One in 25 business leaders may be a psychopath, study finds

One out of every 25 business leaders could be psychopathic, a study claims.

The study, conducted by the New York psychologist Paul Babiak, suggests that they disguise the condition by hiding behind their high status, playing up their charm and by manipulating others.

Favourable environmental factors such as a happy childhood mean they can function in a workplace rather than channelling their energies in more violent or destructive ways. Revealing the results in a BBC Horizon documentary, Babiak said: "Psychopaths really aren't the kind of person you think they are.

"In fact, you could be living with or married to one for 20 years or more and not know that person is a psychopath.

"We have identified individuals that might be labelled 'the successful psychopath'.

"Part of the problem is that the very things we're looking for in our leaders, the psychopath can easily mimic.

"Their natural tendency is to be charming. Take that charm and couch it in the right business language and it sounds like charismatic leadership."

Babiak designed a 111-point questionnaire with Professor Bob Hare, of the University of British Columbia in Canada, a renowned expert in psychopathy. Hare believes about 1% of Americans can be described as psychopaths.

The survey suggests psychopaths are actually poor managerial performers but are adept at climbing the corporate ladder because they can cover up their weaknesses by subtly charming superiors and subordinates.

This makes it almost impossible to distinguish between a genuinely talented team leader and a psychopath, Babiak said. Hare told Horizon: "The higher the psychopathy, the better they looked – lots of charisma and they talk a good line.

"But if you look at their actual performance and ratings as a team player and productively, it's dismal. Looked good, performed badly.

"You have to think of psychopaths as having at their disposal a very large repertoire of behaviours. So they can use charm, manipulation, intimidation, whatever is required.

"A psychopath can actually put themselves in your skin, intellectually not emotionally.

"They can tell what you're thinking, they can look at your body language, they can listen to what you're saying, but what they don't really do is feel what you feel.

"What this allows them to do is use words to manipulate and con and to interact with you without the baggage of feeling your pain."

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/01/psychopath-workplace-jobs-study

Link to an older article about evil psychotic business people in action: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2004/sep/27/careers.theguardian

Man this article is highly insulting. Its like a witch hunt labeling people psychopath's. What makes someone a psychopath? I mean in my definition someone who has no control over their actions is a psychopath. Somebody who goes on a murder or rape spree. But whats this article saying? That everyone with mental disabilities is somehow a psychopath?

I mean someone who is talented and successful in business but has a mental disability is no different then any other man with ambition. Infact what makes him any less normal then the other businessmen? Look at Steve Job's he is widely believed to have a mental disability, he rose to success and is a very intelligent businessman. I guess he's a psychopath then. Or Bill Gates or how about Mark Zuckerberg he clearly has some special abilities and issues that make him unlike anyone else.

People need to stop being scared of those who are slightly different then they are, infact its a misconception in itself as chances are every single person here has some form of disability. None of us are normal we are all unique to label someone a psychopath who isn't going completely mad killing or raping people is just obserd.

I mean telling people they could be married to a psychopath for 20 years and not know it. Well sometimes mental problems develop at a later date. Labeling people a psychopath is immoral irrational and prejudice. Its wrong, the only people deserving of the label are those who cannot control their actions. People who murder and rape because they have lost it mentally those are psychopaths. A smart businessman with a disability is not a psychopath!

Seems to me like you didn't actually read the article, or you didn't understand it. It explains how psychopaths are different from everyone else, and clearly explains why they're dangerous (also check out my sencond link for concrete examples). I've actually met a person who fits that criteria: lies, manipulates, cheats, lacks emapathy, puts on acts to mimpress others, uses others to gain what they want, takes credit for others' achievements etc.

