Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Break Down Which Professions Attract The Most Psychopaths

People Break Down Which Professions Attract The Most Psychopaths
Photo by Isai Ramos on Unsplash

Ever since watching Christian Bale tear his way through sex workers, homeless people, and even some of his own coworkers, I've been convinced that people working on Wall Street are psychopaths. Reading American Psycho for myself only entrenched me in this thought process further.

Okay, not entirely, but the 2008 recession didn't help matters.

After Redditor newaccountwhodis asked the online community, "What careers or jobs attract the most psychopaths?" people weighed in with their experiences.


"It included..."

There's been a study on this. It included corporate executives but also surgeons and chefs (both of whose work tends not to require not much actual socialization, or at least only with subordinates, not customers who have to be greeted pleasantly).

Poorly_Drawn_Beagle

"It's known..."

Sales. It's known that psychopaths excel in sales because they do whatever they can to get ahead, learned about it in Psych in my undergrad and it always stuck with me.

Mr_get_the_cream

"The higher you advance..."

Banking. The higher you advance in the hierarchy, the less empathy you have. Exponentially.

sedsiv

"To get away with..."

One career that doesn't immediately come to mind but makes a ton of sense when you think about it is charity worker, especially if you get to management.

What do psychopaths want? To get away with abusing power over others. What better way to do that then to surround yourself with powerless people who desperately need whatever the charity is providing, and typical charity workers that are extremely helpful, caring people who are most inclined to want to see the good in others.

I have a friend with PTSD from being abused by his boss and being forced to witness his boss abuse the people who needed the charity while working at a nonprofit, and his therapist told him his story is surprisingly common.

Hautamaki

"I'm talking about..."

Government management

And I'm not talking about politicians. I'm talking about your department managers and execs. I've worked for some insane people.

jenskal

"I've had a number of interviews..."

I'm going into the aerospace industry as an engineer soon and I feel like a lot of those engineers who work for defense companies building weapons that kill people are just different. I've had a number of interviews with defense industry people and every time the interviewer puts me off with the ways they describe their work building bombs and missiles and s*** that definitely blow up human beings. Maybe it's the way they always frame it as "supporting the warfighter" and how their products are "innovative kill chain technologies" and s***. I would bet money that the defense industry has a measurably higher rate of psychopaths.

xthatguy339x

"I have worked with people..."

Overseas military contractors. I have worked with people that I swear had bodies in their basements or people tied up down there.

EastBayRae

"They're generally useless..."

Middle management. They're incompetent jerks that can't make it to actual positions of power, they sit and tread in their little puddle of victory. They're generally useless and have no real use other than being a toilet for upper management.

Evisceration_Station

"If you ever wonder..."

No bankers? Man, these guys always slip under the radar.

If you ever wonder why the U.S. government and economy is a cruel, rigged mess, it's bankers, they're major shareholders in every public company and major creditors to the rest... every major political decision goes through them. They are the system.

myspaceshipisbroken

"I'm not sure..."

Nurses. I'm not sure if it's because people just want the pay or what but nurses can be so evil. Like the ones beating on old people and s***.

"The real investment banking..."

Investment banking. The real investment banking, not retail bankers. The bankers who will screw your mother for a penny, and advise your pension fund to liquidate and file for bankruptcy so he can get paid to go on his best friend's stag-do.

wetug

"One just recently..."

Lying, cruel, misogynistic, arrogant, nationalistic, brutish, con-artist, fake billionaires, with dreams of becoming POTUS. One just recently achieved that goal.

PastCar7

"I can confidently say..."

I would say nursing and then teaching hands down. I can confidently say that this comes from a place of experience.

Taraybian

"Seriously."

Management.

Seriously. Most managers are diagnosable psychopaths.

HotDogManRidesAgain

"Sales is a job..."

Sales is a job that requires changing one's personality to mirror the potential buyer which is a trait of psychopaths.

MargotWakefield

"You need to make a decision on the fly..."

Politics. Psychopaths actually excel in politics. You need to make decision on the fly, some of which can possibly hurt others. Empathy is not a strong suit in politics. You cant be thinking of everyone.

A_nubiz

"Almost every murder mystery..."

Hedge fund trading, maybe? Almost every murder mystery I've watched where there's a hedge fund trader involved has turned out to be a psychopath of sorts.

DemonCyborg64

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Dr. Sandra Lee
TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle/YouTube

'Dr. Pimple Popper' Star Reveals She Suffered Stroke While Filming Series: 'I Had A Part Of My Brain That Died'

It's already scary to witness a younger person go through a life-changing medical diagnosis, but it's especially jarring to see a medical professional, who presumably knows best about how to care for themselves, go through the same.

Sandra Lee, known as "Dr. Pimple Popper" on Lifetime, is well-known for her bedside manner, medical knowledge and ability to share her knowledge in an accessible way, and, of course, her unique approach to dermatological care.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rob Schneider; Elizabeth Banks
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images; Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Rob Schneider Dragged For Criticizing Elizabeth Banks' 'Dangerous Rhetoric' After She Called Out White Female Trump Voters

After actor and filmmaker Elizabeth Banks—who played Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games—called out white women who voted for President Donald Trump, MAGA actor Rob Schneider lashed out against what he referred to as her "dangerous rhetoric."

Those who've read the book and seen the film adaptation of The Hunger Games know that Trinket—known for joyfully announcing, "Happy Hunger Games and the odds may be ever in your favor!"—is a mistress of propaganda for a hostile government that forces teenagers to fight to the death every year to intimidate critics and keep society's poorest and most vulnerable in line. Trinket eventually embraces the rebellion.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kid Rock
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Kid Rock Dragged After Offering Massive Discount To His MAGA Festival Due To Abysmal Ticket Sales

Musician Kid Rock has hitched his wagon to president Donald Trump for quite some time now, and it seems he too is in the "find out" stage of that particularly exercise in FAFO.

It seems that when the president you form your entire personality around craters to a catastrophic approval rating even for him, your ship starts to sink too.

Keep ReadingShow less
Dan Driscoll; Tammy Duckworth
Cheriss May/Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Army Secretary Sparks Outrage After Shutting Down Army Social Media Accounts For Honoring Tammy Duckworth's Military Service

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is facing heavy criticism after he ordered that all accounts associated with the Army unit "Soldier for Life" (SFL) be shut down after the unit shared a post on social media celebrating Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth's military service.

Duckworth is a double amputee who lost both of her legs in combat in 2004 when her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Tom Homan; Pope Leo XIV
Fox News; Vatican Media/Vatican Pool - Corbis/Getty Images

Trump's Border Czar Ripped For Hypocrisy After Telling Pope Leo To 'Stay Out Of Politics'

President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan was called out for hypocrisy after telling Pope Leo XIV to "stay out of politics" after he clashed with Trump over the widely unpopular war in Iran.

Last week, Pope Leo criticized the war and called on the world "to reject war, especially a war which many people have said is an unjust war, which is continuing to escalate and is not resolving anything."

Keep ReadingShow less