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  • Stay Away From People with These Dark Personality Traits, Study Warns

    Stay Away From People with These Dark Personality Traits, Study Warns

    A new study has warned why one needs to stay away from individuals or people with dark personality traits. According to a study of Chinese college students, people with more prominent dark personality traits show more evil inventiveness. The findings were reported in the Journal of Intelligence.

    Creativity is defined as the ability to create unique and useful works. It is a characteristic that is responsible for the development of novel innovations, engineering achievements, as well as art, literature, and many other forms of human creation.

    Creativity has long been regarded as a totally good trait that enhances people’s lives and promotes human civilization. But, there is a negative aspect to creativity. It’s known as malicious creativity. It refers to the ability to devise novel/original ways to intentionally harm or damage others.

    For example, consider a terrorist who develops a new sort of bomb to more effectively slaughter people. Another example would be a torturer coming up with novel and surprising ways. That is, ways to inflict pain and suffering on his victims. Because creativity is, by definition, unique and thus unexpected, the results of evil creativity can likewise be unpredictable and extremely deadly.

    The Dark Triad personality qualities are one collection of personality traits thought to be associated with a proclivity for malicious creativity. Machiavellianism (characterized by superficial charm, cynicism, coldness, manipulativeness, opportunism, belief that ends justify the means), narcissism (characterized by vanity, grandiosity, dominance, superiority, and entitlement), and psychopathy comprise the Dark Triad (characterized by thrill-seeking, aggressiveness, impulsivity, criminality, low fear and anxiety, callousness, and limited empathy). These three attributes’ assessments can also be merged to generate a single composite score.

    Dark Triad, Personality Traits And Evil Creativity

    Zhenni Gao, the study’s author, and  colleagues wanted to see if there was a link between the Dark Triad personality qualities and evil creativity. They expected aggression and creativity to act as a buffer between malicious creativity and these personality traits.

    They also believed that a person’s moral identity would influence how and whether their evil inventiveness manifested itself in behavior.

    The study included 217 Chinese college students (166 females, 22 years old on average). The Malevolent Creativity Task, a collection of 20 open-ended realistic circumstances for which students were expected to find unique and malicious solutions (e.g., “Hong is going to battle with a great player in a tennis final, who is difficult to defeat. Please come up with a creative way for Hong to ‘accidentally’ hurt the opponent before the final.”)

    Based on these responses, the study authors assessed each participant’s malevolent originality and harmfulness.

    Malevolent creative behavioral tendencies (the Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale, e.g., “When I am treated unfairly, I will retaliate in a different way”), general creative behavioral tendencies (the Runco Ideational Behavior Scale, e.g., “I have some ideas for new inventions”), aggression (the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire), Dark Triad traits expressed as a single joint composite score (the Dirty Dozen (the Moral Identity Measures).

    Students with more unique malicious solutions to challenges developed more destructive solutions. Also, had more strong malevolent behavioral inclinations, according to the findings. Students with more unique malicious solutions exhibited more significant Dark Triad personality traits and were more violent.

    Also, students who could imagine more detrimental hostile solutions exhibited more inventive behavioral tendencies. Greater levels of malicious behavior were associated with higher levels of creativity and violence.

    Further Analysis on People With Dark Traits

    Subsequent analysis revealed that males were better than females at devising novel malicious solutions. However, this difference vanished when malevolent behavioral patterns were taken into account. Students who were younger and more imaginative found more detrimental answers to challenges.

    Subsequent analysis revealed that the relationship between the Dark Triad personality qualities and malicious behavioral tendencies may be achieved in part by their correlations with aggression and creative behavioral impulses. The relationship between malevolent behavioral tendencies and the originality of malicious solutions presented by students may be dependent on the person’s moral identity.

    “People with higher degrees of Dark Triad personality traits tend to have higher levels of aggression and general creativity behavioral inclinations, which then further cultivate their malevolent creativity behavioral tendencies. “At the behavioral level, malevolent creativity’s behavioral inclinations may be closer to originality than malevolent ideation’s harmfulness,” the study authors found.

    “The Dark Triad improves MCT originality [originality in the malevolent creativity task] through boosting malevolent creativity behavioral tendencies, but this mediation effect is only significant with low-to-medium moral identity. Based on the findings, building moral identity may be an effective method of preventing malevolent creativity.”


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    Things to Keep in Mind

    Individuals with dark traits have tendencies that are commonly perceived as bad or undesirable. This includes narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism. These attributes are often referred to as the “dark triad” or the “dark tetrad” when sadism is included.

    People with dark qualities are self-centered, manipulative, lack empathy, and are eager to abuse others for personal gain. They may also exhibit aggressive tendencies and a general disrespect for regulations and social standards.

    While having these traits may appear to be a disadvantage, some research suggests that people with dark traits may be more successful in particular sectors, such as politics or business, where cutthroat techniques are appreciated. This is not to say that these characteristics are desirable or that they ensure success.

    It is crucial to highlight that not all people with dark characteristics are dangerous or harmful. Many people may exhibit some of these characteristics to varying degrees without endangering others. Those with high or pathological amounts of these traits, on the other hand, may be more likely to engage in destructive or criminal activities.

