Certain personality traits are linked to overly selfish behaviors. Of course, there can be a huge gap between the selfishness of a narcissist and that of a psychopath, but current research shows that all negative personality traits share the same dark core.
Some, like sadism, depend on the pain and discomfort of other people for their personal satisfaction. Others, like selfishness, simply mean that a person is likely to put himself or herself ahead of everything and everyone else.
Despite these differences and degrees, they all originate from the same dark core, that is, they share the same psychological basis. This is the conclusion of a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, the University of Ulm and the University of Koblenz-Landau, both in Germany.
These researchers have decided to call this dark core from which all negative traits are born the “dark factor of personality” or the “D factor” (‘ dark ‘, in English) for short.
One negative factor to rule them all
The study included a survey of more than 2,500 participants who answered questions about their behavior and decision-making tendencies.
In three online surveys, researchers asked participants to what extent they agreed or disagreed with statements, such as: “It’s hard to get by without doing a trick,” and “Sometimes it is well worth a bit of suffering for my part to see others receive the punishment they deserve. “
The participants also answered about whether they had a tendency towards aggressive behaviors and impulsive decisions. In addition, the researchers also assessed the selfishness of the respondents and the likelihood that they would engage in unethical actions.
This information was assigned to the nine negative personality traits chosen above. After analyzing all the information they had gathered, the researchers concluded that all of those negative personality traits stemmed from the same dark tendencies.
While in different respects, the researchers explain, the nine negative personality traits are based on an ingrained tendency to prioritize one’s well-being, pleasure, or success over others, even if that means others have to suffer for it. .
“ The dark aspects of the human personality have a common denominator. This suggests that it can be said that they are all an expression of the same tendency,” explains Ingo Zettler, co-author of the study in the journal Psychological Review. “For example,” he continues, “in a given person, factor D can manifest itself primarily as narcissism, psychopathy, or one of the other dark traits, or a combination of these.”
People with this “dark personality factor” not only seek their own benefit over the good of others, but also find reasons to ignore how their actions may affect other people.
The existence of a “D factor” in a spectrum of negative traits also suggests something else; namely, that if a person has one of these traits, it is likely that they also have related ones.
“This is because the D factor indicates the likelihood that a person will engage in behavior associated with one or more of these dark traits. In practice, this means that a person displaying particular malevolent behavior (such as likes to humiliate other people) will be more likely to engage in other malicious activities (such as cheating, lying, or stealing), “says Zettler.
Still, the researchers point out that their study could help therapists and other specialists better understand negative personality traits and therefore find better strategies to address them.
Reference: Moshagen, M., Hilbig, BE, & Zettler, I. (2018). The dark core of personality. Psychological Review. Advance online publication.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rev0000111
