Do psychopathic traits predict professional success?

Personality and Individual Differences, 2022

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While the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) has gained increasing attention as a measure of noncriminal psychopathy, absent has been research involving samples including business people. This study investigated the validity of the PPI with such a population by examining the association between psychopathic traits and moral decision-making among MBA students. Sixty-six MBA students were assessed using the PPI, the MACH-IV (a measure of Machiavellianism), the Ethical Position Questionnaire (EPQ), and the Defining Issues Test (DIT-2). Only PPI Machiavellian Egocentricity was associated with level of post-conventional moral reasoning. MACH-IV Machiavellianism was a stronger predictor of the Subjectivist ethical position than were PPI subscales. However, a combination of MACH-IV Machiavellianism and four PPI scales accounted for 46% of the variance in Subjectivism. Results suggested that Machiavellian Egocentricity and Machiavellianism are distinct constructs. Benning, Patrick, Hicks, Blonigen, & Krueger (2003)’s two factor model of the PPI was also supported. In general, the findings provided further validation for the PPI as a tool for assessing psychopathic traits among “mainstream” individuals, including business people.

2020

In recent years, there has been an increasing focus on the successful psychopath: An individual who manages to achieve occupational success despite exhibiting core psychopathic traits such as callousness. Several studies suggest this phenomenon is underpinned by a specific configuration of adaptive psychopathic traits that may facilitate positive behaviour in combination with protective variables such as education. In addition, research indicates that psychopathic personalities may be further enabled in occupational domains by specific facial cues pertaining to their underlying personality traits. The present study examined these assertions in a two-part cross-sectional design. Part 1 assessed the extent to which self-report psychopathy (as a function of education) predicted professional success in an occupational sample of 161 participants. In part 2, a convenience sample of 131 participants selected their preferred leaders from male- and female-face pairs communicating high and lo...

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations of two facets of psychopathic personality (i.e., self-centered impulsivity, fearless dominance) with counterproductive work behavior (CWB-I) and contextual performance (CP). Consistent with research on psychopathy, we suggested that self-centered impulsivity (i.e., behavioral impulsivity characterized by disregard for rules and responsibilities) would be positively related to CWB-I and negatively related to CP. Underpinned by socioanalytic theory, we further suggested that fearless dominance (i.e., an egotistical personal style characterized by self-promotion and prioritization of one's own needs before those of others) would only be negatively associated with interpersonal performance (i.e., high CWB-I and low CP) when individuals indicated low levels of interpersonal influence (i.e., a dimension of political skill reflecting an ability to adapt one's behavior in subtle, sophisticated, and situationally effective ways). Results provided strong support for the differential relations of the psychopathic personality dimensions with the criteria of interest. Implications for theory, practice, and future research are provided in light of a number of notable strengths and limitations.

Personality and Individual Differences, 2013

Organizational psychologists examining personality’s relation to work behavior have focused largely on the ‘‘normal’’ traits comprising the Five Factor Model (FFM). However, given the aversive nature of subclinical psychopathy (e.g., callous affect, impulsivity), we posit that this toxic personality profile will enhance the prediction of negative work outcomes, namely forms of counterproductive workplace behavior (CWB). Study 1 (N = 193) examined the value of sub-clinical psychopathy and the FFM in predicting intentions to engage in CWB; results support prior research indicating that both agreeableness and conscientiousness significantly correlated with CWB. In addition, sub-clinical psychopathy predicted CWB above and beyond the FFM. Study 2 (N = 360) extended the findings of Study 1 by examining interpersonally deviant behavior in a team context. While agreeableness was significantly related to interpersonal deviance in Study 2, conscientiousness was not. Results from Study 2 replicate Study 1, suggesting that sub-clinical psychopathy accounted for the majority of the explained variance in interpersonal deviance. Overall, the results support the value of using sub-clinical psychopathy to predict CWB.

