--- title: Study: 1 in 25 Business Leaders May Be Psychopaths description: One in 25 bosses may be psychopaths — a rate that's four times greater than in the general population — according to research by psychologist... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7140452/study-1-in-25-business-leaders-may-be-psychopaths/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2011-09-20T20:20:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T10:48:18.904Z article:section: Health og:title: Study: 1 in 25 Business Leaders May Be Psychopaths og:description: One in 25 bosses may be psychopaths — a rate that's four times greater than in the general population — according to research by psychologist... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7140452/study-1-in-25-business-leaders-may-be-psychopaths/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd81e111ed26fe8d/698a9432db298741ea271e46/307_health_ceo_0921.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 307_health_ceo_0921 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Study: 1 in 25 Business Leaders May Be Psychopaths twitter:description: One in 25 bosses may be psychopaths — a rate that's four times greater than in the general population — according to research by psychologist... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd81e111ed26fe8d/698a9432db298741ea271e46/307_health_ceo_0921.jpg?branch=production&width=640&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Study: 1 in 25 Business Leaders May Be Psychopaths by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Sep 20, 2011 8:20 PM UTC  Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Sep 20, 2011 8:20 PM UTC One in 25 bosses may be psychopaths — a rate that’s four times greater than in the general population — according to [research](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20422644) by psychologist and executive coach [Paul Babiak](http://www.paulbabiak.com/index.html).more Babiak studied 203 American corporate professionals who had been chosen by their companies to participate in a management training program. He evaluated their [psychopathic traits](http://healthland.time.com/?N=0&Nty=1&p=0&cmd=tags&srchCat=TIME+Healthland&s=psychopath&x=0&y=0#ixzz1YUyjJv1w) using a version of the standard psychopathy checklist developed by Robert Hare, an expert in psychopathy at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Psychopaths, who are characterized by being completely amoral and concerned only with their own power and selfish pleasures, may be overrepresented in the business environment because it plays to their strengths. Where greed is considered good and profitmaking is the most important value, psychopaths can thrive. **LIST:** [Top 10 Worst Bosses](http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2025898%5F2025900%5F2025903,00.html) They also tend to be charming and manipulative — and in corporate America, that easily passes for leadership. But, as the U.K.’s _Guardian_ reported: --- > “” --- In fact, it can be hard spot the psychopath in any crowd (according to Hare, psychopaths make up 1% of the general population). They’re not all ruthless serial killers; rather, psychopaths who grow up in happy, loving homes might end up channeling their energies in a less violent way — say, by becoming a CEO. “Psychopaths really aren’t the kind of person you think they are,” Babiak said. **MORE:** [When You Go Hunting for Psychopaths, They Turn Up Everywhere](http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/03/mind-reading-when-you-go-hunting-for-psychopaths-they-turn-up-everywhere/) _Maia Szalavitz is a health writer at TIME.com. Find her on Twitter at_ [_@maiasz_](http://twitter.com/#%21/maiasz)_. You can also continue the discussion on TIME Healthland’s_ [_Facebook page_](http://www.facebook.com/TIMEHealthland) _and on Twitter at_ [_@TIMEHealthland_](http://twitter.com/#%21/TIMEHealthland)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7140452/study-1-in-25-business-leaders-may-be-psychopaths/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7140452/study-1-in-25-business-leaders-may-be-psychopaths/"},"headline":"Study: 1 in 25 Business Leaders May Be Psychopaths","datePublished":"2011-09-20T20:20:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T10:48:18.904Z","description":"One in 25 bosses may be psychopaths — a rate that's four times greater than in the general population — according to research by psychologist...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7140452/study-1-in-25-business-leaders-may-be-psychopaths/","keywords":["Management","bosses","Business"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd81e111ed26fe8d/698a9432db298741ea271e46/307_health_ceo_0921.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd81e111ed26fe8d/698a9432db298741ea271e46/307_health_ceo_0921.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"307_health_ceo_0921","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7140452/study-1-in-25-business-leaders-may-be-psychopaths/","name":"Study: 1 in 25 Business Leaders May Be Psychopaths"}}]}] ```