Which professions have the most psychopaths?

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Both.

I predicted lawyer to be #1 before I looked at the list. CEO is just fine as well though.

Most lawyers are complete as*holes with no compassion. All they care about is winning. This is completely obvious and really doesn't even warrant discussion. They care more about following rules and making money than serving justice. Lawyers who sometimes feel bad about what they do are the exception. They have a conscience but are in the wrong field and should get out.

Surprised about surgeons and chefs though.

Lol. Just thought I'd point this comment out.

I think it is pretty funny.

And no, I do not agree with Fnord. But I think this comment deserves to be pointed out.

Im surprised mail man wasnt listed there!

Actually, it is not just for laughs.

Here are the psychopathy traits from the current PCL-R (Psychopathy Check-List Revised)

Facet 1: Interpersonal
Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Pathological lying
Conning/manipulative

Facet 2: Affective
Lack of remorse or guilt
Emotionally shallow
Callous/lack of empathy
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

Facet 3: Lifestyle
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Parasitic lifestyle
Lack of realistic, long-term goals
Impulsivity
Irresponsibility

Facet 4: Antisocial
Poor behavioral controls
Early behavioral problems
Juvenile delinquency
Revocation of conditional release
Criminal versatility

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopath ... _Checklist

Some of the Affective (Facet 2) traits are actually useful for people have to make tough decisions on a daily basis (like CEO's and surgeons)... And you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out why Facet 1 traits might be useful for a lawyer. Psychopaths are also more likely to be risk-takers, which is an attractive (and necessary) trait in may business situations.

The problem with psychopaths becomes obvious when you look at all traits combined, however. These people tend to be... troublemakers.

Sounds exactly like a politician to me.

Sounds like a Televangelist.

Wouldn't politician fall under the category of civil servant? That must be what kept them from being #1 and dragged the other civil servants into the muck.

I sense the clergy I grew up around probably weren't psychopaths for the most part. The academic requirements & workload are really rigorous to become one in my denomination. It's a lot of thankless work. In some parts where you can easily get behind a pulpit & aren't scrutinized as closely, that's probably more up a psychopath's alley.

Whoever made that list probably didn't consider politician a career, most of them start out as lawyers.
Politicians certainly don't consider themselves "civil servants", in their minds, they are "civil masters" who know better than the unwashed masses.

Investment banker has to come out on top. City and Wall Street types all subscribe to the "greed is good" mentality and don't give a damn about screwing up the economy in their quest to line their pockets with millions.

The clergy in an interesting one. Around my way members of mosque committees show some psychopathic tendencies although imams do not.

Hey my dad's a postal worker and...

...okay, he's pretty crazy, but he's not psychopathic

I'm not surprised to see chef and surgeon on the list at all.

Firstly, cite please on the "most lawyers" part, as I highly doubt you can support that. Second, of course it's up for discussion, this is a discussion board, and you've made a naked assertion sans any facts or citations save your opinion, which doesn't count for much. Third, I don't think you understand how the legal profession works; lawyers are first and foremost paid advocates, and their job is to represent the best interests of their clients while navigating the rules of the legal system, not "serve justice" or other such nonsense. The whole point of a lawyer is that they'll do their best for you regardless of how they feel personalty, our entire legal system is built upon that premise. Prosecutor are supposed to pursue the truth and have a nasty habit of forgoing that in favor of pursuing high conviction rates, but that's a fairly specialized subset of the legal profession and hardly indicative of lawyers generally.

I wonder if there are any that are truly psychopathic.