Materia Socio-Medica, 2021

Background: Psychopathy as an antisocial characteristic of an individual is characterized by a lack of empathy, guilt, inability to control impulsive behavior, irresponsibility, irritability and aggressive behavior. Because of the traits that underlie this factor, we hypothesized that psychopaths would experience more stress in the work environment. Stress, in this article, is operationalized within Karasek’s model of stress which consider that contextual variables (excessive demands on work, lack of social support, and lack of control at work) are responsible for experiencing stress at the workplace. This kind of work context, according to our assumption, can affect psychopaths to have a weaker response to stressful situations. Objective: To determine the predictive power of psychopathy as a factor in the dark triad in order to explain the workplace stress. Methods: We conducted the study in one company on a sample of 235 respondents. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic ...

2019

Psychopathy is often misrepresented as a sign of criminality and deviance. However, current literature suggests that psychopaths make up approximately one-fifth of the general population. Some people use these characterological traits to their benefit in positions of leadership. In this study, students from a Christian university in the Pacific Northwest were selected to participate in a survey, based upon their chosen major (Business, Psychology, and Religion). It was hypothesized that Business students would have the highest total levels of psychopathy and religion majors would show the lowest levels of psychopathy. Since religion often serves as a protective factor, it is further predicted that religion will mitigate the effects of psychopathy, and will be negatively correlated with psychopathic traits. Multiple one-way ANOVAs and Tukey post hoc tests were used to determine which degrees had statistically significant differences, and a correlational study examined the possibility of religion as a mitigating factor. Results indicated that Religion students had the highest levels of primary psychopathy as well as overall psychopathy levels, whereas Business students had the highest PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY TRAITS iv levels of secondary psychopathy. It was also determined that primary and secondary psychopathy had no significant relationship to one another, and that total psychopathy levels had no significant differences between age and gender. The implications of this study show the potential for individuals with more psychopathic personality traits to enter prosocial leadership roles, such as clergy, and the benefit of pre-employment personality screening.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate job satisfaction and workplace psychopathy. Design/methodology/approach -Job satisfaction has previously been seen as a function of various constructs. The authors take one step back from the literature to re-examine the relationship not just between job satisfaction, workplace conflict, organizational constraints, withdrawal from the workplace and perceived levels of corporate social responsibility, but also between all of these constructs and the presence of corporate psychopaths. Findings -The authors find that there is a direct link between corporate psychopaths and job satisfaction. There are also indirect links through variables such as conflict, since corporate psychopaths influence conflict and other variables. Originality/value -Importantly, the research establishes that psychopathy is the dominant predictor of job satisfaction.

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 2008

Purpose: Few studies have simultaneously investigated psychopathic traits in relation to assorted dimensions of a delinquent career. The current study examined the role that psychopathy might play in facilitating research on the small subset of youth at risk for persistent antisocial behavior.

International Journal of Human Sciences Research, 2023

In this article, we carry out a theoretical analysis on how the person with characteristics similar to those of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) has the social skills to thrive in an individualistic and greedy society. We show that the ability to adopt unethical behaviors can be crucial for these people to appear as assertive, capable, and accomplishing professionals. They are not only able to achieve individual results but, above all, to lead teams aimed at achieving the ambitious goals of their organizations. Such individuals are known as functional psychopaths. From a psychological point of view, a large part of the indicators related to functional psychopathy seems to be associated with changes in the regulatory function that emotions play a part in the human decisionmaking process. Functional psychopathy represents a challenge for organizational managers and staff in human resources sections. Furthermore, the evaluation processes, primarily based on organizational results, are not very sensitive to differentiate between (1) lack of empathy and courage; (2) selfishness and zeal; and (3) manipulation and leadership. It can be concluded that only more sophisticated, laborious, and costly processes could be sensitive enough to identify those people and their perverse work strategies during the selective and evaluative processes in the business environment. So, they are all around us, and, given the cultural orientation of companies toward individualism and greed, they are probably here to stay.