• One Out Of Every Ten Wall Street Employees Is A Psychopath, Say Researchers
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[table] [tr] [td][QUOTE]Maybe Patrick Bateman wasn't such an outlier. One out of every 10 Wall Street employees is likely a clinical psychopath, writes journalist Sherree DeCovny in an upcoming issue of the trade publication CFA Magazine (subscription required). In the general population the rate is closer to one percent. "A financial psychopath can present as a perfect well-rounded job candidate, CEO, manager, co-worker, and team member because their destructive characteristics are practically invisible," writes DeCovny, who pulls together research from several psychologists for her story, which helpfully suggests that financial firms carefully screen out extreme psychopaths in hiring. To be sure, typical psychopathic behavior runs the gamut. At the extreme end is Bateman, portrayed by Christian Bale, in the 2000 movie "American Psycho," as an investment banker who actually kills people and exhibits no remorse. When health professionals talk about "psychopaths," they have a broader range of behavior in mind. A clinical psychopath is bright, gregarious and charming, writes DeCovny. He lies easily and often, and may have trouble feeling empathy for other people. He's probably also more willing to take dangerous risks -- either because he doesn't understand the consequences, or because he simply doesn't care. An appetite for risk can seem like a positive business trait on Wall Street, where big gambles sometimes lead to big rewards. But for the people DeCovny is talking about, the outcomes matter less than the gambles themselves -- and the chemical rush of serotonin and endorphins that accompanies them. This is hardly the first time that mental illness has been equated with a certain capacity for professional success -- especially in the financial sector, where some stock traders have actually scored higher than diagnosed psychopaths on tests that measure competitiveness and attraction to risk. Some psychologists have long claimed that the qualities that make for a high-achieving politician or stockbroker are also the same traits that psychopaths have in abundance. Other researchers generalize it to bosses as a species, saying that about 4 percent of all executives are psychopaths -- and that their relative lack of scruples is what helps them excel in business. At the same time, the fast-moving, high-pressure environment of Wall Street probably compromises the mental health of some of its employees. A recent study found that many young bankers develop alcoholism, insomnia, eating disorders and other stress-related ailments within just a few years on the job. Stockbrokers have also been shown to experience clinical depression at a rate more than three times as high as the general population. DeCovny writes that for someone with a "latent" compulsive gambling problem, a job trading stocks can trigger pathological responses that send the person into an escalating pattern of lies, debts and even embezzlement and fraud. A person with this problem would feel gratified by an enormous loss, because of the way their brain's reward system works -- which DeCovny says may explain the activities of such notorious rogue traders as Kweku Adoboli, Jerome Kerviel and Nick Leeson, three men who gambled and lost the combined equivalent of $10.3 billion for their respective institutions over the past 17 years.[/QUOTE][/td] [td][IMG]https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/416833_372829829411931_196601040368145_1407868_1545809800_n.jpg[/IMG][/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][IMG]http://i.huffpost.com/gen/515584/thumbs/s-WALL-STREET-PSYCHOPATH-large.jpg[/IMG][/td] [td]Very old quote not from source[/td] [/tr] [/table] Pictured: Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a Wall Street investment banker and psychopath. Researchers believe as many as 10 percent of people in the financial industry may exhibit the traits of clinical psychopathy. [URL="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/28/wall-street-psychopaths_n_1307168.html"]Source 1[/URL] [URL="http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-28/wall_street/31106457_1_psychopath-wall-street-psychologist"]Source 2[/URL] Not too surprising considering this has been suggested for a long time now
This explains everything
[B]I'm going to cut you[/B][sub]r prices in half with a 50% bonus for all employees[/sub]
[quote]where some stock traders have actually scored higher than diagnosed psychopaths on tests that measure competitiveness and attraction to risk.[/quote] That's like saying "stock traders score higher than Gaddafi did on a test and you know he was bad so they must be too!" of course they're highly competitive and risk takers it's part of their job.
Well, corporations are psychopaths, so it's only a logical suite.
Is it just me or does anyone else find this sort of article formatting annoying [img]http://imgkk.com/i/2amd.png[/img]
A bit unfair to say i think..but i am convinced many of them have their own view on how the world works.
I thought everyone knew this
This has been known for a while, cracked.com ran article on it.
[QUOTE=sami-pso;34965523]A bit unfair to say i think..but i am convinced many of them have their own view on how the world works.[/QUOTE] you can say that for literally any person on the planet
[video=youtube;yIwa5Ek1M_0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIwa5Ek1M_0[/video]
"I think the article was right all along." [img]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30693265/Reaction/no%20it%20can%27t%20be.jpg[/img]
[QUOTE=MountainWatcher;34965539]This has been known for a while, [b]cracked.com ran article on it.[/b][/QUOTE] Lol
What movie is all these Christian Bale images from? Never figured it out.
[QUOTE=VOSK;34965793]What movie is all these Christian Bale images from? Never figured it out.[/QUOTE] The dark knight
[QUOTE=VOSK;34965793]What movie is all these Christian Bale images from? Never figured it out.[/QUOTE] American Psycho.
1 out of 2 things in the OP have extreme jpeg compression, say "experts" [QUOTE=codemaster85;34965817]The dark knight[/QUOTE] dude, it's not cool to lie to people Vosk, it's from Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
But... aren't 1 out of every 13 people psychopaths already? 1 out of 10 doesn't sound like a huge difference from the general populace. I'm sure I'm wrong, it's just something I read in Science Illustrated. I'm sure they have a slightly different bondry for the term 'psychopath' then the gentlemen in the OP.
[QUOTE=King Tiger;34965772]Lol[/QUOTE] [url]http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/08/26/corporate.psychopaths/index.html[/url] [url]http://www.cracked.com/article_19300_the-5-weirdest-things-that-control-global-economy.html[/url] Are you gonna bash on cnn?
Only one out of ten? I expected it to be higher than that.
I thought it was a job requirement.
I'll have you know that in American Psycho it never solidly confirmed that he actually did all those things, but just fantasised about them.
[quote]Stockbrokers have also been shown to experience clinical depression at a rate more than three times as high as the general population.[/quote] I'd be depressed too if I was the personification of everything wrong in the world.
[QUOTE=fishyfish777;34965519]Is it just me or does anyone else find this sort of article formatting annoying[/QUOTE] One word per line on a phone, pretty annoying.
[QUOTE=MountainWatcher;34966475][url]http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/08/26/corporate.psychopaths/index.html[/url] [url]http://www.cracked.com/article_19300_the-5-weirdest-things-that-control-global-economy.html[/url] Are you gonna bash on cnn?[/QUOTE] CNN becomes more of a joke everyday
Makes sense, you have to balance the risks of your action with the possible results, in a precise and quick manner of timing. Sounds like the thinking of a psychopath I guess, the robotic efficiency with little care on extraneous stuff.
[QUOTE=Dysgalt;34967419]Makes sense, you have to balance the risks of your action with the possible results, in a precise and quick manner of timing. Sounds like the thinking of a psychopath I guess, the robotic efficiency with little care on extraneous stuff.[/QUOTE] That, and a complete disregard for the well-being of anyone but your self plus seeing others as tools and not people.
Why do people not like Wall Street Employees? It seems to be an unnatural hatred.
Sounds like they're describing sociopaths, rather than psychopaths.
[QUOTE=Pantz76;34969666]Why do people not like Wall Street Employees? It seems to be an unnatural hatred.[/QUOTE] Because of the rampant corruption, despicable business practices and the extreme amounts of political control exerted by corporations. A lot of it seems to be generalizing though.
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