mitzi2006

        It’s on this video at 17:59, he reaches for his drink than puts it down again, exhales, repositions himself then says it. He looks and sounds angry but never with the detective

        https://youtu.be/iHhelC1kxdc

      • mitzi2006

        There was some psychologist, I was thinking dr Phil but I’m not sure. Anyways they said that Chris’s shaking leg at the sentencing is not anxiety or nervousness, it’s actually anger. Does that fit, could he have been very angry. He didn’t look at his parents and according to one report he has not made one phone call in custody in Wisconsin and only tried calling his parents once early on in Colorado. Is that from anger or shame. Seems odd to me because his father was the one he wanted to talk to in the interrogation

  8. Aaren

    Narcissism – 21
    Psychopathy – 12

    Both a little higher than I thought, but whenever I take any kind of personality test, I struggle with “which me” should I give more weight to when answering: the work me, the home me, the current me, the me before I had two kids, or an average of all of those? I truly do believe there are some stark differences in my “me‘s” depending on certain circumstances. And I ALWAYS want to answer every single question with “it depends”. Because for me, it always does depend and my thoughts and feeling are usually in some gray area, rarely black and white.

    QUESTION: is it even possible but a narcissist/psychopath to also being deeply reserved and introverted? If so, would this be an Adam Lanza type? Or the Aurora movie theater massacre type of of guy? Chris Watts does not belong with those. I tend think of a narcissist/psychopath as being a bit more less introverted than CW.

    Thoughts?

    • nickvdl

      The introversion is a great point.

      By the way you score pretty high on the narcissism scale. Wondering if we should have you arrested.

    • Daisy

      I scored a 4 on the Narcissist test. Does a low score mean you are too self effacing? Seems to me a low score could be just as problematic as too high.

      Chris watts, from the beginning I wondered whether he is on the Aspergers spectrum. The social awkwardness, lack of empathy, and introversion would fit. IMO, Psychopathy and narcissism just don’t seem to fit with his past behaviour at all. Both are personality disorders that are ingrained and pervasive, the traits show up in varying degrees throughout their life not just when they do a crime. Everyone spoke so highly of CW including Shananns parents. There is no history of behaviors that we know of that indicate a personality disorder.

      • Marie

        Aspergers is being used as an excuse for everything.

    • Karen

      Watts was so concerned about what other people thought of him and how they viewed him and he didn’t want anyone to think badly of him. Can you imagine the turmoil that was going through his mind when he had to admit what he’d done? I imagine his narc/psyc score is pretty high so would someone with these tendencies be so concerned with how people view him or is that an entirely different entity?

  9. Nick

    @Mitzi That’s so kind of you. Thanks!

  10. Shannon

    Ok I scored a total 27. Eeeeek
    I read the results, pretty true for me…..lol

  11. Shannon

    I got a 10 on second test. At least normal there.

  12. Cheryl Filar

    Six on the Narcissist test and 0 on the psychopath scale. Does that mean I barely have a pulse or an impulse?

    • Cheryl Filar

      Thanks, Karen.

    • MoniQueMoniCat

      I got around the same. IMO it’s age specific. If you’re young and got that score then perhaps it’s lack of pulse / impulse 🙂
      but if you’re over 60 or maybe even over 50 then that score is just about right, average. Unless you’re Hollywood, they’d tend to score big at any age.

      Lots of questions about wanting to show off your body. This makes sense when you’re 20s or 30s but not if you’re over 60!

  13. Karen

    I don’t know if anyone caught it or not but at 39:03 when he’s talking about the shoes he says, “she loved those shoes” then immediately says, ” she always loves those shoes”

    • Cheryl Filar

      Like Chris, I was extremely introverted, especially growing up. My mother had to pull me out of pre-school because she discovered I had not uttered a word in the six months I had been there, although I jabbered incessantly at home. Because I was shy, cooperative, “nice,” I was a target for bullies, as they interpret these amiable qualities as weakness. I thought if I placated them they would eventually leave me alone. Instead of ignoring or enabling my inherent introversion (as Chris’s parents may have done), my mother counseled me that I needed to stand up for myself if I wanted the bullies to stop targeting me. Eventually I did confront them, and my mother was right: they backed down and ceased tormenting me. This was a very empowering lesson for me and one that I’ve used throughout my life in varying degrees and ways. Most of all, though, I learned I had to act outside my comfort zone, which was socially restricted, to deal with people prone to taking advantage of others, to advance in the workplace and in life. My ability to adapt over time does not mean I’ve abandoned my core character, as evidenced by my test results: narc/6 and psych/0. However, it does mean those results do not account for situational deviations or behavioral modification in various environments, such as the public sphere or the workplace. In regard to my own introversion and my ability to situationally modify it over time, I wonder if Chris ever managed to progressively stand up for himself and/or function outside of his comfort zone. There are indications he was expressing his anger toward Shan’ann per the neighbor who heard him yelling, acting “crazy.” I believe these altercations occurred a few weeks prior to the murders, as the neighbor said he thought Shan’ann had left in July to get away from Chris’s “craziness.” If Chris had suddenly found his voice after years of repressing it, I think it’s understandable that the decibel level would be amplified and the overall result eventually violent. Moreover, if Chris viewed himself as fundamentally amiable and compliant, Shan’ann’s persistent denigration of him in front of her online audience and the children would result in an acute sense of violation, even rage, as it was being perpetrated within the confines of his own home–what should be his sanctuary. Overall, I don’t think Chris had developed the skills to deal with his introversion, to confront bullies; instead, he committed the ultimate self-annihilating act of bully-placation by marrying one.

