Something Extra: Psychopaths' Professions

MIAMI (CBS4) - What professions have the most psychopaths? A new book, called "the Wisdom of Psychopaths," by Kevin Dutton, takes on that question.

When we think of psychopaths, fictional serial killers such as Hanibal Lecter or real-life ones such as Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy come to mind.

Dutton, though, focuses on "functional psychopaths," describing them as intelligent, but characterized by a poverty of emotions, egocentricity and manipulativeness. They also have exceptional persuasiveness, captivating charm, and razor sharp focus under immense pressure.

According to Dutton, psychopaths are least likely to gravitate to professions that that require human connection: care aides, nurses, therapists.

They're most like to become C-E-O's, lawyers, media people, salespersons and surgeons.

I'm a lawyer, the number two profession for psychopaths. I work in media, that's number three, and I'm a journalist, number six. You may want to avoid me.

On the other hand, I took the author's "psychopath challenge" and scored a 12... well below average for psychopaths.

Psychopath Challenge: http://wisdomofpsychopaths.com/

Top 10 Most Likely Professions For Psychopaths: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-barker/which-professions-have-the-most-psychopaths_b_2084246.html