????能很好地適應快速變化的環境，能在壓力情境中保持冷靜的頭腦，積極而富有進取心。這樣的陳詞濫調在大多數的崗位描述中比比皆是，應聘者甚至還會把其中的一兩條寫入簡歷。但你或許不知道的是，符合這些條件的“完美應聘者”很有可能是有精神病。

????你沒看錯，的確是精神病。一般來說，我們會把精神病人和殺人犯、強奸犯或是其他暴力罪犯聯系起來，比如約翰?韋恩?加斯、漢尼拔或是泰德?邦迪這種人。但研究心理學家凱文?達頓在《神經病有大智慧》（The Wisdom of Psychopaths）一書中說，精神病可不僅僅就這一個方面。

????“在進化論者所搞的種種惡作劇中，精神病患者看起來具有某些我們夢寐以求的獨特的人格特征，”達頓在書中寫道。他們看似天生就具有一副好口才以及無以倫比的魅力，在巨大的壓力之下，他們的注意力還能像刀鋒般犀利（就像在戰場上一樣），達頓在橫跨了幾個世紀的研究材料中找出論據，有力地支持了這種觀點。

????不僅如此，他還對現代的精神變態患者進行了一系列的調查研究，包括與研究人員、執法人員甚至是精神變態者本人做的許多有意思的訪談。他甚至還親身參與了其中一項實驗，通過電磁波短暫地誘發大腦活動，而這正是精神病患者們大腦的運轉方式。

????達頓對精神變態者最清晰的描述來自于一位名叫赫維?M?克里克的美國醫生，他于1941年撰寫的《理智的面具》（The Mask of Sanity）是有關精神變態患者研究的開山之作。達頓將這種神秘莫測的性格描述為“聰明過人卻冷漠無情，寡廉鮮恥且自私自利，膚淺浮夸又毫無愧疚，無憂無慮也不計后果，喜怒無常還不負責任，支配欲強，人際關系淡漠”。

????聽起來是不是就像是在描述你的同事？又或者，更像在形容你的老板？

????大多數（并不是全部）具備這些個性特征的人，通常都會成為成功的CEO、外科醫生、律師甚至是美國總統。說到總統，達頓提到，2010年，研究人員曾向歷任美國總統的傳記作家們發放了一份總統個性問卷調查，而分析結果顯示：“許多美國總統都表現出了明顯的精神變態患者才有的個性特征，其中尤以約翰?F?肯尼迪和比爾?克林頓為甚。”

????2010年，另一名研究人員羅伯特?赫爾向超過200名公司高管發放了一份名為PCL-R的精神變態性格特征檢查表，并將調查結果與全體人口做了比較。達頓寫道：“不僅企業高管的人數比例突出，而且精神變態幾乎就等同于富有魅力……有創意、雄才大略以及極佳的溝通技巧這樣的個性特征?！?/p>

????Must thrive in a fast-paced environment.Should be cool under pressure. Ambitious go-getters welcome. You find these clichés in most job descriptions these days. You may have even written one of these descriptions, if you're hiring. Little did you know that your ideal candidate might well be a psychopath.

????That's right, a psychopath. We associate the term with murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals. Names like John Wayne Gacy, Hannibal Lecter, and Ted Bundy might come to mind. But there's another side to psychopathy, according to research psychologist Kevin Dutton's The Wisdom of Psychopaths.

????"Psychopaths appear, through some Darwinian practical joke, to possess the very personality characteristics that many of us would die for," Dutton writes. Exceptional persuasiveness, captivating charm, and razor sharp focus under immense pressure (like war zones) seem to come naturally to psychopaths. Dutton presents a battery of research spanning several centuries to back up this assertion.

????He also embarks on an investigative journey into the depths of modern psychopathy, relaying entertaining conversations with researchers, law enforcement agents, and psychopaths themselves. He even participates in an experiment where his brain is electromagnetically induced into functioning -- briefly -- the way a psychopath's normally operates.

????Dutton's clearest description of a psychopath comes from Hervey M. Cleckley, an American physician and author of The Mask of Sanity (1941), a seminal work in the study of psychopathy. Paraphrasing Cleckley, Dutton describes this enigmatic character as "an intelligent person, characterized by a poverty of emotions, the absence of shame, egocentricity, superficial charm, lack of guilt, lack of anxiety, immunity to punishment, unpredictability, irresponsibility, manipulativeness, and a transient interpersonal lifestyle."

????Sound like anyone you work with or, perhaps more likely, work for?

????Many -- but not all -- of these qualities are commonly attributed to successful CEOs, surgeons, lawyers, even U.S. presidents. Speaking of presidents, Dutton refers to a 2010 analysis of personality questionnaires researchers had sent to biographers of every single American commander in chief. The results? "A number of U.S. presidents exhibited distinct psychopathic traits, with John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton leading the charge," Dutton writes.

????Another researcher, Robert Hare, sent out a psychopathy checklist test called the PCL-R to over 200 executives in 2010 and compared the results to the overall population. "Not only did the business execs come out ahead, but psychopathy was associated with … charisma … creativity, good strategic thinking, and excellent communication skills," writes Dutton.