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PAE
In the workplace, at first a psychopath may seem
charming. But eventually you’ll likely find yourself
either questioning their motivations, or becoming a
victim of their destructive behaviour.
If any of these scenarios sound familiar, With their impulsive tendencies, psychopaths
you may have been dealing with someone are prone to telling lies for no particular reason
who has what psychologists term a “dark at all. If you find yourself in a group water-
personality.” These people score higher on cooler conversation and hear someone telling
three socially undesirable traits: narcissism, lies that don’t seem to serve any purpose,
psychopathy and Machiavellianism. you might have stumbled on a functional
psychopath.
Defining the dark personalities
Narcissists have the most familiar type of In the workplace, at first a psychopath may
dark personality. They aren’t shy about letting seem charming. But eventually you’ll likely find
you know exactly how highly they think of yourself either questioning their motivations,
themselves. At work, you might find the or becoming a victim of their destructive
narcissist bragging about their superior sales behaviour. Though they can be harder to
skills, even though their performance isn’t identify than narcissists with their nonstop
bragging, psychopaths’ egregious behaviour
much better than the average salesperson. tends to unmask them in the end.
Conservative estimates of narcissism in the
general population fall around 6.2%. Machiavellians are the most prevalent of the
dark personalities, estimated to be about
While narcissistic behaviour can be annoying,
it’s usually more tolerable than what the other 16% of the population. They get their name
two dark traits tend to serve up. from Italian Renaissance statesman Nicolo
Macchiavelli, who believed the ends could
Functional – meaning noncriminal – justify immoral means. Less annoying than
psychopaths are particularly disturbing. narcissists, less abrasive than functional
Psychologists estimate they comprise up to psychopaths, Machiavellians are more subtle
4% of the general population. Psychopaths in the pursuit of their agendas. They forge
have no qualms about exploiting others ahead regardless of ethical considerations.
for their own benefit. Stubbornly antisocial, Like lions, Machiavellians seem benevolent,
functional psychopaths generally have watching their prey from afar – until they
little empathy for others. They’re more strike. They’re adept at playing the long
concerned about “getting theirs” by any means game – it’s their stealth, patience and subtle
necessary. Psychopaths are quick to deflect manipulation that make them a particularly
blame and throw others under the bus, even if dangerous dark personality.
it means telling lies.
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