Have you felt uncomfortable at work for a while now? Do you feel frustrated around your boss, do your hands shake and does your self-confidence drop? Do you often hear criticism and personal digs? If you recognise yourself in this, it is very likely that your boss is a psychopath. Want to find out for sure? Let’s take a closer look at the psychopath.
Table of contents
Definition, how to spot a psychopath
At first glance, a charismatic and successful middle-aged man who wears perfectly fitting clothes, owns a luxury car and has a modern office. This, too, can be what a psychopath looks like. This does not mean that all successful people are psychopaths, but among those at the very top of the career ladder, they are far from rare. Because of changes in their nerve structures, psychopaths react differently to danger. To put it loosely, they do not feel fear, which is an advantage in leadership positions.
Although most people associate the word psychopath with men, we cannot say that female psychopaths do not exist. The impression comes mainly from the fact that female psychopaths are talked about much less. The signs of psychopathy may also differ, and in women they show mainly as impulsive behaviour, an inability to plan ahead or verbal aggression.
🎓Did you know? Ana Sanz García, a psychology PhD student at the University of Madrid, analysed several studies and concluded that female psychopaths are less prone to violence than men. However, they are more likely to use manipulation.
A psychopath is a person who suffers from antisocial personality disorder. This is someone who cannot function in society with other people and maintain healthy long-term relationships with them. The most severe form of psychopathic personality disorder is so-called sociopathy, which is very often accompanied by aggressive behaviour towards others (for example, cruelty to animals). Sociopaths also lack consideration for other people, feel no shame or remorse and can be dangerous in tense situations.
🎓Did you know? Psychopathy is not an official diagnosis. In medicine, psychopaths are usually diagnosed with dissocial or asocial personality disorder.
Are psychopaths dangerous?
Only 25% of people with antisocial personality disorder are the dangerous psychopaths we know from crime news. In everyday life, we much more often come across psychopathy as an outdated term for what is now generally called a personality disorder, which besides antisocial disorder can also include milder forms such as narcissistic, paranoid, schizoid or borderline personality disorder.
As a rule, only an experienced psychologist can tell which type it is. Even experts, however, may struggle to make an exact diagnosis. It is not unusual for several kinds of psychological disorders to overlap in one person. Psychopathic personality traits and their degree can be tested with a diagnostic tool called the PCL-R, developed by the Canadian psychologist Robert Hare. A large part of the research data on psychopathy also comes from studies of imprisoned criminals, which may explain the cliché that a psychopath must show violent and criminal behaviour. Psychopaths are not necessarily murderers and criminals, though. On the contrary, most of them lead lives that look perfectly respectable at first glance.
🎓 Did you know? Criminal psychopaths make up roughly 20% of the psychopath population.
Sociopath profile, how does a sociopath differ from a psychopath?
The difference between a sociopath and a psychopath is that psychopathy is a psychological disorder caused by the underdevelopment of the part of the brain responsible for self-control and emotions, whereas sociopathy develops as a result of psychological or physical abuse and trauma. A person can therefore become a sociopath at any point in life due to social factors. These include, for example, poor family relationships, bullying, domestic violence, psychological abuse or deprivation.
Unlike a psychopath, a sociopath is also very often aware that they are treating the people around them badly, but they feel no remorse. Unlike psychopaths, sociopaths do feel emotions, even if only minimally. Psychopaths, by contrast, are completely emotionally empty, incapable of empathy and act only in their own interest. Both conditions can be seen as social dysfunction, which shows in communication and behaviour that destabilise and break down the social structure or individuals.
How can you tell you are dealing with a psychopath?
You probably won’t discover that you are facing a psychopath at your first meeting. At first, they will come across as a confident person who stands by their opinions and is willing to take certain risks to succeed. Later, however, you will start to notice that this person lacks compassion and pursues only their own goals and needs, regardless of the people around them. Grandiosity, the belief in one’s own exceptionality, is typical of psychopaths.
This is exactly why we find psychopathic spectrum disorders among successful people in senior positions. Their ability to view things from a distance and their complete lack of empathy allow them to use the people they need and heartlessly discard those who can no longer be of any use to them. A key feature of their personality is emotional emptiness, which allows them to lead a shallow life. This goes hand in hand with a need for constant excitement.
💡 Tip: Do you suspect your boss is a psychopath? Take an online test and find out whether your worries are justified.
A test to spot a psychopath
Scientists at Baylor University in Texas have found that a psychopath can be identified with a simple test. The test works like this: if someone nearby starts yawning, a psychopath will not respond. Yawning is linked to empathy for other people and a tendency to imitate, both of which a psychopath lacks.
How to spot a psychopath with the yawn test
Try yawning a few times while talking to the suspected psychopath. If after a while they do not start copying your behaviour, you may suspect that you are dealing with a person with psychopathic tendencies.
How can a psychopath manipulate you?
Psychopaths are masters of manipulation. They can win over almost anyone, and their victims often don’t realise for a long time that they are doing something against their will. We have picked the most common techniques psychopaths use.
Mobbing and bossing
At work, you may come across mobbing, referred to in Czech as psychological terror or workplace stress. The term covers all kinds of ways of making someone’s working life unpleasant, including manipulation by a superior or colleagues.
