Many people already sensed that to be a senior position in an organization you have to be made of special wood.but there is always research on the subject that can surprise us.
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 that which can be found among inmates in American prisons.
The study, carried out by a team of researchers led by Bond University forensic psychologist Nathan Brooks, used for analysis a group of 261 American senior managers who currently work in companies in different sectors. These senior profiles included general directors, presidents and CEOs, which provided the 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 in 5 presents the characteristics that define psychopathysomething that 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 collects the statements of Nathan Brooks regarding how it is possible that such a proportion of people with psychopathic traits have been detected among senior officials. According to him, this is due to a defect in the personnel selection style: members of Human Resources tend to value work and academic experience more than data related to the personality of candidates, which means that successful psychopaths can access to positions of high responsibility by manipulating, harming possible competitors in the search for promotions and making the events that occur in the company work in their favor.
However, there is another possible explanation for this fact: that the activities that must be done when occupying a senior position of responsibility in a large company fit well with the way of being of people with psychopathic traits. In a competitive market and in which self-interest prevails, the little or no ability to empathize and psychopaths’ ability to manipulate can be an advantage that helps them access good salaries and to maintain important positions.
Ultimately, psychopaths, unlike sociopaths, are able to hide their disinterest in the norms and feelings of others and make these characteristics useful to them without getting into trouble, or they directly comply with social norms more basic to avoid coming 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 doubted with complete legitimacy; after all, In psychology, a single study is not enough to find a universal and unquestionable truth.and 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 among the groups that run medium and large companies, the relative number of psychopaths is much greater than that found in the general population. In an investigation carried out in 2010, for example, the results indicated that the number of psychopaths that can be found among corporate positions is 4%, that is, 4 times more than what is normal in the total population. .
