''Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work'' is a 2006 non-fiction book by

industrial psychologist Industrial and organizational psychology (I-O psychology), an applied discipline within psychology, is the science of human behavior in the workplace. Depending on the country or region of the world, I-O psychology is also known as occupational ...

Paul Babiak and criminal psychologist

Robert D. Hare Robert D. Hare (born 1 January 1934) is a Canadian forensic psychologist, known for his research in the field of criminal psychology. He is a professor emeritus of the University of British Columbia where he specializes in psychopathology and ...

Contents summary

The text covers the nature of psychopaths in the context of employment and purports to explain how psychopaths

manipulate Manipulation may refer to: *Manipulation (psychology) - the action of manipulating someone in a clever or unscrupulous way *Crowd manipulation - use of crowd psychology to direct the behavior of a crowd toward a specific action ::*Internet manipu ...

their way into work and get promoted, the effects of their presence on colleagues and

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...

s, and the superficial similarities (and fundamental differences) between

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

skills and psychopathic traits. The work is interlaced with fictional

narratives A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc.). Narra ...

illustrating how the factual content applies to real-life situations. Characteristics of manipulators are described as shifting to meet stereotypical gender expectations: a female psychopath might make full use of the passive, warm, nurturing, and dependent

gender role A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

stereotype in order to get what she wants out of others and a male psychopath might use a

macho Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

image, intimidation, and aggression to achieve satisfaction of his desires. The authors posit that around 1% of senior positions in business are occupied by psychopaths. The authors describe a "five phase model" of how a typical

workplace psychopath The presence of psychopathy in the workplace—although psychopaths typically represent a relatively small fraction of workplace staff—can do enormous damage when in senior management roles. Psychopaths are usually most common at higher levels o ...

climbs to and maintains power: entry, assessment, manipulation, confrontation, and ascension. In the entry stage, the psychopath will use highly developed

social skills A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called social ...

and

charm Charm may refer to: Social science * Charisma, a person or thing's pronounced ability to attract others * Superficial charm, flattery, telling people what they want to hear Science and technology * Charm quark, a type of elementary particle * Ch ...

to obtain employment in an organisation. At this stage it will be difficult to spot anything which is indicative of psychopathic behaviour, and as a new employee you might perceive the psychopath to be helpful and even benevolent. Once on to the assessment stage, the psychopath will weigh you up according to your usefulness, and you could be recognised as either a pawn (who has some informal

influence Influence or influencer may refer to: *Social influence, in social psychology, influence in interpersonal relationships **Minority influence, when the minority affect the behavior or beliefs of the majority *Influencer marketing, through individu ...

and will be easily manipulated) or a patron (who has formal power and will be used by the psychopath to protect against attacks). Manipulation involves the psychopath creating a scenario of “ psychopathic fiction” where positive information about themselves and negative

disinformation Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...

about others will be created, where your role as a part of a network of pawns or patrons will be utilised and you will be groomed into accepting the psychopath's agenda. Once on to the confrontation stage, the psychopath will use techniques of

character assassination "Character Assassination" is a four-issue Spider-Man story arc written by Marc Guggenheim with art by John Romita, Jr. and published by Marvel Comics. The arc appears in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #584-#588. An interlude, "The Spartacus Gambit" ...

to maintain their agenda, and you will be either discarded as a pawn or used as a patron. Finally, in the ascension stage, the role of the subject as a patron in the psychopath’s quest for power will be discarded, and the psychopath will take for himself/herself a position of power and prestige from anyone who once supported them.

Reception

A review of ''Snakes in Suits'' by ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' called it "a lay guide to corporate psychopaths" and concluded that "However wooden in parts, ''Snakes in Suits'' is a valuable addition to any business library." ''Snakes in Suits'' has also been reviewed by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'', ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'', ''

Psychology Today ''Psychology Today'' is an American media organization with a focus on psychology and human behavior. It began as a bimonthly magazine, which first appeared in 1967. The ''Psychology Today'' website features therapy and health professionals direct ...

'', '' California Bookwatch'', ''

Security Management Security management is the identification of an organization's assets (including people, buildings, machines, systems and information assets), followed by the development, documentation, and implementation of policies and procedures for protec ...

'', ''

Canadian Business ''Canadian Business'' is the longest-publishing business magazine based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and founded in 1927. The print edition terminated in the end of 2016. Beginning in January 2017, the magazine was published online only. In Octob ...

'', and ''

Finweek ''Finweek'' was a South African weekly business magazine published in both English- and Afrikaans-language editions. It was one of the country's largest circulating business titles. Competitors included fellow weekly ''Financial Mail''. ''Finwe ...

''.

References

External links

The Disturbing Link Between Psychopathy And Leadership
''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' magazine, 2013
‘Snakes in Suits’ unmasks corporate psychos
''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' 5 Jun 2006 * Hill-Tout
The psychopaths in suits
''

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

'' 14 Jan 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Snakes In Suits: When Psychopaths Go To Work 2006 non-fiction books Books about psychopathy Business books Human resource management books Industrial and organizational psychology Workplace bullying Popular psychology books

Contents summary

Reception

See also

References

External links