David Linden, PhD, a professor at Johns Hopkins’ School of Medicine, conducted a study that proved gamblers and CEOs have much in common.
David Linden, a neuroscience professor who studied the origin of pleasure, found out that the satisfaction from a closed deal has the same roots as the feeling of the “near victory” in gambling. Thus, a CEO and a gambler have much more common traits than we used to think. Those are a strong desire to win, risk-taking, creating a new venture and obsession with the game (both in a casino and in business). The fact is, a human brain generates an enormous doze of dopamine under such circumstances, so that a person feels rewarded. However, certain kinds of people are inclined to get addicted to it – for instance, the CEOs who possess psychopathic features. They are in a constant need for dopamine and are likely to take a risk more often to get their “doze”. David Linden claims he has a strong suspicion that the thing which makes people rise to the top is the same with what turns them into strong addicts. Many people might mistakenly think that those who get dependent on the adrenaline rush and huge dozes of dopamine derive more pleasure from gambling or risky business, but it is not true. The abovementioned personality types simply cannot have as much satisfaction as other people, so they need an extra stimulation to evoke the feeling of being rewarded.