To think MPs should have to undergo a psychological test like police officers etc do?

[Carla786]

There have been petitions before but they haven't made it to parliament.
When you think about it, it's outrageous. The government are the people who run the country, yet there is no kind of psychological test to evaluate

Several people here & in US who a psychological test might have weeded out...

These are some jobs which have have to undergo one. Why not MPs also?

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&rct=j&url=jones-woodpsychological.com/2022/03/occupationally-mandated-psychological-evaluations/&ved=2ahUKEwievq_<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?cd=&opi=89978449&psig=AOvVaw2HZNLXll<u>RNRUDEHD</u>GBNk&rct=j&sa=i&source=web&url=https%3A%2F%2Fjones-woodpsychological.com%2F2022%2F03%2Foccupationally-mandated-psychological-evaluations%2F&ust=1769625977307000&ved=2ahUKEwievq<u>PsKySAxXXV0EAHc-bK</u>UQ1fkOegQICBAC" rel="nofollow" target="blank">PsKySAxXXV0EAHc-bKUQ1fkOegQICBAC&opi=89978449&cd&psig=AOvVaw2HZNLXllRNRUDEHDGBNk&ust=1769625977307000

Careful now. You'll be wanting people who are competent next.

Socrates argued similarly. Spoilers: it didn't end well for him.

I'm not sure it's working very well for the police! It doesn't fill me with confidence that it wouldn't also be a waste of money for MPs.

Doesn't mean they won't be an absolute psycho or worse at a later date.....

I trust psychologists even less than politicians

Good point : at least we could try, though...

🤣 Good point about Socrates...

Well yes...the same with police etc who do have tests.. But better than no test at all

@Carla786 yes tests are okay but they don't stop people hiding who they really are

Is it?

Who's paying for the tests? And when are they done? Presumably before the election, so everyone standing has to take the test. Is it for each party to pay for all their candidates to have a test? And what are we testing for exactly? And where we will find all these psychologists because that's a lot of tests that need to be done!

The police tests don't seem to weed out psychopaths.

Obviously those things would need to be sorted out. I still think it would be worth a try though.

Yes, the police tests don't weed every psycho out but they might have more if they didn't have them.

But how do you propose we sort them out?

It's an interesting idea, but we need to think about the practicalities before we announce it 'worth a try'.

It's only worth a try if the cost is less than the saving. If it costs huge amounts of money and doesn't work then it's not worth it. If it's cheap to administer and works to provide a better quality of MP then it's a fantastic idea!

And is there evidence that lots of MPs are psychopaths? I mean there's plenty who seem a bit thick or who I disagree with, but how many would actually be weeded out by an examination looking for extreme behaviour?

Police don’t have psychological testing.

No, they do.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=web&rct=j&url=www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/police-psychological-exam%23:~:text%3DThe%2520police%2520psychological%2520exam%2520is%2520a%2520screening%2520designed%2520to%2520evaluate,stable%2520enough%2520to%2520manage%2520it.&ved=2ahUKEwiJg9nfv6-SAxU7V0EAHW0pOqYQ1fkOegQIBxAY&opi=89978449&cd&psig=AOvVaw2yO1CdyxP90Qlvd_byk2e0&ust=1769733117289000

Psychopaths can be good at hiding it. The book Snakes in Suits notes ways they hide in the corporate world.

People should be retested if they want to run for PM, too. Look what happened across the pond - Biden wasn't a psycho but clearly not mentally suited, among others...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_in_Suits

because you would just learn the correct answers etc

surely the question instead we should ask is why do we allow the public to choose the parties / mp's to begin with on a whim ?

Is it better than no tests at all for the police? Does it weed out any of the violent thugs in the police force?

I would say parents should have too and also an intelligence test

Couldn't you say the same for police, firefighters & others who do such tests? Of course that might happen but I think it's worth a try.

We don't know, but personally I wouldn't want to change to no tests at all..!