Manipulative people with psychopathic traits earn less than 'nice guys', says study

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street. Photo / Mary Cybulski

From The Wolf of Wall Street to The Big Short, many films about the financial sector feature people with the "dark triad" of personality traits - psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism.

But a new study suggests that people with these traits may not necessarily make the best investment decisions compared with "nice guys".

This is because they are often overconfident and reckless - causing them to stick with bad investment decisions longer than they should, according to Daily Mail.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that Dark Triad personality traits are not desirable in leaders.

Previous studies have suggested that people with the "dark triad" of personality traits make the best managers.

But in a new study, researchers from the University of Denver suggest that this isn't the case.

Dr Leanne ten Brinke, lead author of the study, said: "We should re-think our assumptions that might favour ruthlessness or callousness in an investment manager.

"Not only do these personality traits not improve performance, our data suggest that they many hinder it."

In the study, the researchers measured personality traits of 101 hedge fund managers, then compared the personality types with their investments and financial returns from 2005 - 2015.

Their analysis revealed that managers with psychopathic traits made less profitable investments than peers, by just under one per cent per year, but this can add up over the course of years on large investments.

Managers with narcissistic traits also took more investment risks to earn the same amount of money as less narcissistic peers.

The findings build on a previous study by the researchers that looked at evidence of Dark Triad traits in US Senators.

The researchers found that "those who displayed behaviours associated with psychopathy were actually less likely to gain co-sponsors on their bills," said Dr ten Brinke.

That study also showed those who displayed behaviours associated with courage, humanity, and justice, "were the most effective political leaders."

The results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that Dark Triad personality traits are not desirable in leaders in a variety of contexts.

Dr ten Brinke added: "When choosing our leaders in organisations and in politics, we should keep in mind that psychopathic traits - like ruthlessness and callousness -don't produce the successful outcomes that we might expect them to."