Unlocking the Mystery: What Science Reveals About Your Darkest Impulses

Psychologists talk about something called the dark triad. This concept includes three troubling traits: psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. But there’s more to it. Other traits like egoism, sadism, and spitefulness also fit into this picture. Researchers believe there’s a deeper, shared root of these dark traits.

In 2018, psychologists from Germany and Denmark introduced a new term: the Dark Factor of Personality, or D factor. This concept helps explain why certain negative personality traits often appear together.

The D factor relates to an idea called the g factor, established by psychologist Charles Spearman over a century ago. He found that people who did well in one type of intelligence test tended to do well in others, suggesting a general intelligence factor. Similarly, the D factor shows that dark personality traits share a common core.

Psychologist Ingo Zettler from the University of Copenhagen stated that like intelligence, dark traits reveal a shared tendency within individuals. In a detailed study with over 2,500 participants, Zettler and his team looked at nine specific dark traits: egoism, Machiavellianism, moral disengagement, narcissism, entitlement, psychopathy, sadism, self-interest, and spitefulness.

Participants responded to statements like: “I know I am special because everyone tells me so” and “Hurting people would be exciting.” Analyzing these responses, the researchers found that while each dark trait is unique, they overlap due to the underlying D factor. This means that one person might show high levels of narcissism, while another might be more psychopathic, but all can be traced back to the shared darkness of the D factor.

Understanding a person’s D factor could help predict their behavior. Zettler noted that knowing this score might assist in evaluating the risk of harmful actions, whether it involves violence or deceit, particularly in corporate environments.

If you’re curious about your own D factor, there’s an online questionnaire available where you can find out your score.

Future research could lead to a better understanding of malevolent behavior in society. Insights from studying the D factor could improve psychological assessments and therapy methods, helping to address severe issues like violence and dishonesty.

The findings were published in the journal Psychological Review.