Final answer:
Psychopaths and sociopaths are likely to score above the clinical threshold of 30 on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), due to their antisocial tendencies and traits measured by the tool, like lack of empathy and remorse.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question is asking about the possible scores a psychopath or sociopath might receive on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The PCL-R is a diagnostic tool used to rate a person's psychopathic or antisocial tendencies. People who are categorized as psychopaths or sociopaths typically score high on this scale. The PCL-R measures traits such as glibness/superficial charm, lack of remorse or guilt, grandiose sense of self-worth, and callousness/lack of empathy. Given that psychopaths and sociopaths exhibit many of these characteristics, they would likely score above the clinical threshold on the PCL-R, which is 30 out of a possible 40 points.
Research conducted by Hare and others has shown that individuals with psychopathic traits can display a variety of behaviors assessed by the PCL-R, including reduced fear response (Hare, 1965), and reduced electrodermal activity (Fung et al., 2005). These findings align with the elevated scores expected for psychopaths on the PCL-R. Additionally, concepts such as psychoticism proposed by Eysenck, which involves attributes like antisocial behavior and hostility, might also influence the PCL-R scores of those with psychopathic or sociopathic tendencies.