Scientists say that these academic majors are more likely to attract psychopaths and narcissists
Several studies have shown that people with psychopathic and narcissistic tendencies are more likely to hold certain jobs and now scientists say that these traits seem to also influence educational choices.
There is a whole subject in psychology dedicated to studying the malevolent qualities of human personalities. Called the dark triad, it focuses on three specific traits, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. These traits have antisocial implications according to psychologists and while these are not clinical personality traits, people scoring high on them are more likely to commit crimes, cause social distress and create severe problems for an organisation, especially if they are in leadership positions.
But despite this, the dark triad actually makes individuals more likely to perform in high-stakes positions and this is exactly what led author Robert Hare to coin its now famous phrase that “not all psychopaths are in prison, some are in the board room.” And while the egotism, recklessness and manipulation that come with the dark triad might help furthering one’s career, it could also determine their educational choices, a new study suggests.
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Psychologists from Aarhus University in Denmark recently published a paper in the journal Personality and Individual Differences and showed that the dark triad traits draws people towards certain academic fields.
Researchers Anna Vedel and Dorthe Thomsen looked at the dark triad and the Big Five personality traits and found that they pose a great influence when it comes to choosing an academic major. Testing students from different majors, Vedel and Thomsen found that among those majoring in business and economics had the highest scores when it came to the dark triad as opposed to those opting for fields like psychology, which had the lowest scores.
This led scientists to argue that the dark triad does have an impact on a person’s educational choices.
When it comes to career, a previous German study has shown that narcissism was positively related to salary, Machiavellianism was positively related to leadership position and career satisfaction, and psychopathy was negatively related to all analysed outcomes.
Another study, this time from Dublin, found that people that scored high for the dark triad traits were more likely to occupy leadership roles and competitive jobs.
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