Are you serious? We can learn something from psychopaths?
Well according to Kevin Dutton a Oxford University Research Psychologist we can!
When we use the term psychopath we are not talking about the Hannibal Lector serial killer cliche . In fact the typical traits of a psychopath as recognised by Clinical Psychologists are rather interestingly : charm, focus, mental toughness, ruthlessness, mindfulness and action orientation. Psychopathy is apparently better described as a continuum rather than a simple you are one or not the difficulties arise if you are high on all the named traits.
In moderation I think you can see how they could be helpful in a business context.
Take living in the moment and not worrying about tomorrow or mindfulness as we might call it a common trait in people with psychopathic tendencies. Well this can be an amazingly effective strategy to reduce mental rumination, anxiety and boost resilience. It is not unreasonable to assume that an appropriate mix of charm, focus and a smidgeon of ruthlessness could predispose someone for long-term life success.
So what about the prevalence in Business?
The British Psychopath Survey is the first survey to designed to assess the prevalence of psychopaths in the entire workforce. Participants completed an online Levenson Self report Psychopathy scale and then received their score. The sample size was 5400 and it was grouped into 50 individual professions and then these were ranked against each other.
So the top 10 least and most psychopathic professions in the UK were… drum roll please
| Most Psychopathic Professions | Least Psychopathic Professions |
| CEO | Care Worker |
| Lawyer | Nurse |
| Media TV and Radio | Therapist |
| Salesperson | Craftsperson |
| Surgeon | Beautician |
| Journalist | Charity Worker |
| Police Officer | Teacher |
| Cleric | Creative Artist |
| Chef | Doctor |
| Civil Servant | Accountant |
We can only speculate about how similar or different New Zealand’s results might be however there is a stronger prevalence in so called “high achievers” .
You can find out more at the authors rather” racy website” here and even take the test yourself if you are interested.
