I copied the press release’s title because it’s such a great clickbait. Now, I have to disappoint you a bit, as the study this post will be about focused on the financial industry. Still, the study discloses how one can identify, manage, and, if necessary, remove these individuals. Although the press release is about an upcoming talk, a published peer-reviewed article is connected to it.

From the press release:

Around 1% of the adult population are defined as psychopaths, meaning they possess no conscience, shame, guilt, or ability to experience love for or feel empathy towards other people. Dr Boddy will discuss how they appear as potentially effective leaders, how they get to the top and what they do once they have achieved leadership.

The term corporate psychopath refers to well-performing psychopaths who work in corporate and political settings. According to Dr Boddy, they present a huge threat to the stability of companies, sectors, and potentially entire economies.

During his talk at the Chelmsford Science Festival, Dr Boddy will discuss the warning signs that researchers and investors in the financial industry, such as pension funds, and in other sectors, can look for. These include superficial charm and intelligence, pure rationality, a cheating personality, lack of remorse, irresponsibility, and being emotionally shallow.

Dr Boddy, Deputy Head of the School of Management at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said: “It is possible to look back with hindsight at some individuals in history that have committed crimes or destabilised industries, and be wise after the event. However, industries, particularly in the influential financial sector have an enormous responsibility to be more vigilant in spotting these individuals and ensuring they cannot endanger our economy and wider society.

“We know that corporate psychopaths are disproportionately likely to hold very senior positions in business and industry, largely because of their apparently social personality traits. However, their ruthlessly self-serving behaviour has the potential to bring down entire sectors in extreme cases. The quest for money, power and control is what drives the corporate psychopath, and they are ruthless and efficient in gaining these.

Abstract of the study:

This article reflectively applies measurement tools to gage whether a renowned financier and champion of shareholder capitalism, in 20^th century business history, might be categorized as a corporate psychopath. The article examines aspects of the career of the outstanding financial investment manager, Bernie Madoff. Psychopaths and corporate psychopaths are defined as background to the article. Gauges of corporate psychopathy and psychopathy are outlined which could be modified by market research companies to identify corporate psychopathy in organisations as a way of aiding investment decisions into such organisations. The current article concludes that insolvencies such as those at Madoff’s investment company, have been distinguished by CEOs being present who were simultaneously the lauded agents of financial market capitalism and who embodied the traits of the corporate psychopath. The examination of potential corporate psychopaths using this historical methodology helps inform ideas about what the effects of psychopathic leadership may be within economies and gives new insights into the reasons for the greed, risk taking, and unethical practices found in financial markets. Findings support the accepted view that corporate psychopaths can be discovered in senior roles in the financial services sector. This current paper provides new avenues for research offerings from market research companies. For example, business to business researchers could undertake research to identify firms more likely to be longitudinally viable, sustainable and less likely to collapse (i.e., non-psychopathic firms). Investment companies like pension funds could use such research to identify firms that are less risky, more ethical, better led, and therefore safer to invest in.