Lawyers are the second most "psychopathic" profession in the world after CEOs, according to Kevin Dutton's book "The Wisdom of Psychopaths."
In his book, Dutton interviews a cold-hearted lawyer who embodies psychopathic tendencies.
Click here to see if you're a psychopath >
"Deep inside me there's a serial killer lurking somewhere," the young attorney told him. "But I keep him amused with cocaine, Formula One, booty calls, and coruscating cross-examination."
The phenomenon of psychopathy is so enticing that British journalist also Jon Ronson wrote a book on the psychopaths in our midst.
"I think my book offers really good evidence that the way that capitalism is structured really is a physical manifestation of the brain anomaly known as psychopathy," says Ronson, author of "The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry" in an interview with Forbes.
"Basically, high-scoring psychopaths can be brilliant bosses but only ever for short term ... they always want to make a killing and move on," Ronson says.
But how similar are high-powered (psychopathic) executives to the average Joe?
Armed with psychologist Robert Hare's widely used psychopath diagnostic tool, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), Ronson explored the world of mental health and criminal profiling to understand what makes some people psychopaths.
Want to know where you fall on the list?
Take the psychopathy test and find out. Each of the items in the test is scored on a three-point scale: A value of 0 is assigned if the item does not apply, 1 if it applies somewhat, and 2 if it fully applies.
Keep track of the items that best describe you and read on for the results.
And don't worry if you score too high. Dutton's book argues that society actually couldn't function without psychopaths.
You have glibness and superficial charm. [See scoring rubric below. Keep a tally and we'll tell you at the end if you're a psychopath.]
Does not apply: 0 points
Applies somewhat: 1 point
Fully applies: 2 points
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Does not apply: 0 points
Applies somewhat: 1 point
Fully applies: 2 points
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Does not apply: 0 points
Applies somewhat: 1 point
Fully applies: 2 points
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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