The study of Evil or Ponerology
John Stuart Mill, stated: “Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.
The Dark Triad
The Dark Triad, sometimes called the Dark Tetrad (with the addition of sadism), consists of psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism (and sometimes Sadism). These personality traits, which are usually considered malevolent and socially aversive, are described below.
Narcissists have a great need for admiration and believe they are very special. Narcissists feel entitled, lack empathy, are frequently envious of others (and believe others envy them), and crave high status and power.
Psychopaths, like narcissists, tend to manipulate and exploit others. However, compared to narcissists, psychopaths are typically more callous and ruthless. They are dangerous opportunists who lack guilt and remorse. Psychopaths can be quite impulsive and aggressive, sometimes committing very violent crimes (e.g., rape, murder). Nevertheless, many succeed at concealing their dark side. These psychopaths might come across as likable, confident, charming, and charismatic. Psychopaths are also captivating storytellers. Some research suggests there are ways to identify psychopaths based on their communication pattern.
Machiavellians (named after Niccolò Machiavelli), like psychopaths, are manipulative, act dishonestly, and often lack guilt or remorse. However, unlike psychopaths and their tendency to be aggressive and lack realistic long-term goals, individuals high in Machiavellianism are cautious long-term strategists.
Machiavellians express no concern for morals and ethics when pursuing their selfish goals. So, though not necessarily immoral, they are amoral. Specifically, the tendencies associated with Machiavelli’s philosophy promote “antisocial methods of goal attainment,” plus “greed and selfishness, which are justified through rationalizations surrounding expediency and bottom-line goals.”
Dark Personalities
Unethical and hurtful behaviors are often attributed to dark personalities or dark traits. So, what are dark personalities? Dark personality traits, often called the Dark Triad, usually consist of psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. (When called the Dark Tetrad, they also include sadism.)
Detailed descriptions of dark personalities are beyond the scope of this post, but in short:
Narcissists are arrogant and entitled.
Machiavellians tend to be calculating and deceptive.
Psychopaths are disinhibited and callous.
Sadists are cruel.
Sadists are sometimes confused with psychopaths. However, unlike psychopaths, who typically behave cruelly when provoked or when it serves an instrumental purpose, sadists enjoy cruelty itself.
As an aside, it should be mentioned that many people with dark traits experience considerable success in domains that value such personality traits (e.g., a coldhearted person working as a police officer).
Recent research suggests there exists a common core of dark personality traits, called the Dark Factor of Personality (D).
Dark Factor of Personality (D) may be defined as a “general tendency to maximize one’s individual utility—disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others—accompanied by beliefs that serve as justifications.”
The Dark Factor of Personality (D) seems to be at the heart of dark personalities and socially offensive psychopathology.
What these unpleasant traits and dark personalities appear to have in common include the following:
Overvaluing oneself.
Devaluing others.
Subjective justifications for the above.
A more personal view follows:
Psychopaths and sociapaths murders
When I was young I heard about two brothers who killed a child just to find out how it would feel, that made me crazy afraid. At such a young age, I couldn’t understand that the world was populated by evil people, then to find out such innocent looking children harboured such evil thoughts and actions, was terrible. And frightening. Later I found out that the world is a harsh place, full of evil people.
When I went to Paris to study there was a true story of a Japanese student who had killed and eaten a young French woman, just to find out how a “French woman tasted.” Recently in Montreal there was a man who drugged a Chinese student, killed him and then ate him. Of course there are few and far between; psychopaths and sociapaths are rare. Yet the general population is fascinated by such evil people making them into anti-heroes. The Talented Ripley is a case in point, where the evil perpetuator becames the hero of the story (stories). More recent TV shows and movies glorify such fictional characters as Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Dexter.
Narcissist personality disorder
Machiavellian personality disorder
This is from psychcentral.com: here
Machiavellians tend to be calculating and deceptive.
“In the 16th century, political adviser and philosopher Niccoló Machiavelli wrote “The Prince,” a manifesto of sorts that emphasized deception, wickedness, and cunning as being more important to politics than virtue and morality.” “It is more important to be feared than loved,” he wrote.
“A Machiavellian personality is manipulative and strategic,” says Aimee Daramus, a clinical psychologist in Chicago. “When they have a goal, they think through how to achieve it very skillfully, but without any consideration for the feelings of other people involved.”
They might also use manipulative behaviors to get what they want, as well as deception or exploitation. They often come off as unemotional.
Many of them are out of touch with their emotions or have alexithymia, which is problems feeling emotions.
Sadists
In a recent study led by Jean Decety, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Chicago, researchers looked at a personality trait often confused with psychopathy: sexual sadism... Decety’s study suggests that sadists seem to be especially tuned in to what their victims are feeling — in fact, they experience it vicariously and are aroused by it. Psychopaths, on the other hand, tend to be indifferent to the emotions of others. “If you live with a psychopath and you cry because that person was unpleasant to you, that probably doesn’t matter to him. He is not moved and doesn’t care, because he doesn’t feel anything about what you feel,” says Decety. “The sadists do feel. They understand that the victim is in pain.”
Those who are high in sadism get a “kick” out of inflicting unnecessary pain on others. O'meara, Davies, and Hammond (2011) defined sadistic personality as “… a person who humiliates others, shows a longstanding pattern of cruel or demeaning behavior to others, or intentionally inflicts physical, sexual, or psychological pain or suffering on others in order to assert power and dominance or for pleasure and enjoyment”.
Pedophilia
A lesser evil, if that can be called lesser, are men and women who abuse young children; Pedophilia. I am reading the book “Lolita” that details the thoughts and actions of such a person. There have been famous men who have shown these tendencies. I can cite a few; Roman Polanski, Charlie Chaplin and J. D. Salinger. They all showed predilections for young children. They had relations with and even married young women. It goes against all societal norms, yet young children are often abused by all kinds of people (parents, step parents, brothers and sisters, teachers etc), without any consequences. Until recently in France it was ‘culturally’ accepted. The leading lights of French intellectuals (Simon de Beauvoir etc) all lobbied for relaxing of child protection, arguing for sex with children. See more here.
But things are changing : French lawmakers have given their final approval to legislation that defines sex with a child under the age of 15 as rape, without having to prove absence of consent
Then we have incest…
“Almost one in 10 French people have been victims of incest, according to a recent survey by French polling institute Ipsos.”
The following texts are from Psychology Today from articles written by Arash Emamzadeh:
