Your boss, the sociopath

Bob Hare and others recently released an estimate that as many as 1 in 25 bosses are psychopaths:

They disguise it by using their status, charm and manipulation.

It is only positive experiences such as having a happy childhood that stop them from turning into potential serial killers, according to the scientists.

The ruthless corporate culture helps psychopaths by rewarding callousness and the disregard of people’s feelings.

What’s even worse is that these vicious bosses are rubbish at their jobs. They keep climbing the ladder because they cover up their failings by charming people.

The pioneering study was led by New York psychologist Dr Paul Babiak who said: “Psychopaths really aren’t the kind of person you think they are.

“You could be married to one for 20 years and not know it.” His team studied business chiefs to find out how many psychos work for major companies.

Fellow researcher Professor Bob Hare said: “A psychopath can tell what you’re thinking but what they don’t do is feel what you feel. These are people without a conscience.”

The findings . . . showed that bosses are four times more likely to be psychopaths than the general population. Scientists believe 1% of the public are psychos.

The tone of the article is completely sensationalist. It's also typical of any positive information about sociopaths to try to put as negative a spin on it as possible. Instead of congratulations sociopaths for being apparently 4 times more likely to succeed than normal people (am I doing the math right?), they are instead bad at their jobs and succeed by disregarding people's feelings? In what way does disregarding people's feelings lead to success, necessarily? I mean, it's so obviously a ploy, so obviously thinly veiled propaganda -- the type that allows dictators to ascend to power and oppress people all in the name of courting power over the idiot masses.

The quotes from Babiak and Hare are pretty reasonable, though.