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The 10 professions with the most psychopaths

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Psychopaths are difficult to spot most of the time. They're not the "Jack the Ripper" caricatures you see in films or read about in books. Often, psychopaths appear normal, which makes them hard to identify.

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, someone with a psychopathic personality type is defined as having an inflated, grandiose sense of themself, and a knack for manipulating other people. But a diagnosis is rarely simple.

One thing psychopaths tend to have in common is the careers they go for. For example, you're likely to find a lot of them in leadership positions because of their ruthlessness, charisma, and fearlessness. They're very good at making snap decisions, but not so good at the empathetic professions like nursing or therapy.

Kevin Dutton, a British psychologist and writer, specialises in the study of psychopathy. In his book "The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success," he made a list of the types of jobs that attract the most psychopaths.

"Functional psychopaths," as Dutton calls them, "use their detached, unflinching, and charismatic personalities to succeed in mainstream society." In other words, psychopaths often live as normal people with a few traits that make them different.

Scroll down to see what the top 10 career choices for psychopaths are, ranked in ascending order by popularity.

10. Civil servant

Being a civil servant is the 10th most popular career choice for psychopaths, according to Dutton. In fact, in 2014, UK Government officials considered recruiting psychopaths specifically "to keep order," because they are "very good in crises" and have "no feelings for others, nor moral code, and tend to be very intelligent and logical."



9. Chef

Most psychopaths have no interest in harming others, so don't worry about the fact chefs have access to open flames and knives during their work day. Psychopaths thrive in chaos where other people may fail, which could be one reason they work so well in a hectic kitchen.



8. Clergy person

In a blog post for Psychology Today, FBI veteran Joe Navarro explains some of the reasons psychopathic people may go for a career in the Clergy. Among them are the fact religious organisations may provide a means for people to exploit others, while also giving legitimacy to their actions. Also, it is easy to make alliances, which can give manipulative people the upper hand in gaining access to sensitive information.



See the rest of the story at INSIDER

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