"Wanted: psychopaths to make a killing in the markets".
September 21, 2005
Such an ad will not be appearing in the world's press any time soon, but it may have a ring of truth after research revealed the best wheeler-dealers could be "functional psychopaths".
A team of US scientists has found the emotionally impaired are more willing to gamble for high stakes and that people with brain damage may make good financial decisions, The Times reported on Monday.
In a study of investors' behaviour, 41 people with normal IQs were asked to play a simple investment game. Fifteen of the group had suffered lesions on the areas of the brain that affect emotions.
The result was those with brain damage outperformed those without.
The scientists found emotions led some of the group to avoid risks even when the potential benefits far outweighed the losses, a phenomenon known as myopic loss aversion.
One of the researchers, Antione Bechara, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Iowa, said the best stockmarket investors might plausibly be called "functional psychopaths" .
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AdvertisementHer fellow author Baba Shiv, of Stanford Graduate School of Business, said many company chiefs and top lawyers might also show they share the same trait.
Reuters
Such an ad will not be appearing in the world's press any time soon, but it may have a ring of truth after research revealed the best wheeler-dealers could be "functional psychopaths".
A team of US scientists has found the emotionally impaired are more willing to gamble for high stakes and that people with brain damage may make good financial decisions, The Times reported on Monday.
In a study of investors' behaviour, 41 people with normal IQs were asked to play a simple investment game. Fifteen of the group had suffered lesions on the areas of the brain that affect emotions.
The result was those with brain damage outperformed those without.
The scientists found emotions led some of the group to avoid risks even when the potential benefits far outweighed the losses, a phenomenon known as myopic loss aversion.
One of the researchers, Antione Bechara, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Iowa, said the best stockmarket investors might plausibly be called "functional psychopaths" .
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AdvertisementHer fellow author Baba Shiv, of Stanford Graduate School of Business, said many company chiefs and top lawyers might also show they share the same trait.
Reuters
posted by BFF @ 5:07 PM
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