      • Mustang Sally

        Really insightful, Cheryl. I appreciate your perspective.

  14. Mustang Sally

    Hmmm first test, the Narcissistic Personality Quiz – 8
    Authority – 5
    Self Sufficiency – 1
    Superiority – 1
    Exhibitionism – 0
    Exploitiveness – 0
    Vanity – 0
    Entitlement – 1
    I’m below normal. Hahaha

    Next test…
    I’m not much of a psycho – 2

    Boorzaroma! Unless I’m some sort of closet narcissist with that 5 dominating my profile!

  15. amandagildenhar

    I scored a 1 for psychopathy but oh fuck man:

    Your Total: 21
    Between 12 and 15 is average.
    Celebrities often score closer to 18.
    Narcissists score over 20.
    Because you scored 18 or higher, you may want to check out the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder.

    Here’s how you rated on the seven component traits of narcissism:

    Narcissistic Trait Strength of Trait
    Authority: 6.00
    Self-Sufficiency: 2.00
    Superiority: 3.00
    Exhibitionism: 4.00
    Exploitativeness: 2.00
    Vanity: 2.00
    Entitlement: 2.00

    I AM AN UTTER ASSHOLE, why didn’t you TELL ME NICK?

    • nickvdl

      Amanda Amanda Amanda. You’re missing the point. The point is the whole label is bogus. If you score really high on vanity, exploitativeness, superiority and entitlement, then you’re in big trouble, and deep dwang. You don’t. The fact that you care about these results matters, and what’s more, it’s something to internally monitor. I know I can monitor my sense of entitlement to favorable criticism. The point of the test is less to incriminate you, and more to show the narcissism label in true crime is nonsensical. Because yes – we ALL are narcissists to some degree. And you’re only 2 points higher than I am. If I had your hair, God knows my vanity score would be higher too 😉

      • Mustang Sally

        She doesn’t have hair! She has awesome green scales, a wingspan to die for, and….erm….wait a minute, are you suggesting our avatars aren’t all accurate pictures?! Mine’s pretty accurate. 😂

  16. Aaren

    In the video posted in the comments, I only hear him sigh, followed by a sniff. I don’t hear the word “fuck” at all. If I pretend for a second that the sniff was actually a fuck, it doesn’t look red flagg-y to me. His expression doesn’t change. And I’d say “fuck” in response to being interrogated whether I was innocent or guilty. Just my two cents on that. Thanks!

  17. JC

    https://old.reddit.com/r/ShannanWatts/comments/adxvbx/an_academic_case_study/?st=jqpb9c6c&sh=7779c473

    @Nick Hope this link works. This reddit post by “planningglans” validates everything you’ve been saying during your uphill battle with the narcissistic label. Notice its absence, or ruling it out, in her case study observations. And she doesn’t intend for this to be considered a diagnosis from afar, which lends to her credibility I think.

    • nickvdl

      Thanks for sharing JC.

  18. TT

    Authority: 3.00
    Self-Sufficiency: 1.00
    Superiority: 2.00
    Exhibitionism: 2.00
    Exploitativeness: 5.00
    Vanity: 3.00
    Entitlement: 3.00

    I scored a 19, which surprised me somewhat. I would have expected high scores on the vanity and exploitative side of it I suppose. Interesting point, if you know (as objetively as possible) that you’re physically attractive and intellectually capable, is that vanity or self-awareness?

    • nickvdl

      It’s narcissism. I hope going forward you’ll be aware of this when you’re tempted to use the term. You might want to say, “I’m a narcissist, but I want to accuse X of…”

      I also scored 19 😉

      • TT

        haha very true, I have this discussion regarding labels with my old man regularly (he’s a psychologist). Whilst I see the reason labels are necessary in some instances in clinical settings, I find people use them too liberally and often incorrectly in everyday use. I see behaviour more as a spectrum and we all fall somewhere on it for each given behaviour. I think we should – as you do – drill down to look at individual traits of a person’s character, rather than lumping a few together and giving it a label, be it sociopath or narcissist.

  19. Jolene

    I scored 5 on the narcissist quiz and 0 on the psychopath one. I scored a 2 for Authority and Self-sufficiency and a 1 for Vanity.

    • nickvdl

      You’re not a narcissist at all. But you scored 1 more for vanity than I did.

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