There is a very large literature on the important role of psychopathy in the criminal justice system. We know much less about corporate psychopathy and its implications, in large part because of the difficulty in obtaining the active cooperation of business organizations. This has left us with only a few small-sample studies, anecdotes, and speculation. In this study, we had a unique opportunity to examine psychopathy and its correlates in a sample of 203 corporate professionals selected by their companies to participate in management development programs. The correlates included demographic and status variables, as well as in-house 360 degrees assessments and performance ratings. The prevalence of psychopathic traits-as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and a Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV) "equivalent"-was higher than that found in community samples. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that the underlying latent structure of psychopathy in our corporate sample was consistent with that model found in community and offender studies. Psychopathy was positively associated with in-house ratings of charisma/presentation style (creativity, good strategic thinking and communication skills) but negatively associated with ratings of responsibility/performance (being a team player, management skills, and overall accomplishments).

La plupart des recherches sur les psychopathes ont été conduites dans les hôpitaux et les prisons. L'article ci‐dessous propose l'analyse d'un psycho‐pathe en milieu industriel. La Check List Psychopathique: Version sur Ecran (PCL:SV) fut utilisée pour évaluer la psychopathie en observant et en codant les comportements dans une situation d'emploi. Tandis que les précédentes recherches sur des populations psychopathiques dans des milieux cliniques ou carcéraux démontrent qu'elles mènent des vies ratées, cette étude de cas présente un psychopathe industriel ayant atteint la réussite. Les psychopathes industriels possèdent les caractéristiques des personnalités psychopathes mais pas du tout la progression caractérisée du développement de comportement anti‐social et de style de vie déviant. Un modèle suggère que dans le contexte d'un changement chaotique et “souterrain”, ils utilisent leurs talents manipulateurs pour manoeuvrer avec succés les points‐de‐vues contra‐dictoires d'alliés et de déracteurs et déboucher sur des mouvements de carriére positifs. Most research on psychopaths has been conducted in hospitals or prisons. The present paper presents an analysis of a psychopath in an industrial setting. The Psychopath Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) was used to assess psychopathy by observing and coding behaviours observed in an employment situation. Although previous research on psychopathic populations in clinical and penal settings suggests that they lead unsuccessful lives, a case study is presented as an example of a successful industrial psychopath. Industrial psychopaths display psychopathic personality characteristics but do not display the typical progression of increasing antisocial behaviour and deviant lifestyle. A model is presented which suggests that in the context of an organisation undergoing chaotic change they use their manipulation skills to effectively manage the discrepant views of supporters and detractors, resulting in successful career movement.

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Psychopathy is a clinical construct defined by a cluster of personality traits and behaviors, including grandiosity, egocentricity, deceptiveness, shallow emotions, lack of empathy or remorse, irresponsibility, impulsivity, and a tendency to ignore or violate social norms. The majority of empirical research on psychopathy involves forensic populations most commonly assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), a 20-item rating scale that measures 4 related factors or dimensions (Interpersonal, Affective, Lifestyle, and Antisocial) that underpin the superordinate construct of psychopathy. Recently, researchers have turned their attention to the nature and implications of psychopathic features in the workplace. This research has been hampered by the lack of an assessment tool geared to the corporate/organizational world. Here we describe the B-Scan 360, an instrument that uses ratings of others to measure psychopathic features in workplace settings. In this study, large samples of participants used an online survey system to rate their supervisors on the B-Scan 360. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a reliable 20-item, 4-factor model that is consistent with the PCL-R 4-factor model of psychopathy. Although more research is needed before the B-Scan 360 can be used in organizational settings, we believe that these results represent an important step forward in the study of corporate psychopathy.

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The B-Scan 360 is a relatively new, purpose-built measure of corporate psychopathy that addresses many of the issues inherent in studying psychopathy in organizations. The primary goal of the present study was to measure the relationship between employees' perception of psychopathic features in their supervisor and their rating of their supervisor on the Full-Range Model of Leadership. The second goal of the study was to test the B-Scan 360's factor structure and test its interrater reliability in an organizational sample. A total of 491 civic employees and 116 employees from a branch of a large financial company completed the B-Scan 360 as well as the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire on their direct supervisor. The B-Scan 360 and all of its four factors were positively correlated with passive leadership (Laissez-Faire leadership) and negatively correlated with positive leadership (both Transactional and Transformational leadership). Furthermore, results revealed the same four-factor structure and good interrater reliability for the B-Scan 360 in this business sample as previously reported for a general population. Overall, the results provide additional support for the B-Scan 360 as a measure of psychopathic traits in corporate settings.

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