I've been wondering for years when someone would get around to this: testing for psychopathic behavior in corporate executives. Well, Michael Steinberger tells us that it's finally happening. Steinberger has a short piece on this subject in the The New York Times.
Here's about two-thirds of the entire article:
Ever wonder what leads a lavishly compensated C.E.O. to cheat, steal and lie? Perhaps he's a psychopath, and now there is a test, the B-Scan 360, that can help make that determination. The B-Scan was conceived by Paul Babiak, an industrial psychologist, and Robert Hare, the creator of the standard tool for diagnosing psychopathic features in prison inmates. The B-Scan is the first formalized attempt to uncover similar tendencies in captains of industry, and it speaks to a growing suspicion that psychopaths may be especially adept at scaling the corporate ladder.
Indeed, Babiak and Hare could not have chosen a more propitious moment to roll out the B-Scan, which is now in the trial stage. The recent rash of damaging corporate scandals—combined with legislation making boards far more liable for executive malfeasance—has given companies good reason to screen current employees more rigorously.
According to Babiak and Hare, white-collar psychopaths are not apt to become serial rapists or murderers. Rather, they are prone to being 'subcriminal' psychopaths: smooth-talking, energetic individuals who easily charm their way into jobs and promotions but who are also exceedingly manipulative, narcissistic and ruthless. The purpose of the B-Scan is to smoke out these "snakes in suits."
[. . .]
[Babiak and Hare] point out that the frenzied nature of modern business—the constant downsizing, the relentless merging and acquiring—provides a very fertile environment for havoc-wreaking psychopaths, who thrive on chaos and risk-taking. As Hare put it in one interview, "If I couldn't study psychopaths in prison, I would go down to the Stock Exchange."
For more information on the B-Scan 360, go to www.b-scan.com or www.corporatepsychopath.com.
More: Go to this post for a few of my thoughts on Hare's Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us.