A PSYCHOLOGIST has revealed the top ten professions with the most psychopaths - and there are some surprising entries at the top of the list.

Kevin Dutton, a psychologist at Oxford University's Department of Experimental Psychology, revealed these results after conducting an extensive survey into psychopathic behaviour.

3 People working in the police force are more likely to be psychopaths than most other professions Credit: Alamy

And the 'Great British Good Psychopath Survey' yielded some unusual results after testing thousands of Brits for the characteristics associated with being a "good" psychopath.

These traits include extreme self-confidence, egocentricity, charm and fearlessness, with the coldness of a person's heart also indicating whether they could be a psychopath.

Related Stories Killer professions! Farming, architecture, IT and seven other jobs where people are most likely to take their own lives PROMZILLAS AND PROUD Meet the pre-teens spending thousands on their proms Travel Alert Should you still go ahead with your holiday to Turkey after last night's attempted coup? WOMEN'S BBC WOE Females fail to get top jobs at Beeb as they lack confidence, claims boss Double jobbing What do the cast of Gogglebox REALLY do for work in real life when they're not watching telly?

Whilst CEOs and lawyers come in at the top, people working in media or sales jobs are also more likely to have psychopathic traits, with surgeons also taking an alarmingly high spot on the list.

The top ten professions with the most psychopaths can be seen below:



1. CEO

2. Lawyer

3. Media (TV/Radio)

4. Salesperson

5. Surgeon

6. Journalist

7. Police Officer

8. Clergyperson

9. Chef

10. Civil Servant

3 Lawyers take one of the top spots in the list of professions with the most psychopaths Credit: Alamy

The psychopathic traits tested for are mostly characteristics which we associate with success - but that doesn't mean you need to be unhinged to get ahead.

In fact, people with these traits are likely to be less successful at these jobs than their colleagues, meaning they earn less money than others working in the same role.

3 Being a good psychopath may get you ahead, but it's unnerving to think that lots of surgeons have psychopathic tendencies Credit: Alamy

Meanwhile, these traits are likely to impact on your relationships with others, meaning your out-of-work life could take a hit as a result of your difficult personality.

Whilst high-paying jobs such as CEOs and lawyers feature at the top of this list, the psychopaths in this profession make for worse employees, even though the jobs are magnets for people with psychopathic personalities.