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Identifying Psychopaths

In: Unmasking Financial Psychopaths

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  • Deborah W. Gregory

Abstract

With some understanding of the universe within which finance is conducted and the circumstances under which financial professionals work, it will be possible to better differentiate the psychopathology of the individual from the environment in which he or she functions. If we are to unmask financial psychopaths, we must ascertain whether the person themselves is psychopathic or whether the environment in which he or she works expects them to engage in psychopathic behaviors. Psychiatrist Robert I. Simon observed, “[I]f one wants to study psychopaths, one should go to Wall Street. Sometimes it is hard to tell the successful person from the psychopath.”1 People familiar with the book by Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho, or the subsequent film bearing the same name, may envision a financial psychopath to be akin to the main character, Patrick Bateman. Set in the 1980s, the storyline revolves around the life of Patrick Bateman, an investment banker in New York City. Besides possessing all the normal cultural attributes found within the investment banking world that we have already alluded to in chapter 3, Bateman also has a penchant for killing people in a style that people might identify as psychotic or psychopathic. Is the character of Bateman a model for a financial psychopath, or is he a psychotic or psychopathic person, who also works in the financial world?

Suggested Citation

  • Deborah W. Gregory, 2014. "Identifying Psychopaths," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Unmasking Financial Psychopaths, chapter 6, pages 93-109, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-36075-5_6
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137360755_6
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