The Rise of Narcissists, Sociopaths, and Psychopaths to Positions of Power: A Global Challenge
How unchecked power and greed shape society—and what we can do to stop it
Narcissistic, sociopathic, and psychopathic individuals often rise to power at disproportionate rates. While they make up only a small percentage of the general population—approximately 1-6% for narcissism, 1-4% for sociopathy, and about 1% for psychopathy—they dominate an outsized share of leadership positions. Studies suggest that as many as 20-30% of corporate leaders exhibit significant traits associated with one or more of these personality types. This trend is also evident in politics. Driven by an insatiable hunger for money and influence, these individuals lie, cheat, steal, and even kill to achieve their goals. Once they amass significant wealth and authority, they only want more, and their unchecked ambitions frequently come at the expense of everyone else.
Why Narcissists Thrive in Leadership Positions
Research shows that narcissistic individuals possess traits that make them particularly adept at climbing the ranks of corporate and political power. Studies published in Personality and Social Psychology Review highlight that traits like grandiosity, entitlement, and lack of empathy often help narcissists excel in competitive environments where self-promotion and ruthlessness can be mistaken for leadership. Sociopaths and psychopaths, with their ability to manipulate and immunity to guilt, also leverage these traits to secure power and wealth.
These individuals see others as stepping stones to their success. They are experts at gaslighting, convincing people that their exploitative actions somehow benefit society. Their charm and confidence often make them appear capable—even when their true intentions are entirely self-serving. Along the way, they exploit those around them, stealing ideas, leveraging contacts for personal gain, shorting workers on pay, or outright refusing to pay what they owe. Once they amass enough wealth and power, they hire legal teams to intimidate opponents and exploit loopholes, further consolidating their advantage. They then use these resources to rewrite the rules, fund propaganda campaigns, and distort reality to protect their interests.
The Danger of Concentrated Power
Narcissistic leaders often argue that their wealth and influence make them indispensable. They claim to contribute so much to society that they shouldn’t have to pay taxes—even as they rely heavily on public infrastructure like roads, airports, law enforcement, and education systems to build their empires. Meanwhile, their minimum-wage employees often pay higher effective tax rates, subsidizing the very systems these wealthy individuals exploit.
This hypocrisy is starkly revealed in financial data. A ProPublica investigation found that some of the wealthiest individuals in the United States paid a “true tax rate” of just 3.4% from 2014 to 2018. Meanwhile, ordinary workers shoulder a far greater tax burden, creating an imbalance that is both unethical and unsustainable.
To maintain this system, the wealthy pour billions into lobbying efforts to sway politicians and fund propaganda campaigns designed to convince the public that taxing the wealthy would harm society. In reality, fair taxation would address inequality and fund essential public services.
When such individuals dominate politics, corporations, and media, the effects ripple through every aspect of life. Decisions driven by personal gain often ignore the well-being of billions, widening inequality, stalling social progress, and worsening environmental crises.
Technology and the Amplification of Power
Advances in technology, from social media to artificial intelligence, have given narcissistic and sociopathic leaders unprecedented tools to amplify their influence. Social media platforms allow them to spread self-serving narratives at alarming rates, shaping public opinion and stifling dissent through targeted disinformation campaigns. AI adds even greater risks, enabling mass surveillance, predictive analytics, and automated decision-making systems designed to serve their interests.
If left unchecked, these technologies could make their grip on power nearly impossible to break. Used irresponsibly, AI could entrench inequality, suppress freedoms, and solidify control, further magnifying the harm caused by unethical leadership.
What Can Be Done?
1. Hold Leaders Accountable: Narcissists and sociopaths thrive in systems where rules don’t apply equally. We must demand accountability, ensuring that leaders face the same laws and tax responsibilities as everyone else. This includes closing loopholes that allow the wealthy to avoid taxes and enforcing penalties for corruption. Stronger regulatory frameworks and independent oversight are essential.
2. Promote Ethical Leadership: Leadership roles should prioritize empathy, integrity, and collaboration over charisma and bravado. By supporting leaders who value collective well-being over personal gain, we can create systems that serve everyone—not just the elite. Reevaluating hiring and promotion processes can also help prevent toxic traits from rising unchecked.
3. Raise Awareness: Many people remain unaware of the psychological profiles of those in power. Education and open discussions can help the public recognize manipulation tactics and resist propaganda. Media literacy and critical thinking are essential tools for dismantling the narratives that protect unethical leaders.
