Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work by Robert D. Hare, Paul Babiak

attention; anxious people will find them to be non-threatening and reassuring; many will find them exciting and fun to be with. Few will suspect that they are dealing with a psychopath who is playing up to their particular personality and vulnerabilities.
    In the great card game of life, psychopaths know what cards you hold, and they cheat.
    Researchers who interact with known psychopaths regularly describe them as social chameleons. Chameleons, of course, have the capacity to assume the coloration of their environment in order to survive. When clinging to either a leaf or branch, they turn green or brown, using their ability to change the color of their skin to blend into their surroundings. Thus, using nature’s protection, they can remain invisible to their enemies, yet can sneak up on What You See May Not Be What You See 39
    unsuspecting insects that make up their diet. They are the perfect invisible predator. Like chameleons, psychopaths can hide who they really are and mask their true intentions from their victims for extended periods. The psychopath is a near-perfect invisible human predator.
    This is not to say that most people can’t be charming, effective, socially facile communicators, and still be honest—of course they can. Many people use impression management and manipulation techniques to influence others to like and trust them, or to get what they want from people—very often subconsciously, but sometimes as the result of training, practice, and planning. However, wanting people to like and respect you (and doing what it takes to achieve this) is not necessarily dishonest or insincere—the need for approval and validation from others is normal. Social manipulation begins to be insincere if you really don’t care about the feelings of others or you try to take unfair advantage of others. The difference between the psychopathic approach and the nonpsychopathic approach lies in motivation to take unfair and callous advantage of people. Psychopaths simply do not care if what they say and do hurts people as long as they get what they want, and they are very good at hiding this fact. Given his or her powerful manipulation skills, it is little wonder why seeing a “psychopathic” personality beneath someone’s charming, engaging surface is so difficult.
    Not all psychopaths are smooth operators, though. Some do not have enough social or communicative skill or education to interact successfully with others, relying instead on threats, coercion, intimidation, and violence to dominate others and to get what they want.
    Typically, such individuals are manifestly aggressive and rather nasty, and unlikely to charm victims into submission, relying on their bullying approach instead. This book is less about them than about those who are capable of and willing to use their “deadly charm” to con and manipulate others. However, if the charming approach does not work, psychopaths readily can resort to both covert and overt intimidation.
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    S N A K E S I N S U I T S
    Psychopathy and Narcissism
    It is important to note that psychopathy is a personality disorder, and that personality disorders are not the same as mental illness. At a basic level, a person with a personality disorder has a limited range of stereotyped “solutions” that he or she applies to most of the problems encountered in life. Those without a personality disorder are able to apply a variety of behaviors, depending on what best suits the situation.
    Individuals with a personality disorder sometimes have trouble in life because of their limited perspective and somewhat inflexible approach. They have difficulty navigating through a world that does not operate in the one-way fashion they prefer, while those who know them may see them as closed-minded, predictable, and sometimes, unfortunately, annoying.
    There are ten personality disorders recognized by psychologists, including narcissistic personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder,