What truly makes someone a psychopath? Psychopaths know right from wrong, but have little to no empathy, guilt, or loyalty to others. They also can appear superficially charming. Psychopaths tend to target vulnerabilities in others. This means they may especially harass someone at the office who is going through a difficult time personally. Psychopaths get a dopamine reward from power and control, similar to the dopamine reward you receive when you have accomplished a task. However, the psychopath gets a dopamine reward that is up to four times higher than people without psychopathology, as seen in brain scans. For the psychopath, high risk equals high reward.
While “psychopath” is not a diagnosis in the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.), it is a series of behaviors that are considered dangerous and criminal by society. Characteristics of psychopathology don’t just include a lack of empathy or guilt and having superficial charm. The Hare Psychopathy Checklist (2nd ed.) includes the following additional traits of psychopathology: parasitic lifestyle; juvenile delinquency; many short-term marital relationships; irresponsibility; impulsivity; pathological lying; need for stimulation; manipulative behavior; sexual promiscuity; not taking responsibility for own actions; exaggerated high estimation of self-worth; poor behavioral controls; and superficial emotional response.
Superficial emotional responses are sometimes referred to as “cognitive empathy.” It may appear that the psychopath is sharing words of empathy, or even gestures showing that they care, but there is no emotion or human connection behind the behaviors. It is a purely cognitive response designed to fulfill societal expectations, rather than an emotional response.
Many have fallen under the “spell” of a psychopath, simply due to the fact that the psychopath knows how to “act normal.” A psychopath also reveals his true nature slowly. During interviews, more than one staff member has commented that when interviewing a prospective employee, the hair stood up on the back of her neck and she felt a strong sense of unease, but she couldn’t pinpoint the exact behaviors that lead to that reaction. It is only when the psychopath is told “no” in the workplace, particularly when boundaries are enforced, that his true nature is exposed.
Some studies find that psychopaths have an inherent advantage in gaining high-level management positions, although it is more difficult for them to excel in those positions than non-psychopaths. This is in part due to the fact that manipulative behavior or “meanness” makes one less of a team player, and creates “hard influence,” rather than softer influence.
Why do you need to be particularly careful when psychopaths are supervisors? Psychopathic supervisors bring out the psychopathology in other psychopaths. Psychopathic employees actually excel under abusive supervision. When an employee has high psychopathic traits, they have higher levels of well-being and lower levels of anger under abusive supervision than their non-psychopathic peers. This means that psychopathic supervisors may be empowering psychopathic employees. This comes at a great price to other employees, the company, and its shareholders. It also increases the incidence of white-collar crime at the company.
It is unclear if the psychopathic employee identifies with the psychopathic supervisor, and that emboldens his behavior. However, if the psychopath believes that they are in the right, and everyone else is beneath them, it would go against logic to think that the psychopath would identify with another psychopath. However, psychopaths may actually be more accepting of other psychopaths than the general population. So while other employees may ask for transfers or quit their jobs, psychopathic employees may understand, at least on some level, a psychopathic employer’s abusive supervision.
It is of utmost importance that companies are well-educated on psychopathic behavior, so they can identify traits during first contact with a prospective employee, or in an initial interview. Correctly identifying possible psychopathology can make or break a company and its employees.