    However, this research sheds light on the psychological basis of evil creativity. It does, however, have restrictions that must be considered. Because the study was conducted on university students, the results obtained from participants from other demographics may differ. Furthermore, no cause-and-effect inferences are permitted by the study design.

  • Why Women With Resources Rarely Agree, Studies Find

    Why Women With Resources Rarely Agree, Studies Find

    Studies show why women with ample available resources rarely agree or work with each other. A string of four experiments on undergraduate students found that women view other women as more competitive than males. This is in situations with sufficient resources.

    These findings were not observed in men or in circumstances of scarcity. The new study was published in the journal Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences.

    The competitiveness of women is a recurring motif in popular culture. Most of the time, it is inferred that this competitiveness occurs in times of shortage, such as when women compete for the same job (that not all of them can get).

    Although women in similar situations frequently compete with men, competition between women appears to pique the public’s interest considerably more.

    Women’s competition differs from men’s competition in that women choose to compete in more indirect ways. Indirect forms of competition include spreading false reports or eliminating a rival from a social group. According to research, women try to hide, mask, or deny their competitiveness with one another.

    The majority of the scientific work on female competition has concentrated on competing for romantic partners, although competition also occurs over financial and physical resources.

    Hannah K. Bradshaw and her colleagues wanted to see if the availability of resources affected how men and women perceived the competition of other men and women. They carried out a number of studies.


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    Studies Find Why Women With Resources Hardly Agree

    So, below are the studies conducted:

    The first study was an online poll meant to see if observers rated competitiveness differently between male, female, and mixed gender groups. There were 243 undergraduate students who were divided into two groups at random.

    One group read a text that described and asked them to picture an impoverished town. The other group read a piece that described a prosperous one. Participants next responded to survey questions on how frequently competitive interactions happened between females, males, and males and females in the environments they read about.

    The second study looked at whether people’s perceptions of others’ competition are influenced by their perceptions of scarcity.

    A group of 236 undergraduate students completed questionnaires. This was about their beliefs about resource scarcity in their environment (for example, “financial uncertainty is increasing,” “there aren’t enough jobs for everyone who needs them,” and “people don’t need to worry about resource availability because there is plenty to go around”).

    Following that, they were shown images of four males and four ladies and asked to rate their competitiveness. The researchers inferred same-gender and different-gender competitiveness based on the gender of the person in the photo. Also, the participant giving the competitiveness ratings.

    The third study included 119 female undergraduate students. Participants were randomized into two groups at random. One group was asked to provide reasons why they believe the economy is deteriorating. Also, on why resources are becoming limited (scarcity condition).

    The other group was asked to provide reasons why they believe the economy is improving (abundance condition). Following that, participants completed the competitiveness evaluation test utilized in the second study.

    The Fourth Study

    The purpose of the fourth study was to repeat the findings of the third study. The procedure was similar to that of the third study, except participants also performed extra tests after the procedure. The participants were 321 female undergraduate students.

    Under scarcity scenarios, participants expected the highest amount of rivalry to occur between males. This was followed by male-female and female-female competitiveness. according to the findings of the first study.

    In conditions of abundance, participants expected female-female competition to be the most pronounced. Also, male-female competition to be the least pronounced.

    The second study discovered no general impacts of resource scarcity or participant sex on judgments of the competitiveness of people in photos.

    Female participants with less prominent ideas about resource scarcity (i.e., those who believe their economic condition is better) viewed women in images as more competitive.

    Males with more prominent attitudes about resource scarcity (i.e., believing that their environment’s economic position is worse) assessed women in images as more competitive than males (in photos). Men with low levels of resource scarcity views and women with high levels of resource scarcity beliefs, on the other hand, regarded males and females in the images as equally competitive.

    In the third study, participants, all of whom were female, predicted that females in the images would be more competitive toward them than males (in the photos) in settings where resources were abundant. There were no differences in perceptions among those who envisioned a shortage condition, i.e., that the economy is deteriorating.

    Female participants in Research 4 judged females in images as more competitive than males, independent of resource abundance/scarcity.

    Conclusions On The Findings

    “Our findings demonstrate that women view same-sex others to be more competitive than cross-sex others in circumstances when resources are freely available. “Our research implies that when resources are plentiful, women may perceive their same-sex counterparts to have more competitive inclinations than their cross-sex peers,” the study’s authors found.

    Competition for resources among women can occur in a variety of contexts, including the job, social settings, and even inside families. This competition can be for a variety of resources, including material possessions, social standing, or access to suitable mates.

    According to research, women may compete with one another more indirectly than men, employing methods such as reputation management, gossip, and exclusion. This indirect competition can be motivated by a variety of motives, including a desire for social approval and a desire to secure resources for oneself and one’s children.

    It is crucial to highlight, however, that while competition for resources among women might exist, it is neither inevitable nor ubiquitous. Women often collaborate and create deep social relationships with one another. Furthermore, societal and cultural factors might alter the quantity and form of female competition in various circumstances.

    This research gives insight on critical facets of human social behavior. It does, however, have restrictions that must be considered. Interestingly, the research was carried out on undergraduate students at a somewhat upper-class private university. The outcomes for people from various socioeconomic origins may differ.

    Researchers also asked participants to estimate the competitiveness of others, thinking that people would strive to hide their own competitiveness. Yet, other people’s perceptions of competition may not translate into how competitive people behave in real-world settings.