Psychopaths

[bargainman]

Not unsurprising, but certainly not that encouraging either:

 

http://www.sfgate.com/jobs/article/Jobs-fit-for-a-psychopath-4172506.php

 

The following jobs have the highest rate of psychopaths, according to Dutton's research:

1. Chief Executive Officer

2. Lawyer

3. Media (Television/Radio)

4. Salesperson

5. Surgeon

6. Journalist

7. Police officer

8. Clergy person

9. Chef

10. Civil servant

 

The list is scattered across several fields, but Huffington Post blogger Eric Barker notes each of these professions "require an ability to make objective, clinical decisions divorced from feelings." In a more straightforward way, the traits that define psychopaths are also the skills that can make people successful in the workforce.

 

 

[Parsad]

That's a silly article.  That's a pretty long list of professions already.  It seems as though more recent and prolific psychopaths have been video-game playing, Nazi-sympathizing, white males.  And where do psychopaths like Willie Pickton from Vancouver fit in...Pickton was a pig-farmer who killed over 50 vulnerable women, and even fed some to his pigs? 

 

I don't think there is any clear cut way to define what makes a psychopath.  We're animals born of specific genetic material, mutated by the environment we live in, shaped by the experiences we endure.  It's far to complex for any idiot to generalize in an article!  Cheers!

[tengen]

The Smithsonian article does a much better job explaining the researcher's argument, which is quite a bit more nuanced than the Chronicle reporter makes it out to be.

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Pros-to-Being-a-Psychopath-176019901.html

 

For some amusement, go to http://wisdomofpsychopaths.com/ and take the Psychopath Challenge (I scored 8 out of 33).

[Guest FFHfan]

It's an article from Huffington Post. ::)  In-depth journalistic analysis isn't really a priority. Creating controversies, working with hyperbole comes first. Cheap labor seems to be no probem.

 

The far-left version of Newsmax. Nutcases on both political aisle.

[writser]

Lol, I'm a trader. Pleasant surprise, would expect them to top the list :)

[Hielko]

Lol, I'm a trader. Pleasant surprise, would expect them to top the list :)

For you: http://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisbarth/2011/09/26/new-study-old-news-stock-traders-are-psychopaths/

[oddballstocks]

The Smithsonian article does a much better job explaining the researcher's argument, which is quite a bit more nuanced than the Chronicle reporter makes it out to be.

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Pros-to-Being-a-Psychopath-176019901.html

 

For some amusement, go to http://wisdomofpsychopaths.com/ and take the Psychopath Challenge (I scored 8 out of 33).

 

Had a crazy boss years ago,we took this test for him 33/33, it only confirmed what we already knew. The guy was a very high level executive. Also slept with a handgun under his pillow so he could act quickly if an attacker came into his house. We asked what would happen if his kids or wife startled him awake, he said that's the risk he takes to be safe..insane guy, literally, yet extremely intelligent and high achieving. People who didn't know him well admired him, the sheen wore off quickly after working directly with him after a while.

[rkbabang]

The Smithsonian article does a much better job explaining the researcher's argument, which is quite a bit more nuanced than the Chronicle reporter makes it out to be.

 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Pros-to-Being-a-Psychopath-176019901.html

 

For some amusement, go to http://wisdomofpsychopaths.com/ and take the Psychopath Challenge (I scored 8 out of 33).

 

I scored 16 out of 33. It said that 16 is below average.  It was probably higher than it otherwise would have been, because of my "strongly agree" answers to questions about driving fast cars and liking roller coasters.  As well as thinking I'd be OK in a dangerous job because I can make quick decisions. I wonder if they weigh those questions the same as the one about not being concerned about an animal being injured or killed?

 

Of course for the test to be valid at all you would need to tell the truth on the questions, so it doesn't control for lying psychopaths.

[Kraven]

This type of thing is why I am always skeptical about how one "knows" management is good and trustworthy.  I mean at best what do you have?  Some words on a page and maybe some interviews?  Even if someone has met the person and talked with them, I don't know what that really tells you.  Perhaps people are less cynical than me.

 

 

[ERICOPOLY]

Of course for the test to be valid at all you would need to tell the truth on the questions, so it doesn't control for lying psychopaths.

 

True.  An intelligent person who doesn't want to be insulted (labeled a psychopath) isn't going to answer "no, I don't care if an animal is suffering".

