Some people simply work best under the stress of a demanding, even ‘abusive’ boss – and, for those of whom this rings true, you just might be a psychopath.

A new study has found that people who have higher levels of psychopathy tend to benefit and flourish under supervisors who often behave in problematic ways.

Researchers say the findings highlight a troubling trend in the workforce, in which those better at coping with abusive bosses have a better shot at success compared to those who don't, thus perpetuating the cycle of negativity.

A new study conducted by an international team of researchers has found that people who have higher levels of primary psychopathy tend to benefit and flourish under supervisors who often behave in problematic ways. Stock image

The international team of researchers conducted two studies, analyzing the responses of 419 working adults.

Respondents were also assessed for varying levels of psychopathy.

‘There are primary and secondary dimensions of psychopathy,’ says Charlice Hurst, assistant professor of management in Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

‘Both consist of high levels of antisocial behaviour; however, people who score high in primary psychopathy lack empathy and are cool-headed and fearless.

‘They don’t react to things that cause other people to feel stressed, fearful or angry. Secondary psychopaths are more hot-headed and impulsive.'

In the first study, they asked participants to react to profiles of managers depicted as either constructive or abusive.

This revealed there were no differences in anger reported by the participants with both high and low levels of primary psychopathy.

But, those higher in primary psychopathy noted happier feelings associated with the thought of working for an abusive boss.

The international team of researchers conducted two studies, analyzing the responses of 419 working adults. Respondents were also assessed for varying levels of psychopathy. Those higher in primary psychopathy reported more engagement under abusive bosses

In the second study, the participants rated their supervisors based on several traits, including rudeness, gossiping, improper credit for work, invasion of privacy, and breaking promises.

In similar results to the first test, those high in primary psychopathy reported feeling less angry, and more positive and engaged.

‘We found that primary psychopaths benefit under abusive supervisors,’ Hurst said.

‘Relative to their peers low in primary psychopathy, they felt less anger and more engagement and positive emotions under abusive supervisors.’

WOULD YOU KNOW HOW TO SPOT A PSYCHOPATH? Psychopaths display different traits depending on their disorder. Common signs include superficial charm, a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others and a lack of remorse and empathy. But despite the popular association, not all psychopaths become killers. Experts claim people usually find psychopaths intriguing, but can't put their finger on why. This is down to incongruous behaviour because psychopaths tend to do a lot of acting to deceive, or mimic normal reactions, sometimes changing their views and reactions quickly. For example, Self-professed psychopath Jacob Wells said that upon meeting someone, he tries to become 'the most interesting person they know' and presumably adopts suitable interests and responses to do this. His response also gives away another common trait - a grandiose notion of self-worth - in that he can be the most interesting person in the room. Psychopaths occasionally tend to exhibit unconvincing emotional responses, with slip-ups including tone of voice or body language. This may be because they are unable to understand emotions such as fear and love, but can mimic them. Psychopaths display different traits depending on their disorder, but common signs include superficial charm and the ability to manipulate others. Despite the popular association, not all psychopaths become killers (stock image) Generally psychopaths' 'emotions' are shallow and short-lived and there is a manipulative ulterior motive to showing them. For example, Mr Wells said he offers to do favours and tells false secrets to people to gain their complete trust. He also displays insincere charm - another trait associated with psychopaths. He says: 'I keep secrets, and tell them fake secrets to further gain their trust, and once they trust me enough, I ask for favours, reminding them of the favours I did them. I can get literally anything from them, which is incredibly useful.' Psychopaths typically display an incredible ability to manipulate others and sometimes take pleasure in doing so. Psychopaths often have an air of superiority about them, perhaps shown by Mr Wells' belief he can spot other psychopaths Even expert Dr Hare, who came up with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) used as a diagnostic tool to determine where someone lies on the psychopathy spectrum, warns that anyone can be duped during a short interaction with a psychopath. Advertisement

The findings shed light on some of the issues currently plaguing the workforce, the expert explains.

‘It may reward and retain exactly the kind of people who are likely to perpetuate abusive cultures,’ Hurst said.

‘Psychopaths thriving under abusive supervisors would be better positioned to get ahead of their peers.’

While some companies may see engagement as a sign of a healthy business, Hurst says the problem may be deeper.

‘If they have a problem of endemic abuse, like Wells Fargo, where former employees have reported that managers used tactics designed to induce fear and shame in order to achieve unrealistic sales goals – and upper-level managers are either unaware of it or are not taking action, they might notice increasing levels of engagement due to turnover among employees low in primary psychopathy,’ Hurst said.

‘At the extreme, they could engaged workforce of psychopaths.’