True evil is a terrifying concept. But thanks to a new scientific breakthrough,
researchers believe they have identified a so-called Dark Factor which allows them
to quantify evil tendencies in individuals.
But just what is this Dark Factor
and how does it work? Well, that's where things get interesting - and complicated.
"If you only knew the power of the dark side!"
At the beginning of the 20th century, psychologist Charles Spearman identified what he called the
g-factor, a general factor of intelligence. The idea is that smart people aren't just smart about
one thing, they are just smart in general. So if you gave a smart person any kind of intelligence
test, they would be likely to score highly on it regardless of what kind of test it was.
This is termed "indifference to the indicator." Well, a few years ago,
some researchers at the University of Copenhagen started wondering if evil,
like intelligence, is also indifferent to the indicator, and if there were a general factor
of evil that, just like a general factor of intelligence, connected all kinds of evil.
And thus, the Dark Factor was born. The idea: that someone who scores highly on a test that
charts evil traits would also score highly on any other kind of test for evil traits.
In order to do this, the researchers first had to define just what these dark traits are. Now,
according to Psychology Today, there have traditionally been three major evil traits:
narcissism, Machiavellianism , and psychopathy. Collectively, they are known as the "dark triad."
But the researchers at the University of Copenhagen
actually identified nine traits for their study:
Egoism
Machiavellianism Moral Disengagement
Narcissism Psychological Entitlement
Psychopathy Sadism
Self-Interest Spitefulness
The results? According to Scientific American, the study indicated that there is indeed a
common D-Factor, as these traits are related to each other strongly enough
that even randomly eliminating half of the questions didn't change the outcome.
So testing for some of these things essentially tested for all of them; they argue that since
all of these dark tendencies come from the same theoretically fluid attribute, the Dark Factor,
having one of these tendencies makes you more likely to exhibit the other traits.
What does this mean in practical terms? Well, there's no uniform description
that predicts exactly how those with high D-factor will behave,
but the University of Copenhagen study suggests a few key components you can find
in these individuals' personalities. The study describes the D-factor as
"[...] the general tendency to maximize one's individual utility — disregarding,
accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others — accompanied
by beliefs that serve as justifications."
Let's break that down.
First, "maximizing one's individual utility" basically means they do things for their own gain.
"Disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others"
says while they do things for their own gain, they do it regardless of how it negatively
affects others or, sometimes, to intentionally affect others in a negative way. And finally,
those people with a high D factor hold core beliefs that justify anything they choose to do.
These individuals may actively commit harm by cheating in relationships or committing fraud.
They might passively allow harm by not warning you that a burglar is breaking into your house. They
might orchestrate an elaborate chain of events that leads to your spouse kicking you out on the
street. They might even cause the deaths of other people. High D factor can take on many evil forms.
However, it's also important to note that just because you might occasionally exhibit
some of these traits or behaviors doesn't necessarily mean you're evil or have a
high D-Factor. Feeling spiteful when someone harms you doesn't mean you're
doomed to the far circles of Hell, it just means you're human.
"Because you're not quite evil enough."
"Well, it's true. You're quasi-evil."
The D-factor is a part of the concept of personality in general,
a spectrum of sorts that can be high, low, or hover in a psychologically gray area,
and is likely useful only for psychologists attempting to diagnose or treat patients.
So if you're not committing evil acts on a daily basis, you're probably not an evil person - you
might just be having a bad day, or maybe you're a jerk, but you're probably not outright evil.
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