Are you scared to meet a psychopath?

credit: blangiardi

Are you scared to meet a psychopath? Of course yes but pay attention: apparently it could be more dangerous (and easier) to meet a broker. Indeed, according to a study from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland (two researchers – forensics expert Pascal Scherrer and prison administrator Thomas Noll – compared the egotism and the propensity for cooperation of 28 professional stock traders with the behavior of psychopaths), stock traders are a really really dangerous species. Impulsive, dishonest and without empathy, brokers result more competitive, manipulators and pitiless than psychopaths.

A really disquieting portrait, don’t you think? Especially if we realize that our money could be in their hands. If you want to know more about this subject you can watch the enlightening documentary Inside Job by Charles Ferguson or read the really interesting articles below.

“Aren’t you glad to have psychopaths looking after your retirement pension? Let’s give them some more control over our lives, why don’t we?”
Appetite for destruction: stock brokers vs psychopaths.

“Scherrer and Noll are not the first to suggest a correlation between success on Wall Street and mental pathology.”
Stockbrokers More Competitive, Willing To Take Risks Than Psychopaths: Study.

“A Swiss university study found that brokers behaved more egotistically and were more willing to take risks than a group of psychopaths who took the same test.”
Study: Stockbrokers Are Worse Than Psychopaths

“I ricercatori elvetici hanno messo a confronto agenti di cambio con un gruppo di disturbati mentali e sottoposto le due categorie a diversi test. I risultati sono oltremodo preoccupanti ed hanno sorpreso gli stessi esperti.”
I trader? Più spietati degli psicopatici