Ein optimierter Serienmörder

Die Faszination des hochfunktionalen Psychopathen in der Populärkultur

Abstract

Television series, YouTube videos or guidebooks – a long list of media testifies to the pop cultural fascination with professionally ‘successful psychopaths’. This paper compares the portrayal of the character Dexter in the series of the same name with popular scientific descriptions of the ‘corporate psychopath’ as formulated by psychologists Paul Babiak and Robert Hare. As the paper argues, the media appeal of psychopathy lies less in abysses of the psyche than in the character’s lifestyle and the implicit question: if ‘psychopaths’ achieve career, status and success – wouldn’t it be tempting to be more like a ‘psychopath’? While Babiak and Hare paint a picture of ‘psychopaths’ ruining companies and colleagues for their own gain, the ‘corporate psychopath’ Dexter is indeed a figure with positive connotations. This is mainly due to the fact that Dexter – because he is a psychopath – gets work done much more efficiently and his productivity also creates a supposed added social value.