Another form of workplace bullying is bossing, where a superior bullies a subordinate. The superior tries to humiliate the subordinate or harm them in front of colleagues. They also make it difficult or impossible for the subordinate to do their work. Bossing and its signs also tend to escalate and become more intense over time.
The main signs of bossing may include:
- excessive checking of work tasks or attendance,
- arrogant behaviour, verbal insults, ridicule in front of colleagues,
- failure to appreciate work done and frequent unfair criticism,
- sexual harassment,
- threats of dismissal.
Vagueness and lies
Psychopaths are perfectly skilled with words and use this ability when lying and being vague, which makes them perfect liars. They try to convince us that they understand us and are similar to us. When lying, however, they often contradict themselves, which is easy to spot, especially when a psychopath is deceiving, for example, a whole team at work. So when talking to someone you suspect of psychopathy, pay attention to details. A manipulative psychopath tries to find out as much as possible about their victim, which may later help them manipulate. Lying is one of the methods they use to get this information.
A manipulator uses vagueness and unclear language mainly to avoid being cornered and exposed, to make themselves seem important and give people the impression that they know everything better than others, or to belittle the person they are talking to.
Reminding you that you are easily “replaceable”
No matter how hard we try, there will always be someone who is better than us at something, or at least has the same talents. Competition is what motivates us, and if a competitive environment is based on fair and equal conditions for everyone involved, there is nothing wrong with it.
However, the situation can turn around when management deliberately tries to intimidate you with the idea that they could replace you with someone else at any time. If you know you are doing your job to the best of your ability, you should not let this manipulation throw you off balance. There are many ways to improve employees’ qualifications or to point out that they are not meeting the requirements of their role. However, threats or turning employees against each other should never happen.
Insecurity and uncertainty
A person who is in a state of uncertainty is more vulnerable than someone who knows exactly what lies ahead. A manipulator creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and mystery absolutely everywhere, even where it is not necessary.
They may withhold important information from you under the pretext that it is strictly internal data. They do not respect your time. They let their employees work unpaid overtime. They arrive late for meetings, or simply do not turn up at all or cancel meetings at the last minute. If you work shifts, a psychopathic boss may change your schedule overnight, or cancel or add hours.
All these things make you feel insecure and inevitably reduce your resilience to the psychopath’s aggressive outbursts. Very often, a psychopathic boss may control their subordinates by delaying pay dates or through the absence of a fixed salary.
What to do if your boss is a psychopath
Have you come across someone at work who shows psychopathic traits? If so, pay close attention to what follows!
Do not act like a victim!
Psychopathic leaders crave power and are driven by the need to control weaker individuals. A tiger will not chase a doe that can nimbly leap out of its hungry claws. But it will gladly sink its teeth into the neck of a weakened or disoriented animal trailing at the back of the herd. Do not be weak, and do not let yourself be caught and eaten!
Not letting yourself be controlled does not mean you have to be arrogant or pay your boss back in kind. It is, however, wise to be able to defend yourself in good time and in a constructive way, and to back everything up with accurate data and figures. Show that you know what you are doing and that you can stand up for your opinion.
Do not deal with a psychopath on your own
Another way to defend yourself against a psychopathic manager is to seek out colleagues who have found themselves in the same situation as you. Among them, there may be people who also disagree with the boss’s behaviour and have also realised they are dealing with a psychopath, but for some reason are afraid to act alone. If you join forces with your co-workers, you have a better chance of winning the fight with the psychopath, or at least leaving the battlefield with minimal losses.
When communicating directly with your manager, do not act hastily, and ask more experienced colleagues for advice. People in your team have been working in these conditions for longer and could give you valuable tips on how to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
🗣️ Phillipe Breton: “We need to warn others, share our own doubts with them and find out whether the suspected manipulator has treated them in a similar way. The aim is not to be left alone with it, because if that person really is guilty, the group will very soon start to isolate them in self-defence.”
Do not be tempted by offers that seem too good to be true
This rule should apply as early as when you are choosing a job. Are they promising you the earth, lots of benefits and trips abroad to the Maldives? Before you accept the offer, think about why nobody has taken such an attractive offer before you, and try checking out the company on online platforms such as Atmoskop. The same rule applies to a sudden pay rise or promotion in exchange for selling your soul to the devil.
Change jobs
If the situation at work under a psychopathic boss seems unbearable even though you are trying to fight back against their behaviour, consider changing jobs or asking for a transfer to another branch. Working alongside a psychopath can do great damage not only to you but also to the whole company.
How to build good relationships at work
Relationships with colleagues have a direct impact not only on your professional success and performance but also on your mood. Good relationships at work can make the time you spend there more pleasant, and since you spend roughly a third of your life at work, you may spend more time with your colleagues than with your own family.
If you want to feel comfortable at work, mutual respect and a sense of togetherness across the whole team are important. After all, putting together a good team is the be-all and end-all of good relationships. It is also important to set rules that co-workers will stick to. Every employee must know what is acceptable at work and what crosses the line and might bother other colleagues.
Tips for better working relationships:
- Keep work relationships separate from personal ones,
- Stay out of conflicts and do not start them unnecessarily,
- Set aside enough time to build relationships,
- Build trust,
- Praise your colleagues,
- Be empathetic and show interest in your colleagues,
- Be proactive and encourage cooperation with others.