4. Leverage Technology for Good: While technology poses risks, it can also be a tool for transparency and accountability. Systems that track financial flows, monitor policy impacts, and highlight corruption could counteract the influence of unethical leaders. Social media platforms must also take responsibility for preventing the spread of disinformation.
A Call to Action
The billions of us worldwide who aren’t narcissists, sociopaths, or psychopaths—those of us who simply want to live peaceful, happy lives—must recognize this issue for what it is: a threat to the fairness and stability of our world. A system that rewards the most ruthless among us isn’t inevitable, but changing it requires collective action.
Imagine visiting a zoo and watching one monkey hoard all the bananas, leaving the rest of the monkeys to starve. Meanwhile, the alpha monkey’s bananas are rotting because he can’t possibly eat them fast enough. You’d likely think, “This monkey is a mentally ill asshole.” Yet, when billionaires in our society behave this way—hoarding resources far beyond what they could ever use—we celebrate them as visionaries. It’s time to rethink what we glorify and address the harmful effects of unchecked greed.
By raising awareness, holding leaders accountable, and fostering ethical leadership, we can create a future that prioritizes peace, fairness, and collective happiness over greed and exploitation. Achieving meaningful change will require a unified, organized effort. It’s crucial that we continue this conversation and share information to expose these issues. The world could truly thrive if we stopped allowing hundreds of billions of dollars to be siphoned off by flawed leaders each year, along with trillions wasted on military equipment used to wage wars over natural resources. This is an absurd and unsustainable scenario—but one we must address before it’s too late.
Thanks so much for reading this post. If you haven’t read my last post about ways to improve the government, I shared some thoughts specifically addressing related issues in governance. Feel free to check it out—I’ll link it here.
Sources:
1. Campbell, W. K., Hoffman, B. J., & Campbell, S. M. (2011). Narcissism in organizational contexts. Human Resource Management Review, 21(4), 268-280. Link
2. Hare, Robert D. Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us. Guilford Press, 1999. Find the book here.
3. ProPublica. (2021). The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records. Link
4. Paulus, F. M., & Williams, K. D. (2002). The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556-563. Link
5. Babiak, P., & Hare, R. D. (2007). Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work. HarperCollins. Find the book here.
6. Meindl, J. R., & Ehrlich, S. B. (1987). The romance of leadership and the evaluation of organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal, 30(1), 91-109. Link
Well said Mr. Night!
One suggestion that I think would help the credibility of your post, is to site references. It’s what I had to do all of those years writing technical engineering papers. That way, the reader can look up for themselves the information that you are summarizing. And in doing so, your thoughts gain more trust. I have two thoughts about your thesis. First, critical thinking is not common amongst the population. Generally, its practice is most often used in the sciences and engineering. I find that either you’ve got those skills or you don’t. I takes quite a lot of self reflection to get there if you don’t. Most people either don’t have the time or the desire to get there.Such thought processes have to be inspired at an early age. Both at home and in school. That doesn’t typically happen. So, you might be preaching to the choir on this particular point. Also, it’s not a core value in primary education at present. Lastly, the social media part of this is what scares me the most. Such a powerful tool to control people’s minds. Both sides try and use it to their advantage politically. Unless you have moral individuals running such companies, things can go sideways quickly. Putin is doing a fantastic job on this account. Both abroad and in his own country. Now he’s even turning back the clock even more so in Russia, by reversing the exonerations of countless thousands who were either jailed or killed under Stalin. Why? Because it rationalizes his worry about dissent regarding Ukraine. Few of the older citizens, who suffered under communism, are around to voice their concerns. History expunged. Here, citing history to the public about what came before can be relived is necessary. I was just a kid when McCarthyism took hold, and my I understood its harm only when I took college classes in history. That feeling seems eerily similar to today. You and I, and anyone who challenges right wing authoritarian concepts have already been labeled communists.
I loved your article! The zoo monkey analogy was interesting...yes "WE" would think the hoarding monkey was an asshole, but many others at the zoo would be thinking "That's one smart monkey! Teach those stupid monkeys who's boss! Serves 'em right for being lazy buggers!"
It's in their nature to idolize corruption and greed. I fear empathy and fairness can't be taught, especially not in school. They can't help themselves, their brains are miswired or hormones are off. The proverbial pitchforks may be coming in our fraught era.