We tend to think that very rarely we come across someone on the street who asks us for the time while fantasizing about torturing us. However, a new study claims that people who enjoy doing harm are more abundant than we think. Sadism may not be reserved only for that disturbed minority that forensic police films show us, and it may be a common behavior of daily life that manifests itself, for example, when we decide to kill an insect.
Researchers from Columbia University (United Kingdom) and the University of Texas (USA) offered a group of psychology students the possibility of killing live bugs in front of other unpleasant tasks and obtained a high percentage of students who opted for the first. 27% of the students preferred to put live mealybugs, which were also inside cups labeled with endearing names like Muffin and Toostie, into a grinding machine, rather than cleaning the bathrooms or taking a cold shower. Students who favored this option showed signs of apparent cruelty attributed to a sadistic personality.
In light of these results, the scientists propose to introduce this type of everyday sadism into the Dark Triad of the human personality that encompasses Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism.
