The briefings I received as part of certain government procedures related to information protection left one impression more than any other on me: narcissism an

The briefings I received as part of certain government procedures related to information protection left one impression more than any other on me: narcissism and ego are two of the most important motivations a certain kind of person has for doing something. Every person in every espionage profile I saw in those briefings had one thing in common: the spies thought of themselves as better than, above, or otherwise separated in a superior way from their peers. They were smarter, more daring, had higher tolerances for thrills, whatever. Financial motivations were rarely relevant, and when they were relevant they were only tangentially so (e.g. acting as a catalyst to engage in even more risky behavior). Perhaps a similar thing is at play here.