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Newsweek
11 hours ago
- Science
- Newsweek
Psychopaths and Other Dark Personalities Thrive in These Places
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. People living in societies with more corruption, inequality, poverty and violence are more likely to exhibit "dark" personality traits—like narcissism, psychopathy and spitefulness. This is the conclusion of a new study led by psychologist professor Ingo Zettler of the University of Copenhagen, which analyzed data on nearly 2 million people across 183 countries and all 50 U.S. states. "It is relatively well known that both genetic and socio-ecological factors shape individuals' personality. However, respective research has hardly considered ethically or socially aversive personality characteristics," Zettler told Newsweek. Given that we now have data from about 2 million people across the world who filled out our measure on the core underlying all aversive traits via our website, we thought it would be interesting to see whether adverse societal conditions contribute to the proliferation of selfish, egoistic, and other traits," Professor Ingo Zettler told Newsweek. A file photo of a young man looking directly at the camera. A study has found that people with "dark traits" are more likely to live in societies with more corruption, inequality, poverty and violence. A file photo of a young man looking directly at the camera. A study has found that people with "dark traits" are more likely to live in societies with more corruption, inequality, poverty and violence. istockphotoluis/Getty Images Previous studies have shown that the so-called "dark triad" of personalities can show on people's faces and can even make people appear more attractive. The new analysis, however, ties these personality types to specific social settings. In their study, to quantify societal adversity, the team used World Bank data on corruption (control of corruption), inequality (Gini index), poverty (headcount ratio at $6.85/day), and violence (homicides per 100,000 people). For U.S. states, the researchers used Census Bureau data on inequality and poverty, FBI homicide rates, and Justice Department corruption convictions. These metrics allowed consistent comparisons across global and state-level contexts to assess long-term societal conditions. Combining this data with the personality questionnaire results of more than 2 million participants, a clear relation appeared. "The more adverse conditions in a society, the higher the level of the dark factor of personality among its citizens. This applies both globally and within the United States," Zettler said. Analysis of the data found that countries like Indonesia and Mexico or U.S. states such as Louisiana and Nevada—which had higher levels of corruption, inequality, poverty, and violence—also have higher "Dark Factor" levels. "The more adverse conditions in a society, the higher the level of the dark factor of personality among its citizens." Ingo Zettler Meanwhile, people in countries with lower levels of societal corruption and inequality, like Denmark and New Zealand, or states such as Utah and Vermont, tended to have have fewer "Dark Factor" personality traits. Although the observed link between environment and personality was moderate, the authors emphasize its real-world consequences. "Aversive personality traits are associated with behaviors such as aggression, cheating, and exploitation—and thus with high social costs. Therefore, even small variations can lead to large differences in how societies function," Zettler explained. Zettler believes that the findings of this study could help shape views on societal reforms and the importance of building better societies. "Our findings substantiate that personality is not just something we are born with, but also shaped by the society we grew up and live in," he said. This means that reforms that reduce corruption and inequality not only create better living conditions just now, they may also contribute to mitigating aversive personality levels among the citizens in the future." Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about psychology? Let us know via science@ Reference Zettler, I., Lilleholt, L., Bader, M., Hilbig, B. E., & Moshagen, M. (2025). Aversive societal conditions explain differences in "dark" personality across countries and US states. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(20), e2500830122.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Found The Driving Force Behind Your Darkest Impulses
Psychologists call it the dark triad: an intersection of three of the most malevolent tendencies of human nature – psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. But the truth goes deeper, and darker. There's also egoism, sadism, spitefulness, and more. And behind this rogues gallery of all our worst inclinations on the surface, a central, common core of human darkness lies, researchers say. In a 2018 study, psychologists from Germany and Denmark mapped this driving force behind all our darkest impulses and gave it a name. Meet D, the newly identified Dark Factor of Personality. The theoretical framework of the D factor has its underpinnings in what's known as the g factor: a construct proposed by English psychologist Charles Spearman over a century ago when he observed that individuals who performed well on one kind of cognitive test were more likely to score well on other kinds of intelligence tests, too. In other words, a 'general intelligence factor' could be measured. But it turns out that's not all scientists are able to detect. "In the same way, the dark aspects of human personality also have a common denominator, which means that – similar to intelligence – one can say that they are all an expression of the same dispositional tendency," explained psychologist Ingo Zettler from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark back in September 2018. In a series of four separate studies involving over 2,500 participants, Zettler and fellow researchers surveyed participants with questions designed to measure their levels of nine distinct dark personality traits: egoism, Machiavellianism, moral disengagement, narcissism, psychological entitlement, psychopathy, sadism, self-interest, and spitefulness. To do so, participants were asked to disagree with a range of variable 'dark' statements, such as: "I know that I am special because everyone keeps telling me so", "I'll say anything to get what I want", "It is hard to get ahead without cutting corners here and there", and "Hurting people would be exciting". With all the responses in hand, researchers ran a statistical analysis, with the results suggesting that while these dark traits are all distinct, they all overlap to some extent, owing to the central core darkness factor, D, which reveals itself in different ways in different people. "In a given person, the D factor can mostly manifest itself as narcissism, psychopathy or one of the other dark traits, or a combination of these," Zettler said. "But with our mapping of the common denominator of the various dark personality traits, one can simply ascertain that the person has a high D factor. This is because the D factor indicates how likely a person is to engage in behavior associated with one or more of these dark traits." It's pretty provocative stuff, but you don't just have to take the researchers' word for it: You can take the D test yourself. The team set up an online portal where you can measure your own D score via a questionnaire. Why would people want to know? Well, apart from personal curiosity about how dark you really are, the researchers said their findings could one day lead to new discoveries in psychology and therapy, advancing our understanding of how we interpret people's malevolent actions. "We see it, for example, in cases of extreme violence, or rule-breaking, lying, and deception in the corporate or public sectors," Zettler said. "Here, knowledge about a person's D-factor may be a useful tool, for example, to assess the likelihood that the person will re-offend or engage in more harmful behavior." The findings were reported in Psychological Review. An earlier version of this article was published in September 2018. Men's Heights Grew Twice as Much as Women's Last Century, Says Study Airports Have a Strange Effect on Human Behavior. Here's Why. Our Ears Still Try to Swivel Around to Hear Better, Study Discovers