 

[berkshiremystery]

Not unsurprising, but certainly not that encouraging either:

 

http://www.sfgate.com/jobs/article/Jobs-fit-for-a-psychopath-4172506.php

 

The following jobs have the highest rate of psychopaths, according to Dutton's research:

1. Chief Executive Officer

2. Lawyer

3. Media (Television/Radio)

4. Salesperson

5. Surgeon

6. Journalist

7. Police officer

8. Clergy person

9. Chef

10. Civil servant

 

The list is scattered across several fields, but Huffington Post blogger Eric Barker notes each of these professions "require an ability to make objective, clinical decisions divorced from feelings." In a more straightforward way, the traits that define psychopaths are also the skills that can make people successful in the workforce.

 

Only the medical profession appears twice in contradiction,... surgeon vs doctors.

 

The surgeon must probably be a Dr. Hannibal Lecter without emotions while cutting in flesh and blood.  :o The home doctor otherwise some sensitive character, because he never does surgeries.

 

-----

 

 

The following jobs have the highest rate of psychopaths, according to Dutton's research:

1. Chief Executive Officer

2. Lawyer

3. Media (Television/Radio)

4. Salesperson

5. Surgeon

6. Journalist

7. Police officer

8. Clergy person

9. Chef

10. Civil servant

 

 

It shouldn't be a shocker that professions that require empathy or emotion had a lower rate of psychopaths. According to Dutton, these professions have the lowest rate of psychopaths.

1. Care aide

2. Nurse

3. Therapist

4. Craftsperson

5. Beautician or stylist

6. Charity worker

7. Teacher

8. Creative artist

9. Doctor

10. Accountant

 

 

 

 

 

[Crip1]

Lol, I'm a trader. Pleasant surprise, would expect them to top the list :)

 

Well, Writser, you may not be at the top of the author's list, but, seeing as this group tends to be Long-Term, value investors, you are definitely at the top of our list!  ;)

 

-Crip

[Aberhound]

I would have guessed that politicians would be #1 on the list. There is a professor at University of British Columbia that has developed a brain scan which detects psychopaths. Company boards should consider hiring the professor in CEO reviews to avoid potential shareholder pain.

 

Now if I could figure out how voters could have an opportunity to screen politicians before voting...

[rkbabang]

I would have guessed that politicians would be #1 on the list. There is a professor at University of British Columbia that has developed a brain scan which detects psychopaths. Company boards should consider hiring the professor in CEO reviews to avoid potential shareholder pain.

 

Now if I could figure out how voters could have an opportunity to screen politicians before voting...

 

I believe your conjecture is largely correct.  Power doesn't just corrupt, it also attracts the corrupt and the corruptible like flies to manure.

 

Fearless dominance and the U.S. presidency: Implications of psychopathic personality traits for successful and unsuccessful political leadership.

 

Just do what I do, I assume that they are all psychopaths and/or sociopaths (I'm most likely correct much more often than not) and I don't encourage them by voting.

 

[boilermaker75]

That's a silly article.  That's a pretty long list of professions already.  It seems as though more recent and prolific psychopaths have been video-game playing, Nazi-sympathizing, white males.  And where do psychopaths like Willie Pickton from Vancouver fit in...Pickton was a pig-farmer who killed over 50 vulnerable women, and even fed some to his pigs? 

 

I don't think there is any clear cut way to define what makes a psychopath.  We're animals born of specific genetic material, mutated by the environment we live in, shaped by the experiences we endure.  It's far to complex for any idiot to generalize in an article!  Cheers!

 

You can tell with a proper MRI study. Certainly how well a sociopath functions in society is determined by environment.

[rkbabang]

That's a silly article.  That's a pretty long list of professions already.  It seems as though more recent and prolific psychopaths have been video-game playing, Nazi-sympathizing, white males.  And where do psychopaths like Willie Pickton from Vancouver fit in...Pickton was a pig-farmer who killed over 50 vulnerable women, and even fed some to his pigs? 

 

I don't think there is any clear cut way to define what makes a psychopath.  We're animals born of specific genetic material, mutated by the environment we live in, shaped by the experiences we endure.  It's far to complex for any idiot to generalize in an article!  Cheers!

 

You can tell with a proper MRI study. Certainly how well a sociopath functions in society is determined by environment.

 

There are definitely degrees to this dysfunction as well as vast differences on how it is expressed in different people.  The sociopath or psychopath who becomes a senator or president is behaving differently than the serial killer who kills people and eats them.  True the president may be killing far more people by proxy, but the serial killer is doing it himself personally.  I wonder is this just different manifestations of the same dysfunction expressed differently because of environment or do these people have a different severity of the same dysfunction, or a different problem all-together?

