Do Psychopaths Perform Better in High Stress Work Environments? The Moderating Effect of Work Stress on Individuals With ASPD

Individuals with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) or by its layman term ‘psychopaths’ are often perceived in a negative light. However certain studies reveal that psychopaths perform better under an abusive boss. Surprisingly, psychopaths reported improved well-being, more positive emotions, and lower levels of anger under the constant torment of an abusive supervisor, in contrast to non-psychopathic employees. The rationale for this phenomenon stems from the fact that psychopaths lack both empathy and fear, and therefore are insensitive to emotionally aversive stimuli. Non-psychopaths who could not endure the strain of the hostile work environment would resign and only the psychopaths were left behind to survive and flourish over the long-term. Despite previous literature shedding light on the possibility of psychopaths thriving in an aversive work environment or under an abusive leader, as at the time of writing there are a sparsity of studies that observe the moderating effect of work stress on a psychopath’s job performance. The current paper therefore proposes a conceptual framework whereby psychopaths are said to perform better in a high stress high-pressure work environment, and in contrast perform worse in low stress low-pressure work environments. The possible implications being that psychopaths are more resilient to aversive stimuli and can still stay focused and undistracted in a hostile work environment.