Working With a Psychopath: Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel?

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211058957
• Published date: 01 November 2022
• Date: 01 November 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X211058957

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2022, Vol. 66(15) 1726 –1751

© The Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X211058957

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Article

Working With a Psychopath:

Is There Light at the End of

the Tunnel?

Jayme Stewart1, Adelle Forth1,

and Janelle Beaudette2

Abstract

Having a supervisor with psychopathic characteristics is related to being bullied, poorer

job satisfaction, work/family life conflict, financial instability, and distress. To date, all

research on corporate psychopathy victims considers how they are negatively impacted

rather than potential positive outcomes. In response, this study examined how working

with a psychopath impacts posttraumatic growth (PTG). Utilizing a mixed-methods

approach, this study draws upon the experiences of 285 individuals who have worked

with a colleague or supervisor with alleged psychopathic characteristics. Results indicated

that approach coping and psychopathic characteristics predicted PTG. Qualitative

analyses revealed that the majority of participants used various coping strategies (e.g.,

emotion-focused), received support (e.g., emotional), and underwent post-experiential

growth or learning (e.g., positive personal growth); not all growth/learning was positive,

however (e.g., less trusting). Results suggest that cultivating approach-focused coping

strategies may enhance PTG following a traumatic event.

Keywords

corporate psychopathy, psychopathy, victimization, posttraumatic growth, resiliency

Introduction

Psychopathy is a personality disorder comprised of a constellation of affective (e.g.,

callousness, lack of remorse), interpersonal (e.g., grandiose sense of self-worth,

manipulation), lifestyle (impulsivity, parasitic lifestyle), and antisocial (poor anger

1Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

2Public Safety Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Corresponding Author:

Jayme Stewart, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.

Emails: jayme.stewart@carleton.ca; jstewar@mail.ubc.ca

1058957IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X211058957International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyStewart et al.

research-article2021

Stewart et al. 1727

control, early behavioral problems; Hare, 1996; Hare & Neumann, 2008) characteris-

tics that is often associated with malevolent and socially malicious behaviors (Paulhus

& Williams, 2002). Over the last few decades, the role of psychopathy within mal-

adaptive behaviors such as delinquency and crime has been studied extensively, with

research demonstrating that psychopathic individuals are criminally versatile (e.g.,

engaging in frequent and diverse violent and non-violent crimes; Blackburn & Coid,

1998; Fix & Fix, 2015; Olver & Wong, 2006; Porter et al., 2001, 2009). More recently,

the notion of the “successful psychopath,” or one that has avoided maladaptive conse-

quences (e.g., arrests) and has obtained desirable outcomes in life (e.g., successful

employment; Benning et al., 2018), has become an avenue of research for many, where

researchers have predominately explored the effects of psychopathy in the workplace.

Most notably, research has considered how survivors of corporate psychopaths are

negatively impacted rather than any potential positive outcomes. In response, this

study examined how working with an alleged psychopath impacts posttraumatic

growth (PTG).

In a recent survey of over 5,000 companies worldwide, 47% indicated experi-

encing fraud within the past 24 months, with losses totaling $42 billion USD

(PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2020). Forty-three percent of those recounting losses of

$100 million USD were reported to be committed by middle or senior management,

and operations staff (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2020). Tepper et al. (2006) estimated

that in the United States, corporations lose approximately $23.8 billion annually due

to issues related to productivity or health care costs resultant from abusive supervisory

styles. Abusive leadership is related to decreases in creativity (Liu et al., 2012), perfor-

mance (Harris et al., 2007), job satisfaction, and organizational commitment (Tepper,

2000), while simultaneously related to feelings of distress (Tepper, 2000), increases in

work/family conflict (Tepper, 2000), and workplace deviance or job neglect (i.e.,

spending less time doing work and more time on non-work activities [e.g., breaks];

Lim, 2002; Mitchell & Ambrose, 2007; Tepper et al., 2008).

Across numerous mono-method studies using other-ratings of both psychopathic

characteristics and criterion-related outcomes (e.g., work-related behaviors/experi-

ences), in addition to employing varied measures of psychopathic characteristics (e.g.,

B-SCAN, Mathieu et al., 2013; Dirty Dozen, Jonason & Webster, 2010; Psychopathy

Measure—Management Research Version, Boddy, 2010), psychopathy in the work-

place has, unsurprisingly, demonstrated to be positively associated with abusive super-

visory styles (Boddy, 2011; Mathieu & Babiak, 2016) and appears to be a better

predictor of employee satisfaction and attitudes than supervisory style alone (Mathieu

& Babiak, 2015). Babiak et al. (2010) found that despite receiving poor management

or performance appraisals (e.g., being a team player, accomplishments) by their supe-

rior, psychopathic characteristics, as assessed by a rater trained in the Psychopathy

Checklist—Revised (Hare, 2003), were related to being perceived as having l eader-

ship potential. Spencer and Byrne (2016) reported that those with psychopathic char-

acteristics are more heavily represented in senior-ranking positions than lower-level

or entry positions. Certainly, given the myriad of negative characteristics often exhib-

ited and associated with psychopathy, the potential implications of employing an