Michael Barry, a senior lecturer in industrial relations and sociology at the National College of Ireland, says some of the country’s business bosses display recognised psychopathic behaviour patterns.
According to his research, based on a similar study in America, up to 2% of the population is likely to be psychopathic or have strong psychopathic traits. He states that, of the consequent 39,000 potential psychopaths in Ireland, 500 are in prison and the rest live in open society.
Tell-tale signs include a thirst for money, power and status, as well as an ability to manipulate others. They are often charming, and are expert liars. He said: “People with these behaviour patterns will gravitate towards jobs that offer those things. The world of business often rewards people who have these traits, and common sense suggests that some are occupying high office.”
Barry’s research concludes that businesses are perfect playgrounds for psychopaths.
Professor Robert Hare of the University of British Columbia first looked at testing criminals for these sort of tendencies and created a test to determine an inmate’s condition. Later, with another academic, Paul Babiak, the model was applied to the business sector. The pair produced the B-Scan test, to be completed by an individual’s workmates and supervisor. A chief executive’s test would be conducted by his deputy or the next senior figure in the company.
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“Pyschopaths are social predators, and like all predators they look for feeding grounds,” said Hare. “Wherever you have money and power you will more than likely find them. They leave victims all over the place.”
Hare highlighted the former media mogul Robert Maxwell as somebody who exhibited a high number of the traits examined in the tests.
“The corporate psychopath is not one that immediately attracts attention,” said Babiak. “They often fit the profile of the perfect leader but behind the mask lies a dark side which is deceitful, manipulative and which bullies other people.”
Recent events prompted Barry to conduct his research. “With the level of corruption in both politics and business it is not inconceivable that people of this personality type have risen to positions of power and influence,” he said.
He declined to speculate on which Irish chief executives might exhibit classic signs of the condition.
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Some leading Irish businessmen welcomed the suggestion. Ben Dunne, the former supermarket magnate and health-club owner, said the test made sense. “There is nothing wrong in finding out whether or not people are capable of handling the pressures of high office. I go to a doctor to check my heart, so I see nothing wrong with having my brain checked too,” he said, adding, “he can do the test on me if he likes.”
Siobhan Corrigan, a post-doctoral fellow in the psychology department at Trinity College Dublin, said: “I would be strongly against sanity testing unless they were thoroughly researched and validated. One would also have to question the causal relationship. Maybe it is not so much that CEOs have psychopathic tendencies to start with but that the stress and pressure of the position induce such tendencies.”
A spokesman for Mary Harney, the tanaiste, said that there was no plan to make business chiefs sit sanity tests.
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