Are you working alongside a corporate sociopath?
Is your co-worker unnaturally apathetic? Have you experienced a slew of lunch thefts recently? How well do you really know the person sitting next to you?
At some point in our careers, we’ll all convince ourselves that we’re working with a psychopath – though in reality few of us will. However, a recent report has found certain professions are more likely to the Hannibal Lecter’s of the world.
Kevin Dutton, psychologist and writer, claims there are ways to spot if you’re working alongside a psychopath, and pinpointed ten careers in the world that lend themselves to menacing characteristics.
The top ten careers for psychopaths, according to the book The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success, are;
- CEO
- Lawyer
- Media (TV/radio)
- Salesperson
- Surgeon
- Journalist
- Police officer
- Clergy
- Chef
- Civil servant
Research conducted by psychologist Paul Babiak claimed that potentially up to four per cent of business leaders could be psychopaths. Furthermore, A report from Bond University found that one in five bosses are psychopaths – a percentage similar to prisons.
Characteristics which lend themselves to psychopathic behaviours include an inability to empathize, insincerity, vanity and superficiality.
“Typically, psychopaths create a lot of chaos and generally tend to play people off against each other,” explained forensic psychologist Nathan Brooks.
“For psychopaths, corporate success is a game and they don’t mind if they violate morals. It's about getting where they want in the company and having dominance over others.”
