1 in 5 CEOs are psychopaths, study finds

CEOs and senior executives share this trait, recent research reveals.

Many people already sensed that to be a top manager in an organization, you have to be made of special wood.But there is always research on the subject that may come as a surprise.

There is a very recent one, in particular, that is totally shocking, since it indicates that among CEOs the proportion of psychopaths is around 21%, almost the same as can be found among inmates in American prisons.

Research on psychopaths at the top of the hierarchy

The study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Bond University forensic psychologist Nathan Brooks, used for its analysis a group of 261 senior US managers currently working in companies in various industries. These senior profiles included general managers, presidents and CEOs, which provided an opportunity to study the psychological characteristics of people with high decision-making power in organizations.

It is in this group of people that it has been estimated that 1 out of 5 has the defining characteristics of psychopathy.This is even more curious considering that, when we talk about the number of psychopaths in the general population, the proportion drops to approximately 1%.

When success and power is everything

The Telegraph reports the statements of Nathan Brooks on how it is possible that such a high proportion of people with psychopathic traits have been detected among senior managers. According to him, this is due to a defect in the style of personnel selection: members of Human Resources tend to value work and academic experience more than data relating to the personality of the candidates, which makes it possible for successful psychopaths to access positions of high responsibility by manipulating, harming possible competitors in the search for promotions and making events occurring in the company play in their favor.

However, there is another possible explanation for this fact: that the activities to be done when occupying a high position of responsibility in a large company fit well with the way of being of people with psychopathic traits. In a competitive and self-interested marketplace, little or no ability to empathize and the ability to manipulate and manipulate the ability to manipulate of psychopaths can be an advantage that helps to gain access to good salaries. and to hold on to important positions.

Ultimately, psychopaths, unlike sociopaths, are able to hide their disregard for the rules and feelings of others and make these characteristics useful to them without getting into trouble, or else they directly comply with the most basic social norms so as not to come into conflict with the law and go about their lives without harming others to a greater extent than the rest of their fellow citizens do. This makes it possible for them to gain the sympathy of others and build a positive public image.

There are precedents

Of course, these results can be questioned with complete legitimacy; after all, in psychology, a single study is not enough, In psychology, a single study does not provide a universal and unquestionable truth, and it is necessary to contrast this information with the results of other studies.It is necessary to contrast this information with other research.

However, this study, which will soon be published in the journal European Journal of Psychologyis not the first to suggest that the relative number of psychopaths is much higher among the groups that run medium and large companies than is found in the general population. In a research conducted in 2010, for example, the results pointed out that the number of psychopaths found in corporate positions is 4%, i.e. 4 times more than what is normal in the total population.