If You Think Your Co-Worker is a Psychopath You Might Be Right

Are “bad” employees happier under bad bosses – a study recently published in the Journal of Business Ethics asked. According to their research – the answer is yes. The study suggests “the people with primary psychopathy – those who commit antisocial acts due to a lack of empathy or fear – not ony fare better under abusive managment styles than non-psychopaths, they acutally thrive in these negative work environments,” IFLScience.com reported. The team of researchers surveyed over 400 participants, first, to determine their level of psychopathy, then to have participants rate the “abusiveness” of their supervisors. They found that subjects with higher psychopathic tendencies felt “less anger, more engagment, and more positive emotions under abusive supervisors, compared with non-psychopathic participants.

Furthermore, the psychopathic volunteers felt less engagement and more negative emotion if they worked for less abusive superiors,” Aliyah Kovner wrote. While this is a relatively small study, the study authors believe their findings support the belief that psychopaths have the ability to succeed in “difficult work environments that drive neurotypical employees away.” “I don’t know whether companies seek out employees who are psychopathic, but some companies seem to prioritize people who are strongly motivated by power, status, and personal gain, which tends to be truer of people high in psychopathy than those who are not,” lead researcher Charilce Hurst said.