Researcher: Psychopaths gravitate to C-suite, journalism field

A psychologist ranked the 10 professions with the most and fewest psychopaths and based on the list PR people should be careful.

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

Turns out, your observation wasn’t too far off.

Psychopaths disproportionately gravitate towards the C-suite and the journalism field, according to psychologist and researcher Kevin Dutton in his book “The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success.”

The blog Barking Up the Wrong Tree—which is listed on the blog roll of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal—featured a list of the 10 professions with the most and the fewest psychopaths based on Dutton’s research.

The 10 fields with the most psychopaths are:

1. CEO
2. Lawyer
3. Media (TV/radio)
4. Salesperson
5. Surgeon
6. Journalist
7. Police officer
8. Clergyperson
9. Chef
10. Civil servant

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.