A psychologist explains the difference between a sadist and a psychopath

For most people, the word “bad guy” is enough to describe a set of personality traits that can put us on “high psychological alertness.” But for psychologists, it’s just a starting point.

Terms such as narcissist, Machiavellian, sociopath, and ruthless exploiter were developed by personality psychologists to define the complexity of socially dangerous personality types.

Two dark personalities that are often confused in popular non-scientific writing are sadistic personality and the psychopathic personality.

Recent papers published in European Journal of Psychological Assessment It shows two distinct differences. The authors, led by Delroy Paulus of the University of British Columbia, Canada, write:

“There is growing consensus that the characteristic element of sadism is the reward for cruelty. Psychopaths are indifferent to the suffering of others, whereas sadists are fascinated by the suffering of others. It may exploit cruelty for its instrumental value, the latter valuing its intrinsic reward.”

Additionally, research suggests that:

• psychopath Impulsive, irritable, and prone to fearlessness
• psychopath May inherently be less concerned about fear and possible retaliation
• sadist Operate from a safe distance where rewards can be maintained and the threat of retaliation is minimized
• sadist We often flex our toxic tendencies compensatory, such as by watching violent sports, violent media, or live fistfights.

“For us, these findings suggest that psychopathic content is of paramount importance for directly engaging with victims,” said the researchers.

The authors further differentiated these two personality types by the following scale, developed through a series of self-report studies (responses are indicated on a scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”). It has been).

sadism scale

1. I get excited when I see fistfights.
2. I love violent movies and video games.
3. It’s funny how idiots fall off their faces.
4. I like watching intense sports.
5. Some deserve to suffer.
6. Just kidding, I’ve said mean things on social media.
7. I know how to hurt people with just words.

psychopathy scale

1. People often say I’m out of control.
2. I tend to fight the authorities and their rules.
3. I have been in more fights than most people of my age and gender.
4. I tend to dig deeper and ask questions later.
5. I got in trouble with the law.
6. Sometimes you come across dangerous situations.
7. Anyone who messes with me will surely regret it.

Some researchers have argued that sadism and psychopathy are closely related to the merits of separation, but the creators of these scales disagree. They show that through a series of sophisticated statistical grouping procedures, people’s responses can be analyzed in a meaningful way. Also, by separating sadism from psychopathy, other dark personality types such as narcissism and Machiavellianism become more visible.

This, they argue, could help clinicians and personality psychologists identify such traits in clinical and preclinical patient populations.

Speculating how these dark personality types fit into a wider range of personality traits, the authors focus on the ‘honesty-humility’ aspect of personality as a starting point. Honesty and humility reflect individual differences in honesty, fairness, avoidance of greed, and humility. People with high honesty and humility tend to be honest, sincere, and humble. People of this lower dimension can become more selfish and manipulative.

“Dark Tetrad traits do not fall on the same level as broader personality factors.” [..] But it fits in one of them, ”the author concludes.

If you would like to take a sadism or psychopathy assessment and receive your results, please click the following link. Dark Tetrad Personality Test