Is your boss a psychopath?

[scAri]

I bet if we screened everyone on this forum for psychopathy we'd be highly impressed by the results.  

[Archon]

They could directly affect people if they were dangerous. CEO's can indirectly affect far more people than any cop could hope to.

First of all, anyone could affect more people than any cop would, if they were to do something drastic. Second of all, there is an extremely big difference. Cops and teachers work for the state. The rules change when working for the government, e.g. court martials vs. civilian courts.

[GorgonlaVacaTremendo]

Why not? We give such screenings to cops, doctors and teachers because of the harm they can inflict. They could directly affect people if they were dangerous. CEO's can indirectly affect far more people than any cop could hope to. From the perspective of how much damage can be caused to society, it is clear that CEO's are the most dangerous.

In reality, I'm willing to bet the motive behind such screenings is to make sure that people can't sue to state for mental incompetence in a law inforcer or a person that works for the state.

If buisinesses want to screen their employees, I'm all for that.  However, it is a buisinesses right to make their own rules and regulations about their employees.  Just like the state makes rules and regulations for their employees, buisinesses are allowed to do the same.  Just because somebody falls into money should not make them subject to whatever experiments we feel could benefit us unless they work for us.  Since we, the people, are not the bosses of the CEOs, it isn't our responsibility or right to tell them what they have to do to keep their jobs.  If somebody wins 43.2 million dollars in the lottery, that shouldn't make it everybody else's right to question whether or not they are fit to have the money.  It's theirs.  Just like a CEOs money is theirs, just like their job is, and it isn't our right to question such in such a audacious way as resorting to mob ruling that they need to be mentally fit to have their job.

If I own a McDonalds, I can't go to a Burger King employee and mandate that they take a drug test because they could do harm to a customer if they are influenced by drugs on the job.  Likewise, we pay for police officers, which makes us in charge, essentially.  It is our will, hopefully, as a society that makes the laws that they enforce, and they work for us.  CEO's do not work for us, we do not pay their salaries.  We may pay for goods that they sell us, but that is not the same thing.  We are not paying for their service as a CEO, we are paying for their goods.  Therefore, it is only their superior's right to mandate that they take a psychological test to meet certain criteria.

[42]

You know, when I went through my teacher screening, they never gave me a psychogical evaluation. All they did was run a background check and take my finger-prints.

It's kind of both unethical and illegal to discriminate against the mentally ill. Yes, someone could have psychopathic traits, but it doesn't mean that they are a psychopath. To actually be a psychopath, they have to commit psychopathic acts--as in go around killing people or have some other criminal record. Sure you could find out that a CEO shares a personality similar to a convicted psychopath, but you can't punish that CEO for something he or she hasn't done. Just being unempathetic, callous, and a overall jerk isn't illegal, and it doesn't mean that person has to be unethical and corrupt.

A lot of business's do run personality tests on canidates for positions. Mostly these are to see how well that inidividual will fit in with the existing workers. But personality tests have a lot of flaws and large percentages in error, and can often be easily fooled. Plus, a person personality changes throughout their lifetime. Basicly, once someone has a psychopathic personality, it doesn't mean they have always had that personality or that they always will have that personality.

The study can't affirmitively say that the CEOs studied had their psychopathic tendencies before they got the CEO position and that they didn't develop them while in the position.

[scAri]

In conclusion, yes. Your boss is indeed a psychopath.