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A lot of people are confusing egomaniacs/self-centered people with psychopaths. A self-centered, self-absorbed egomaniac (often creative types, prima donnas, artists, chefs!!!) who thinks "it's all about me" is easy to deal with because you know exactly where you stand. While that person may be exasperating and occasionally immoral (behaving contrary to conventional morality), he/she's also capable of love, compassion, comprehension of morality, and has enough conscience to feel guilt or shame (though may not want to admit it) upon hurting someone. You can easily deal with an egotist by checking your own ego; the same approach is FUTILE when dealing with a psychopath.

A psychopath is empty, amoral (without reference to morality), blank, has a big hole, where empathy, love, guilt, shame, and morality are absent; anyone who knows the psychopath for long realizes that while the person may be charming at first, the person is also a vacuum and amoral enough to harm others and feel perfectly okay about it.

LadyBuck muses: No realtors? Then again, they are salescritters...

Your cheap shot forgot to include used car salesmen, dear. :^) I used to hold Realtors in contempt as is the fashion ... until I actually learned about their industry. Now I know that there are exactly proportionately as many asshat Realtors as there are asshat clerks, sales reps, waitresses, lawyers, actors, businessmen, FReepers, teachers, construction workers, etc.

Residential real estate agents, like any salesperson, MUST have the ability to connect/empathize with people or they won't be successful.

KoRN notes: CEOs and police are the worst kinds of psychos....

Unlike Realtors, salesmen, restaurateurs (chefs), beauticians, etc., the effective success of CEOs and police is entirely outside of needing to connect with people in order to earn a paycheck, so it's to be expected to see them on this list.

Both lists are off the mark. Psychopaths can go anywhere and be anything at least temporarily because of their ability to be charming and convincing. They can snow anyone temporarily. What they cannot do is KEEP their success in any industry that requires the ability to empathize with people on an emotional level. The psychopath must move on to other pastures ... unless he's in a job where the "clients" don't have much choice (cop, clergyman, doctor) and where success or failure isn't dependent on the marketplace. Psychopathic CEOs can move on to the next gullible company and snow big folks with big bucks; psychopathic Realtors earn so little income they have to change careers.