The influence of corporate psychopaths on job satisfaction and its determinants

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate job satisfaction and workplace psychopathy.

Design/methodology/approach: Job satisfaction has previously been seen as a function of various constructs. The authors take one step back from the literature to re-examine the relationship not just between job satisfaction, workplace conflict, organizational constraints, withdrawal from the workplace and perceived levels of corporate social responsibility, but also between all of these constructs and the presence of corporate psychopaths.

Findings: The authors find that there is a direct link between corporate psychopaths and job satisfaction. There are also indirect links through variables such as conflict, since corporate psychopaths influence conflict and other variables.

Originality/value: Importantly, the research establishes that psychopathy is the dominant predictor of job satisfaction.