Do you hate your boss? Does their vileness go beyond them passing your work off as their own or making you deal with their dirty laundry?
Paul Babiak, psychologist and co-author of Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work, analyzed the personality traits of over 200 corporate professionals across America.
He used the standard Psychopathy Checklist developed by co-author Robert Hare from University of British Columbia.
He found that four per cent of them exceeded or reached the cut off point for psychopathy — that’s an average of one in 25 people.
Although psychos are weak on paper, Babiak suggests that they thrive in the corporate world thanks to their ability to convince upper management of their strengths.
“Psychopaths always make a good first impression. They are both charming and grandiose. In reality, they have low managerial skills and have zero loyalty to their company or profession. All they care about is themselves,” he explained to Metro.
In short, psychopaths hide behind a beautiful mask. They come across as charismatic leaders but underneath there’s nothing but a hollow core.
Studies have shown them to have difficulty in understanding the true nature of feeling, explaining their emotional poverty and acute insensitiveness.
Half of Babiak’s maniac clients have come from the financial service industry. Could the desire for money be meddling with the mind?
“They’re parasitic predators, opportunists that latch on to people like parasites and suck out their resources. They seek an easy way to live life so are naturally attracted to where the money is: financial business.”
