Those who (enjoy to) hurt: The influence of dark personality traits on animal- and human directed sadistic pleasure

Lobbestael, J., Wolf, F., Gollwitzer, M.,

& Baumeister, R. F. (2024).

Journal of Behavior Therapy and

Experimental Psychiatry, 85, 101963.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2024.101963

Abstract

Background and objectives

Sadistic pleasure – gratuitous enjoyment from inflicting pain on others – has devastating interpersonal and societal consequences. The current knowledge on non-sexual, everyday sadism – a trait that resides within the general population – is scarce. The present study therefore focussed on personality correlates of sadistic pleasure. It investigated the relationship between the Dark Triad traits, and both dispositional and state-level sadistic pleasure.

Methods

N = 120 participants filled out questionnaires to assess their level of Dark Triad traits, psychopathy subfactors, and dispositional sadism. Then, participants engaged in an animal-directed task in which they were led to believe that they were killing bugs; and in a human-directed task where they could ostensibly noise blasts another participant. The two behavioral tasks were administered within-subjects, in randomized order. Sadistic pleasure was captured by increases in reported pleasure from pre-to post-task.

Results

All Dark Triad traits related to increased dispositional sadism, with psychopathy showing the strongest link. The coldheartedness psychopathy subscale showed a unique combination with both self-reported sadism and increased pleasure following bug grinding.

Limitations

Predominantly female and student sample, limiting generalizability of findings.

Conclusions

Out of all Dark Triad components, psychopathy showed the strongest link with gaining pleasure from hurting others. The results underscore the differential predictive value of psychopathy’s subcomponents for sadistic pleasure. Coldheartedness can be considered especially disturbing because of its unique relationship to deriving joy from irreversible harm-infliction (i.e. killing bugs). Our findings further establish psychopathy – and especially its coldheartedness component – as the most adverse Dark Triad trait.

Here are some thoughts:

The research suggests that psychopathy, particularly its coldheartedness component, is the strongest predictor of sadistic pleasure. This has implications for the assessment and treatment of individuals with sadistic tendencies. Psychologists may find it useful to specifically evaluate psychopathy and its subcomponents when assessing such patients, and therapeutic interventions may need to specifically target psychopathic traits, especially coldheartedness. The study also found that psychopathy, but not narcissism or Machiavellianism, was associated with sadistic pleasure, suggesting that individuals high in psychopathy may derive pleasure from acts of violence. This has implications for assessing the risk of violent behavior in clinical and forensic settings. Future research could explore how other personality traits outside the Dark Triad relate to sadistic pleasure, and examine the impact of contextual factors on the personality-sadism link.

Communal Narcissism and Sadism as Predictors of Everyday Vigilantism

Chen, F. X., Ok, E., & Aquino, K. (2023).

Personality Science, 4(1).

https://doi.org/10.5964/ps.10523

Abstract

Vigilantes monitor their social environment for signs of wrongdoing and administer unauthorized punishment on those who they perceive to be violating laws, social norms, or moral standards. We investigated whether the willingness to become a vigilante can be predicted by grandiose self-perceptions about one's communality (communal narcissism) and enjoyment of cruelty (sadism). As hypothesized, findings demonstrated both variables to be positively related to becoming a vigilante as measured by reports of past and anticipated vigilante behavior (Study 1) and by dispositional tendencies toward vigilantism (Studies 1 and 2). We also found communal narcissism and sadism predicted the perceived effectiveness of vigilante actions exhibited by others (Study 2) and the intention to engage in vigilantism after witnessing a norm violation (Study 3). Finally, Study 3 also demonstrated that the tendency for communal narcissists and sadists to become a vigilante might vary based on the expected consequences of the observed norm violation.

Relevance Statement

A prosocial orientation and cruelty seem antithetical. However, our results showed that these traits may converge in predicting individuals’ tendency to become a vigilante, marked by imposing unauthorized punishments on others.

Key Insights

• We study factors that predict willingness to become a vigilante.
• We found that communal narcissism predicted vigilante tendencies.
• Sadism was also a significant predictor of vigilantism.
• Effects hold even after controlling for demographic covariates.

Some thoughts as a clinical psychologist

This research on communal narcissism and sadism as factors in vigilantism is interesting from a clinical perspective. It sheds light on the motivations behind individuals who take justice into their own hands, often in ways that can be harmful.

The focus on communal narcissism, where people believe their group is superior and deserves special treatment, resonates with our understanding of in-group/out-group dynamics. These individuals might see themselves as righteous defenders of their community's morals, justifying their aggressive actions.

The link to sadism, the enjoyment of inflicting suffering, suggests a darker side to vigilantism. It's important to consider how a desire for control or even punishment might fuel some vigilante behavior, potentially escalating situations and overshadowing any sense of justice.

‘Everyday Sadists’ Among Us

By Jan Hoffman
The New York Times
Originally published September 16, 2013

Here is an excerpt:

Those who enjoy inflicting at least moderate pain on others, directly or vicariously, mingle with us daily. Think mean girls, taunting a classmate to commit suicide. Or the professor who grills a squirming, clueless student, lips curled in a small, savage smile.

Delroy L. Paulhus, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia, calls such people “everyday sadists.”

“They exist on a spectrum,” he said. “It could be at a hockey game and your guy is pummeling the opponent into hamburger and people are standing up having orgasms, to taking revenge on those you think deserve it, to schadenfreude.”

But acknowledging that sadists regularly cross our paths is unsettling, said Scott O. Lilienfeld, a professor of psychology at Emory University, who studies personality disorders. “We prefer to think, ‘There’s sadists, and then there’s the rest of us.’ ”

The entire story is here.