These are the 10 jobs most likely to attract psychopaths

Spotting a psychopath isn't as easy as the movies would make it out to be.

They aren't axe-wielding maniacs obsessed with murdering everyone, but are often more manipulative and controlling types of people.

There are ways of telling whether someone you work with or are dating is a psychopath - and according to psychologist and writer, Kevin Dutton there are ten professions in the world that lend themselves greatly to psychopathic tendencies.

In his book The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success Dutton lists ten jobs that he believes are the top career choices for psychopaths.

Civil servant

Dutton ranks civil servants as the tenth most popular career choice for psychopaths as they are good in crises and can keep order.

In addition, they have little feeling for anyone else, do not possess a moral code, have a high intellect and are logical.

In 2014, Jane Hogg, a scientific officer in the UK Home Office said the police should consider hiring psychopaths to help restore order.

It is... generally accepted that around one per cent of the population are psychopaths.

These are the people who could be expected to show no psychological effects in the communities which have suffered the severest losses.

Chef

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Psychopaths aren't considered people that are likely to harm or hurt anyone but they can work in high-pressure and chaotic environments.

Chefs are exactly the type of people that thrive in said scenarios, therefore, they tend to have psychopathic characteristics.

Clergy

This one may surprise you as you would often associate members of the clergy to be peaceful and kind people.

Yet psychopaths often like to find means to control and exploit others and what better way to do this than preaching to a room full of people every week?

This would give legitimacy to their actions and also allow them to form strong alliances with people and gain access to personal information.

Police

As we've already detailed, members of the Home Office once believed that psychopaths make for good police officers and Kevin Dutton thinks the same.

He ranks them as the seventh most popular career choice for a psychopath due to their ability to in an intense and dangerous job and being able to stay calm in a crisis.

Journalist

Uh oh! Yes, us journalists are on the list too.

Dutton believes that journalists ability to be charming, focused, mindful and ruthless in order to get the story they want and file it on time is a key psychopathic trait.

Surgeon

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There aren't many jobs that have more pressure on them than that of a surgeon. They literally have the future and lives of people in their hands.

A study by the Royal College of Surgeons in 2015 attempted to find out whether surgeons could be described as psychopaths due to the stress of their jobs.

The results showed that surgeons scored higher on the psychopath scale than the general public as they have to make quick and important decisions every single day.

Salesperson

To succeed a salesperson needs to show a level of shamelessness, relentless desire, stepping over others to get ahead and be an individual rather than a team player.

Those are all huge indicators as to whether someone is a psychopath and sales environments are great grounds for those traits to flourish.

Media

You probably never thought that the people you see and hear on the radio and television every day are psychopaths but to work in those jobs they do need to have a level of narcissism in order to deal with all that attention.

In addition, they often need to stay calm and focused, especially if they happen to be a news reader.

Lawyer

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This one would seem like the most logical career for a lawyer to invest their skills in.

Lawyers have to show incredible confidence, selfishness and charm in order to get the win for their client and overall make them a formidable foe in the courtroom.

CEO

Psychopaths don't always need to be cool-headed and can sometimes wish to create chaotic environments just to undermine those around them.

This could transpire to a career path where they scale the ladder of success and reach the summit through manipulation and exploitation.

Although Dutton ranks CEO's as number one on his list it is worth noting that some big business types can achieve this success through sheer hard work and skill alone.

HT IFL Science

More: The strange sign that your coworker is a psychopath​