Psychopaths in the Boardroom?

My colleague Prof. Mark Boguski at the Harvard Medical School shared a provocative quote: True?

Not all psychopaths are in prison. Some are in the Boardroom.

Over at MedPageToday, they just completed an intriguing and informative series of articles about the psychology of psychopaths. According to Prof. Boguski:

...our 3-part series on psychopathy just concluded yesterday on MedPageToday.

Here's a summary of some of our tweets about it:

WANTED: Charming, aggressive, carefree people who are good at looking out for #1 http://bit.ly/kmj5oM

Also...

Corporate psychopaths: the sour cream rises to the top

What's the difference between successful & unsuccessful psychopaths?

Psychopaths know the words, but not the music

Chainsaw Al redefines psychopathic traits as exemplary leadership qualities

Not all psychopaths are in prison. Some are in the Boardroom.

More like this

John Stewart had some fun the other night mocking conservative politicians and talking heads for criticizing Obama's desire for an "empathetic" Supreme Court justice, who will make legal decisions, in part, by "identifying with people's hopes and struggles." The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M -…
Fast Company face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> has an amusing and interesting href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/96/open_boss.html">article on href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy">pychopathy.  Being a business-oriented magazine, they ask "Is your boss a…
The latest issue of Nature has a thought-provoking article on new research trying to understand the psychopathic brain. On most psychological tests, psychopaths appear perfectly normal. Their working memory isn't impaired, they use language normally, and they don't have reduced attention spans. In…
Here's a new interesting new paper on the emotional deficits of the psychopathic brain, via sarcastic_f: The understanding that other people's emotional states depend on the fulfilment of their intention is fundamentally important for responding adequately to others. Psychopathic patients show…

This is from Prof. Boguski at Harvard Medical School. Explain to readers your qualifications. Thank you.

Not true. The modern corporate environment doesn't suit psychopaths; the sociopaths outcompete them at every turn.

By Pierce R. Butler (not verified) on 24 Jun 2011 #permalink

"Pyschopath" and "sociopath" are both non-clinical, interchangeable terms referring to a person suffering from "Antisocial Personality Disorder". In fact, "psychopath" was the preferred clinical term, vs. sociopath, until the 1980's when the third edition of the DSM was published. Even today, "psychopath" is used, casually, by mental health professionals to refer to people about whom you would say "uh-uh, they're SOCIOpaths".

It isn't as though people need a psych degree to know these things. If you're going to be technical nitpickers, at least do it right. Is Googling so difficult?

By cwgauthier (not verified) on 01 Jul 2011 #permalink

... What.

Psychopathy in psychology in my experience just means psychopathy as measured by Hare's Psychopathy Check-List. It's a distinct phenomenon. I wouldn't know what sociopathy could mean in this context.

Corporate world? Also, politics.

By PsychLobster (not verified) on 27 Jul 2011 #permalink

No matter if theyâre a sociopath, psychopath, or a schizophrenic, you shouldnât be surprised that theyâre in the board room rather than prison. A great deal of personality disorders are based on fantastic characteristics that are used for negative purposes. Depending on the individualâs self-control, these skills can easily work to their advantage. Unfortunately climbing to the top of of a career may involve a lot of decisions that someone with a larger conscience could not handle in a way someone with a personality disorder could. Narcissists also tend to be very successful themselves because of their magnetic charm and persuasion.