Psychopaths are not some aliens or movie characters. They are our co-workers and neighbors. We think we might be able to recognize psychopaths right away but think again. In real life, the workforce is full of psychopaths, especially for certain job occupations. Here is the list of the top jobs for psychopaths, the jobs that experts believe psychopaths find to be the most appealing job opportunities.
The list comes from Kevin Dutton’s “The Wisdom of Psychopaths” who has an open mind when it comes to psychopaths. The list was created not as a warning to non-psychopaths but as a recommendation for psychopaths. As Joshua Buckhotz put it:
“They’re not aliens, they’re people who make bad decisions.”
The following occupations are the top jobs for psychopaths. Are you ready? Here we go: civil servant, chef, clergy, police officer, journalist, surgeon, salesperson, media personality, lawyer and CEO. As you can notice most of these occupations are occupations of power.
Top jobs for psychopaths
It came as a surprise when the official UK’s Home Office suggested that the government should recruit psychopaths due to their high ability to stay cool in all emergencies. If a job requires any type of emotional detachment, psychopaths are perfect candidates.
Although we established that psychopaths are drawn to high-power jobs, a chef is an exception. It seems that chefs are not paid the same as CEOs but having that power in the kitchen, will do the job for psychopaths. Clergy might be another unusual occupation for psychopaths, but it seems that they are drawn to anything where they can manipulate people. Perhaps that could explain why psychopaths are drawn to the profession.
The professions of power are also media personalities, CEOs and lawyers. Narcissism and psychopathy go hand in hand. If a psychopath is in front of as many eyes as possible, he would be drawn to those positions.
Being a lawyer is not only deciding matters of life and death (sometimes literally) but it also gives a psychopath more space to manipulate others. CEOs can be masters of manipulation; they can be those creating chaos while staying cool. Therefore, CEOs have a strong tendency to become good corporate leaders.
The job of a police officer is not only a job of power but a job full of unpredictable circumstance. It’s not hard to understand why the job of a police officer is appealing to a psychopath. Another job that can be unpredictable is the job of a journalist. Chasing stories, no matter who gets in their way seems like a job a psychopath can do.
One study published in The Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons of England discovered that consultants at hospitals are ranked to be more psychopathic than the general population. Even more, those at teaching hospitals ranked even higher on the scale of psychopathy than those from the general population.
Also, sales is a competitive field where one can go towards promotion if they are persistent enough which they tend to be.
It’s hard to see psychopaths in our work environment and if you think you recognized one, you might be wrong. Remember, they are masters of manipulation.
It’s important to note that successful psychopaths have a high level of conscientiousness which doesn’t necessarily mean that they care about other people, or what others think, they are just more aware of others and what they think about them, but at the end of the day, they don’t care. They might use that information to be ready to manipulate anyone.
How to avoid being manipulated by psychopaths at the workplace? Keep calm and stay confident and you will not be a target for manipulation.
