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And it listed four bullet points I found interesting:
A disregard for laws and social mores
A disregard for the rights of others
A failure to feel remorse or guilt
A tendency to display violent behavior
And the more I looked at it, the more it really seems to correspond to how politicians and other big wigs such as CEOs and big execs of companies operate.
Neither seem to care about any laws or social mores if they want something, they have little issue disregarding the rights of others, they sure as hell don't feel remorse or guilt for those under them, and they sure don't have a problem using violent behavior; just look at all the wars politicians love to start.
I do wonder if every politician and CEO/Big level exec was given a through and comprehensive mental evaluation if they'd be deemed sociopaths.
Yea, what London said. To make it to the top of the business / political world, you have to have a lot of qualities like hard working and smart----but you also have to be extraordinarily demanding of others and put your interests ahead of others. A top exec's #1 priority is his job.....kids' birthdays and anniversaries come second. This is Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos.
I don't think that makes a person necessarily a sociopath in the classical sense...it just makes them a dick head.
Kevin Dutton authored a book on the subject of which professions attract the most sociopaths, and politician/CEO ranked as one of the top ones.
To answer your question, though, I don't think the degree to which those in these positions are sociopaths is "most" or "every politician and CEO/big level exec" as you mention, but if Dutton's contention is true, it's above average, higher than the 4-5% in the general population.
Along with this, I think many (not all) politicians/big CEOs are so sheltered from the realities and routines of less prominent people, that they do lose touch with how most people live. They aren't completely alien life forms (although some would argue that point) and they still struggle with the same emotions as less affluent/politically power people (internal fears, worried about their children, parents, etc.), but they do lose touch with how people are struggling economically and in other practical ways (i.e. not having servers at their beck and call, not being "in charge" of everything and everybody but being ordered around by people like themselves, less autonomy, etc.) that affect their day-to-day quality of lives. This lack of being in touch and having at least somewhat of a lack of empathy that's brought on by a big ego from their rise to power fits a higher percentage of these people than less prominent people.
Their sometimes Machiavellian personality naturally tends to put an emphasis on making "hard decisions" to achieve some sort of grand plan for the world (at least that's in their minds) and they tend to discount feelings and hardships on individuals (i.e. that's just the cost of doing business) if it achieves that master plan (i.e. more profitable company, more formidable country, etc.). That is the bigger issue than the criminally insane sociopath, at least in the classic sense, that people think of when they hear the term sociopath.
Last edited by Jowel; 12-13-2015 at 07:29 AM..
Reason: To better clarify my point
Sociopaths tend to be nervous or agitated and are prone to emotional outbursts including fits of rage. More likely to be uneducated and on the fringes of society. So no I do not believe most politicians or business leaders are sociopaths.
Definitely. If there's a job application for having power over others and having a high chance of getting away with things they normally couldn't, that's like a magnet for sociopaths.
It's just accepted that politicians will lie and make shady deals for their own benefit, with no regard for how it affects the majority of people. They either have no conscience to begin with (sociopath), or they become corrupted by the power and do what they need to do to not lose it. It's very self-serving either way.
EDIT: I also think there are sociopathic business leaders, but at least they don't have permission to control people by force.
I have met quite a few very successful CEO's. Id say the answer is about half. Its hard to know for sure as one of the hallmarks is looking like you care for the image it creates. The one thing I can say is that the half number goes up rapidly the more successful they are. Being a sociopath seems like its a pretty good recipe for success if you meet other criteria. The best of them are excellent judges of risk vs reward.
Sociopaths tend to be nervous or agitated and are prone to emotional outbursts including fits of rage. More likely to be uneducated and on the fringes of society. So no I do not believe most politicians or business leaders are sociopaths.
And the more I looked at it, the more it really seems to correspond to how politicians and other big wigs such as CEOs and big execs of companies operate.
Neither seem to care about any laws or social mores if they want something, they have little issue disregarding the rights of others, they sure as hell don't feel remorse or guilt for those under them, and they sure don't have a problem using violent behavior; just look at all the wars politicians love to start.
I do wonder if every politician and CEO/Big level exec was given a through and comprehensive mental evaluation if they'd be deemed sociopaths.
As was said before, powerful positions in these hierarchical organizations are sociopath magnets because those occupations favor these sort of pathological characteristics and vice versa. While I'm not sure a majority of people in such positions are sociopathic, I'm certain sociopathy and psychopathy are vastly more common there than in the general population. You hit the hail on the head, and it's a fact that many more people should be aware of - so that we can use this knowledge to organize our societies to reduce the number of pathological individuals in powerful positions and to incentivize the pathologies that are there away from malevolent ends. This is the eternal challenge of political and organizational systems, and it's past time for us to collectively give renewed attention to the challenge.
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