Here's a list of a psychopaths traits:

http://johndenugent.com/psychopaths-in-power

The signs of psychopathy are:

1. Glib and superficial charm;
2. Grandiose sense of self-worth; narcissism; seeing the self as the center of the universe; feeling “no one else is human, only I”;
3. Focused self-advancement without losing any energy on others except as stepping-stones;
4. No moral taboos or inhibitions as to methods, aiding career success until caught;
5. Need for constant stimulation, action, and new ways to avoid boredom;
6. Lying as an art form to fine-tune and a source of pride;
7. Targeting and manipulation of the gullible;
8. Enticing people they do not love to naively love them;
9. Skill at faking emotions, including love, sincerity and regret;
10. Doing good work and good deeds solely to advance oneself;
11. Ruthlessness and “stopping at nothing”;
12. Enjoyment of the power to coldly end close relationships;
13. “Getting” others back as a peak experience;
14. Desire for vengeance when spurned;
15. Pleasure in firing or ruining people. In the U.S., where highly profitable firms routinely cut good employees to boost stock values, there are professional terminators who roam the country cutting staff and personally firing them;
16. Abuse and literal torture of living creatures;
17. Humiliating others physically, verbally, emotionally, psychologically or sexually;
18. Denigrating one’s own child or mate;
19. Callousness; lack of empathy and compassion;
20. Shallow or no feelings for others, even mates, children and friends;
21. No ability to feel remorse or undergo inner repentance;
22. Regret solely at being caught, embarrassed or punished;
23. Incomprehension of the angry reactions of those they hurt;
24. Underestimation of their own anger;
25. No sense of responsibility for one’s actions;
26. Parasitical world view: living by scams and not hard work;
27. Contempt for those who “play by the rules”;
28. Criminal talent, energy and innovativeness;
29. Warlike courage far above the norme;
30. Playing on the sympathy of others. To this one might add—in the purely subjective, non-scientific eye of many beholders—a curious dead look in the eyes of a psychopath, and that is the chilling part. Others speak of looking into such eyes and “having a feeling that nothing is there.”

I don't see much evidence so I don't really see a reason to believe what they're saying. The part about how psychopaths can easily mimic "leaders" makes me believe this is opinionated.

Psychopathy is the inability to form human connections - basically a complete lack of empathy. Psychopaths are also generally considered to be born that way and that the condition is incurable and mostly untreatable - there are no drugs or therapy that can give people empathy.

Most psycopaths are not criminals - but not being a criminal does not stop them being unable to feel empathy or form emotional attachments.

Edit: I should say currently incurable and untreatable. Science does amazing things.

Not to mention that they can still cause harm to others, even if not through violence.

Yes I read the article a lot of those traits are found in all sorts of people I would hardly call them all psychopaths. If you follow those traits then Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg are all psychopaths. In fact almost every successful business man on earth is a psychopath. Blind ambition is not something that should make you a psychopath.

About half or more of those symptoms are common. Just look at North America everyone is only looking out for themselves. Even going by what we eat and how we treat others its all psychopathic according to this article.

Also I have autism and some of those traits apply. I don't understand body language, sarcasm and while I feel emotion myself I have a very hard time understanding peoples emotions.

So that makes me a psychopath now doesn't it?

As I said just because somebody has some quirks and such. They may even have trouble with empathy and understanding emotion. That doesn't make them psychopaths. People who hurt others for fun because they can't mentally stop. Those are psychopaths, most of the traits up their describe normal people or people with slight disabilities.

Not everyone with a disability is a psychopath!

Unsurprising, you need to be ruthless to get ahead.

No, it makes you autistic.

And if you would've read the article properly (it's the obonly explanation I can give for your not understanding of it), you'd know that the people singled out DO HURT PEOPLE FOR FUN (check out my second link). And this article doesn't say that succesful business people are psychopaths, just that a psychopath display traits that will get him ahead in the contemporary business world. I don't see how anyone can say that lack of empathyand lack of remorse for hurting others are mere 'quirks'. The only thing separating these people from those who go out and kill people is that they didn't have a violent childhood.

I don't really know why you'd say that those 3 business men you'd mentioned would be considered psychopaths, other than you've misunderstood the article totally (granted, if the portrayal of Zuckeberg in The Social Network is accurate, then he really is a psychopath; I don't know much about Jobs, but Gates is too humanitarian to be a psychopath).

Only 1?