Here’s something you may not have considered before: Dark personalities, such as psychopaths, narcissists, and Machiavellians, are drawn to certain career paths.

The first thing I want to stress is that choosing a job type doesn’t automatically put you into the dark triad of personality types. However, these types of personalities do best in certain career fields.

And when you’re trying to understand the differences between the three, you might start adding personality type terms like sociopaths, too. It can get confusing, so let me try to break it down a bit.

It is believed that the sociopath is a subconstruct of the psychopath. Sometimes it is explained that a psychopath is born this way and is built up over time.

The psychopathic personality is deceitful, outwardly charming, antisocial, paranoid, callous, cruel, and lacking in conscience.
The Machiavellian character is also deceptive, as well as sarcastic, emotionally detached, witty, amoral, and driven by selfish aspirations.
The narcissist is not only deceitful but completely disingenuous. They are also arrogant, attention-seeking, overly sensitive to criticism, boastful, uncompromising, controlling, responsible, and prone to exaggeration.
All three can be manipulative and lack empathy.

What jobs attract these dark personalities

Now that we’re out of that way, we can take a look at the career paths these characters have. In a study conducted at the University of Western Ontario, more than 800 participants answered questions about their interests in various professions. These career choices were weighed against dark triad traits. This is what was found:

1. Artists (narcissists)
   Not all artists are narcissists, but narcissists thrive in artistic career fields. The main reason this is applied is because artistic endeavors command attention. Given that narcissistic personalities thrive on attention and foster their arrogance, they will be drawn to things like painting, writing, construction, and music.

Having the ability to say, “Hey, I wrote that,” or “I drew that,” gives them the light for a moment. And if the narcissist wishes to keep the attention flowing, they will be actively creative at great volumes.

2- The entertainment industry (narcissists)
The entertainment industry is full of narcissistic personalities. If you’ve watched the news anytime recently, I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of toxic behavior. With such a high level of attention-seeking reserves, the entertainment industry brings in a great deal of applause and appreciation. But keep in mind, not all artists are narcissists.

With this high level of attention, the narcissist is fed. And considering most of these characters are never truly satisfied, the entertainment industry can offer endless ways to get noticed. It is also an industry riddled with scams. The narcissist must be a perfect fit.

3. Marketing (narcissists)
   Another career field that attracts narcissists is the field of marketing. With marketing, this type of personality gets a lot of chances to be seen and adored by the audience as well. Marketing strategies include a bold presence, branding, and plenty of communication in networking projects.

Although the narcissistic personality is toxic on different levels, it is also a personality that can communicate well. Regardless of the credibility of this connection, narcissists are drawn to the marketing of products and more than that, themselves.

However, some marketing managers and the like are nowhere near as narcissistic. So, let’s open our minds.

4. Business (Machiavellian)
   Commercial professions attract the Machiavellian personality, not just the lower rungs of the business ladder. Leadership positions are more attractive to this personality in that they provide them with the high status they desire so much. Unlike narcissists, they care less about what people think than how they treat them.

The cooler personality Machiavelli is concerned with the facts of a situation and usually remains emotionally detached from situations. In the business sector, this is done easily.

In Leadership, for example, there is little interaction between the Machiavellians and those he sees below them. As I said before, not all businessmen are Machiavellians, however, some of the most successful of them may have some of these traits mentioned along with their personality type.

5. Sales (Machiavellian)
   When you are motivated by selfish desires, Machiavelli can have everything. In sales, this personality uses a cold calculated strategy to persuade others to buy the products. Although they do not plan to lie for attention, they use questionable tactics for their own personal success.

Salesmen are not all Machiavellians, however, and Machiavellians do well in sales by having a bit of a business moral code.

6. Politics (Machiavellian)
   The same applies to politics. To be elected to office, Machiavellians will use all their talents, cynical behavior, and selfish aspirations to obtain office. Whether presidential or simply being elected as a board member, politicians are frequently Machiavellian. Then again, some of them aren’t.
7. Lawyers (mentally ill)
   Some of the tougher professions attract psychopaths. The reason for this is very simple. A lawyer is assigned to do whatever it takes to win the case. The psychopath will also do whatever it takes to get the desired reward, whatever that may be.

The psychopathic personality does not have the same boundaries as most of us. They are quick to deceive and unscrupulous in doing so. This type of behavior works well in the legal professions, as they are willing to do questionable things, not just for their own gain, but sometimes just for fun.

And no, not all lawyers are psychopaths. Some non-psychopaths have a difficult time in certain ethical areas of their work.

8. Police officers (psychopaths)
   Not all police officers are corrupt. I wanted to make that clear before I continue.

However, corrupt people are often psychopathic personalities. The sheer excitement of working in law enforcement provides the psychopath with unimaginable excitement. And given that, in some circumstances, police officers can circumvent the law, the psychopath likes this.

Being a police officer is also attractive to a psychopath because they can easily be devious at crime scenes and during that time, they alone have them patrol the areas of their location. She can be charming and antisocial at the same time.

And again, not all cops are like this. Some police officers are reputable individuals.

9. Geometry (psychopath)
   A psychopath can also thrive in low-level career fields such as engineering. Some jobs in this field require adventurous tasks and duties that trigger psychopaths. And since psychopaths like to feel powerful while being antisocial, this function works well in meeting those needs.

Engineering is a highly respected field of study. Many non-psychopaths are very successful in this field. It makes sense that psychopaths would want a little bit of that success for themselves.