When we come across the term “psychopath,” it brings up the images of murderers and serial killers. It is no doubt that most criminals are psychopaths, but not every psychopath is a criminal. They can be successful businessmen and professionals. Today, we’ll discuss how to deal with psychopaths.
A psychopath can have a very charming personality, and they’re excellent at communicating and talking smoothly. It helps them to rank up the corporation ladder quickly and easily with their manipulative traits. If you follow the proactive strategy, you can minimize the damage.
How to Recognize Psychopaths in the Workplace
The Journal of Research in Personality published a study in 2010 it studied the differences between psychopaths that go to prison and the ones who end up successful corporate business professionals. Researchers have found that the core traits of successful psychopaths and ordinary psychopaths are the same;
- Shallow Effect
- Callousness & Insensitive
- Limited or No Self-Blame
- No Remorse
- Arrogance
- Exploitation
- Dishonesty
Along with these traits, they have got no empathy at all, aggressive nature, are carefree, and portray a charming personality to attract the attention of others. They’re highly skillful in making deals with people and they’re always looking out for themselves without caring for anyone.
Conscientiousness is the main differentiating factor between successful and ordinary psychopaths. Successful psychopaths rank higher in the personality traits of conscientiousness, and ordinary psychopaths rank much low in this category.
In other words, successful psychopaths are less negligent, impulsive, and irresponsible than typical psychopaths. They also commit crimes, but they don’t get caught. That’s why they don’t end up in prison, rather you find them sitting in the high offices holding big positions.
Some of the psychopathic traits like immune to stress and pressure, aggressive risk-taking, staying calm in the midst of crisis, and caring only for themselves; help them in the growth and development of the business. However, they’re excellent at influencing people and have fearless nature. That’s why they can easily get promotions in the corporate ladders and the workplace despite having a dark side in their personality.
How to Deal with Psychopaths
It’s possible that you would have come across such types of psychopaths in the workplace environment, and the person could be a subordinate, colleague, or boss. According to an estimate, approximately 1-4% of the population falls under the category of psychopathic.
When it comes to dealing with them in the workplace environment, it can be sickening and highly stressful. You have to be highly proactive in order to deal with them successfully. Therefore, you should be aware of their manipulative techniques and not fall for the tactics. Some of the tips that would help you to get back your power are as follows;
Don’t Get Intimidated
Psychopaths have a controlling and manipulating nature and they use aggression and threats to do so. They would make threats and stand over you while talking. Therefore, you should stand firmly on your ground and be assertive in your manner, and don’t forget to report them to the human resource department for bullying and harassment.
Be Calm
Their attitude would make you furious, but you should remain calm. When psychopaths see you losing your temper, they would use it to their advantage by manipulating your emotions and gain more power over you. However, it doesn’t matter how outrageous their behavior is, you should always be calm and in a peaceful state of mind.
Don’t Buy their Stories
When psychopaths are pushed to the corner and don’t have a choice, they blame others. In such a situation, they play the victim card by telling sob stories. When you have sympathy for them by listening to their stories, they can manipulate you easily. Therefore, their stories should distract you that they’re the victim.
Turning Things Back on Them
When psychopaths start playing the blame game, then you should turn the table and focus on their flaws, and it would disarm them. For instance, you can say “are you out of your mind? You lost fair and squire in the meeting today. I hope you aren’t feeling stressed or pressured.” That’s how you can disarm them by focusing on the weak points.
Avoid them When You Can
Many research studies have proven that sharing the workplace environment with toxic people has a negative impact on your physical and mental health. When it comes to dealing with them, it is better if you avoid them and don’t engage with the. Unfortunately, you would have to change departments and your jobs. When you work alongside healthier and positive people, it has a positive impact on your mind and improves your quality of life.
Conclusion: How to Deal with Psychopaths
After an in-depth study of how to deal with psychopaths; we have realized that working with toxic people has a negative impact on your mind. It is advisable if you avoid them and work along with positive-minded people in order to improve your life.
Ahsan is an accomplished researcher and has a deep insight in worldly life affairs. He goes Live 3 days a week on various social media platforms. Other than research writing, he’s a very interesting person.