[boilermaker75]

That's a silly article.  That's a pretty long list of professions already.  It seems as though more recent and prolific psychopaths have been video-game playing, Nazi-sympathizing, white males.  And where do psychopaths like Willie Pickton from Vancouver fit in...Pickton was a pig-farmer who killed over 50 vulnerable women, and even fed some to his pigs? 

 

I don't think there is any clear cut way to define what makes a psychopath.  We're animals born of specific genetic material, mutated by the environment we live in, shaped by the experiences we endure.  It's far to complex for any idiot to generalize in an article!  Cheers!

 

You can tell with a proper MRI study. Certainly how well a sociopath functions in society is determined by environment.

 

There are definitely degrees to this dysfunction as well as vast differences on how it is expressed in different people.  The sociopath or psychopath who becomes a senator or president is behaving differently than the serial killer who kills people and eats them.  True the president may be killing far more people by proxy, but the serial killer is doing it himself personally.  I wonder is this just different manifestations of the same dysfunction expressed differently because of environment or do these people have a different severity of the same dysfunction, or a different problem all-together?

 

I read a book on the subject written for the lay person, The Sociopath Next Door, by Martha Stout. Stout was on the clinical faculty at Harvard Medical School for over 25 years.

 

It has been a while, and my memory is not what it used to be. My recollection is both nature and nurture were involved but you could identify them with an MRI.

[bargainman]

That's a silly article.  That's a pretty long list of professions already.  It seems as though more recent and prolific psychopaths have been video-game playing, Nazi-sympathizing, white males.  And where do psychopaths like Willie Pickton from Vancouver fit in...Pickton was a pig-farmer who killed over 50 vulnerable women, and even fed some to his pigs? 

 

I don't think there is any clear cut way to define what makes a psychopath.  We're animals born of specific genetic material, mutated by the environment we live in, shaped by the experiences we endure.  It's far to complex for any idiot to generalize in an article!  Cheers!

 

Well the article is not the source, as others have pointed to.  The source is the book/research:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Wisdom-Psychopaths-Killers-ebook/dp/B007NKN9U8

by "the renowned psychologist Kevin Dutton"

 

And believe it or not there is probably a definition of a 'psychopath' in the annals of clinical psychology somewhere.  That definition may not be what we think of as laymen, or the extreme cases we think of as the one you pointed out, but I'm sure there are plenty of studies and clinical cases supporting said definition. 

 

[bargainman]

I would have guessed that politicians would be #1 on the list. There is a professor at University of British Columbia that has developed a brain scan which detects psychopaths. Company boards should consider hiring the professor in CEO reviews to avoid potential shareholder pain.

 

Now if I could figure out how voters could have an opportunity to screen politicians before voting...

 

My guess is that "Civil servants" == "Politicians" on the list.

[PlanMaestro]

This type of thing is why I am always skeptical about how one "knows" management is good and trustworthy.  I mean at best what do you have?  Some words on a page and maybe some interviews?  Even if someone has met the person and talked with them, I don't know what that really tells you.  Perhaps people are less cynical than me.

 

Good comment Kraven.

 

A good practice is to be skeptical when you're told exactly what you want to hear. And that happens well too often in one-on-ones with management. A good practice in those situations might be to talk very little, question a lot, and set traps.

 

It might be even better to avoid talking to management all together. Instead, conference calls and presentations make easier to detect manipulative behavior that has to adjust to the average investor … so it becomes more obvious for the non-average investor.

[Kraven]

This type of thing is why I am always skeptical about how one "knows" management is good and trustworthy.  I mean at best what do you have?  Some words on a page and maybe some interviews?  Even if someone has met the person and talked with them, I don't know what that really tells you.  Perhaps people are less cynical than me.

 

Good comment Kraven.

 

A good practice is to be skeptical when you're told exactly what you want to hear. And that happens well too often in one-on-ones with management. A good practice in those situations might be to talk very little, question a lot, and set traps.

 

It might be even better to avoid talking to management all together. Instead, conference calls and presentations make easier to detect manipulative behavior that has to adjust to the average investor … so it becomes more obvious for the non-average investor.

 

Very true. I think the concept of "good management" is so fraught with potential for bad data that for me at least it loses its relevance. At best good management is usually seen by a higher stock price. The halo effect and all that. It isn't often you see a stock at a 52 week low but everyone says management is just fab.

 

[PlanMaestro]

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=psychopathys-bright-side-kevin-dutt-12-12-28

 

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=psychopathys-bright-side-kevin-dutt-12-12-29