How many "corporate psychopaths" are CEOs?

Fernando Kaskais

May 29

a man standing in front of a white light.

Credit: Annelisa Leinbach / Big Think; Adobe Stock

We commonly stereotype psychopaths as criminals, but there are probably more in upper management.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Psychopaths are so prevalent in upper management positions that psychologists have a term for them: "corporate psychopaths."
While some psychopathic traits can be useful to leaders and their companies, evidence suggests that corporate psychopaths often make workplaces more hostile, less productive, and ultimately less profitable.
A full-blown corporate psychopath in a key position of power likely will be disastrous for the company.

By Ross Pomeroy

Psychopath.

The term often evokes a mental image of a ruthless criminal or a serial killer. It's a reasonable stereotype. Between one quarter and one third of convicted murderers are psychopaths, along with almost nine in ten serial killers. These heinous offenders earned that diagnosis because they lie and manipulate to get what they want. They are regularly reckless and impulsive, have an outsized ego, are quick to anger, and lack empathy for others. Despite all this, they can often be charming and even likable.

But while most violent criminals are psychopaths, most psychopaths aren't criminals. These successful psychopaths inhabit a variety of niches in civilized society, but one of the most common places they end up is in corporate management. In fact, psychopaths are so common among the upper echelons of companies that psychologists have concocted a name for them: "corporate psychopaths."

Clive B o ddy, an associate professor at Anglia Ruskin University, originated the term and has been researching the effects of toxic, psychopathic managers since 2005. "Corporate psychopaths are… simply those psychopaths who exist successfully in society and work within corporations," he wrote in a paper published in 2015. "They are conceptualized as highly career-oriented but ruthless, unethical, and exploitative employees."

For a popular, yet fictitious example of corporate psychopaths, look no further than the hit HBO show Succession. The comedy drama depicts the exploits of the Roy family, leaders of the media conglomerate Waystar-Royco. As they strive to preserve their wealth and power, the Roys broadly act with little regard or care for anybody other than themselves — especially those who are not as obscenely wealthy as they are. With only minor deviations, each family member has many or all of the characteristics of a corporate psychopath. They are initially charming, poised, and calm, yet they ultimately reveal themselves to be untruthful, cheaters, egocentric, remorseless, emotionally shallow, interpersonally unresponsive, irresponsible, and lacking in self-blame.

A group of people sitting in front of a painting.

The comedy drama Succession follows the exploits of the Roys, a family of corporate psychopaths inspired by real-life media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his children. (Credit: HBO)

But Succession is just a television show and not written as a faithful depiction of real-life corporate psychopaths. So how many psychopaths really exist in corporate management? And what effects — positive or negative — do they have on their firms?

Corporate psychopaths

While it's difficult to estimate their prevalence, a few researchers have taken a stab at it. Simon Croom, a professor of supply chain management at the University of San Diego School of Business, is one of them. "My colleagues and I found in our research that 12% of corporate senior leadership displays a range of psychopathic traits," he shared in an article published to Fortune Magazine in 2021. Robert D. Hare, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia and creator of the primary diagnostic tool for psychopathy, the Hare psychopathy checklist, found a smaller prevalence of just 3.5%.

Both estimates suggest that psychopaths are far more prevalent in corporate management than in the general population — about 3.5 to 12 times more. And they may be even more common in the top office, with one analysis finding that one in five CEOs could be a corporate psychopath.

So then, what happens when a psychopath is promoted into a corporate position of power? Because these individuals can be charismatic, persuasive, and creative, it's possible they could excel in their roles and propel their companies to great profit. Researchers, however, have broadly found the opposite.

Corporate psychopaths' malicious traits outweigh their positive ones. They often bully others, create conflict, discourage subordinates' ideas, behave unethically, and even urge others to do the same. Their actions can result in a hostile workplace environment, increasing competition, stress, absenteeism, disengagement, and even theft. "Deviant workplace behaviors cause losses of billions of dollars across all business organizations, and much of this behavior stems from corporate psychopaths in positions of leadership," researchers wrote in 2015...

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https://bigthink.com/leadership/corporate-psychopath-ceo/