Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump outscores Adolf Hitler on a test used to determine psychopathic traits, while Hillary Clinton ranks between Napoleon and Nero, a researcher at Oxford University has found.

Psychologist Dr Kevin Dutton ranked the psychopathic traits of the US presidential hopefuls and historical figures using a standard psychometric tool – the Psychopathic Personality Inventory – Revised (PPI-R).

Mr Trump did not take the tests himself but experts on political figures gave their opinions on how he would have responded against the questions to measure PPI-R. 

Hitler scored an overall 169 points, Mr Trump was slightly higher with 171 and Margaret Thatcher scored 136.

Although psychopathic traits are generally seen as negative, in fact some can be beneficial and even Jesus and Saint Paul have appeared high on the psychopathic leaderboard, both scoring 157 points. 

The Herald:

Hillary Clinton ranks between Napoleon and Nero

Study author Dr Kevin Dutton said: "The PPI-R does not say that someone is or is not a psychopath. It scores them on eight traits that contribute to a psychopathic character.

"Some of those traits, such as fearlessness or stress immunity, can be positive. Others, such as blame externalisation or being unconcerned about the future, are more likely to be negative. One, cold-heartedness, can contribute to good and bad leadership.

Experts on the political figures were asked to answer 56 questions from the psychopathic personality inventory-revised (PPI-R) test to determine a score.

The findings were published in the Scientific American Mind journal.