Psychopathy in the workplace

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Psychopathy in the workplace" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

While psychopaths typically represent a very small percentage of workplace staff, the presence of psychopathy in the workplace, especially within senior management, can do enormous damage.^[1] Indeed, psychopaths are usually most present at higher levels of corporate structure, and their actions often cause a ripple effect throughout an organization, setting the tone for an entire corporate culture. Examples of detrimental effects include increased bullying, conflict, stress, staff turnover, absenteeism, and reduction in both productivity and social responsibility.^[2] Ethical standards of entire organisations can be badly damaged if a corporate psychopath is in charge.^[3] A 2017 UK study found that companies with leaders who show "psychopathic characteristics" destroy shareholder value, tending to have poor future returns on equity.^[4]

Academics refer to psychopaths in the workplace individually variously as workplace psychopaths, executive psychopaths, corporate psychopaths, business psychopaths, successful psychopaths, office psychopaths, white-collar psychopaths, industrial psychopaths, organizational psychopaths or occupational psychopaths.^[5] Criminal psychologist Robert D. Hare coined the term "snakes in suits" as a synonym for workplace psychopaths.^[6]