Women really DO love a bad boy: Men with psychopathic traits are rated as more attractive, study finds
From Christian Bale in American Psycho to Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, psychopaths in films are often played by very handsome actors.
And according to a new study, this is no coincidence.
Researchers from Hunan Normal University have revealed that men with psychopathic traits are rated by women as more attractive.
In their study, the researchers showed over 500 women photos of men with varying degrees of Dark Triad traits - narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy.
The women were asked to rate the men for attractiveness and trustworthiness.
The results revealed that men with high Dark Triad traits were seen as both more trustworthy and more attractive.
'In short-term cooperative settings, individuals with high Dark Triad traits tend to inspire more trust,' said study author, Dr Qi Wu.
'[This is] partly due to being seen as more attractive based on their facial features.'
Psychopathy has been widely studied for decades.
For example, previous studies have uncovered a link between the condition and eye-gaze, sadism, and being single.
However, until now, the link between psychopathy and trustworthiness has remained largely unstudied.
To address this research gap, the team enlisted 592 participants, who were split across four studies.
In the first study, participants were shown neutral facial photos of men with varying levels of Dark Triad traits, and asked to rate them for trustworthiness.
The second study was a trust game, while the third centred on another facial evluation taks - this time requiring participants to rate the men for dominance, extraversion, and attractiveness.
Finally, the fourth study repeated tasks from the second and third studies, involving different participants.
The results revealed that, across all four studies, men with high Dark Triad traits were rated as more trustworthy.
Surprisingly, traits like dominance and extraversion did not play a big role in this effect.
'Notably, their faces still prompt greater trust even when other traits like dominance, extraversion, and attractiveness are accounted for, suggesting facial features have a unique influence on how trustworthy people are perceived,' Dr Wu added.
The study comes shortly after scientists found a link between psychopathy and 'sadism' – deriving pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering or humiliation on others.
Everyday examples of sadism include trolling people online, killing video game characters, killing bugs and even sticking pins on voodoo dolls.
So if you engage in these sadistic behaviours – even if it's just making other people feel embarrassed online – you could be a psychopath.
WOULD YOU KNOW HOW TO SPOT A PSYCHOPATH?
Psychopaths display different traits depending on their disorder.
Common signs include superficial charm, a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others and a lack of remorse and empathy.
But despite the popular association, not all psychopaths become killers.
Experts claim people usually find psychopaths intriguing, but can't put their finger on why.
This is down to incongruous behaviour because psychopaths tend to do a lot of acting to deceive, or mimic normal reactions, sometimes changing their views and reactions quickly.
For example, Self-professed psychopath Jacob Wells said that upon meeting someone, he tries to become 'the most interesting person they know' and presumably adopts suitable interests and responses to do this.
His response also gives away another common trait - a grandiose notion of self-worth - in that he can be the most interesting person in the room.
Psychopaths occasionally tend to exhibit unconvincing emotional responses, with slip-ups including tone of voice or body language.
This may be because they are unable to understand emotions such as fear and love, but can mimic them.
Generally psychopaths' 'emotions' are shallow and short-lived and there is a manipulative ulterior motive to showing them.
For example, Mr Wells said he offers to do favours and tells false secrets to people to gain their complete trust.
He also displays insincere charm - another trait associated with psychopaths.
He says: 'I keep secrets, and tell them fake secrets to further gain their trust, and once they trust me enough, I ask for favours, reminding them of the favours I did them. I can get literally anything from them, which is incredibly useful.'
Psychopaths typically display an incredible ability to manipulate others and sometimes take pleasure in doing so.
Psychopaths often have an air of superiority about them, perhaps shown by Mr Wells' belief he can spot other psychopaths
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
World's largest Legoland set to open in Shanghai
SHANGHAI, June 20 (Reuters) - One of the star attractions at Legoland Shanghai, which officially opens on July 5, is likely to be a mini replica of the Shanghai waterfront and skyscrapers of the Lujiazui financial district, all built in the colourful plastic bricks. The Shanghai resort, which will be the world's biggest Legoland so far and the first in China, features eight themed sections that will feel familiar to fans of Lego. They include Ninjago, Lego Friends and Monkie Kid lands, in which classic Lego pieces are brought to life and supersized - though not big enough to meet everyone's expectations. "I thought it would be huge, but it turned out to be half of the scale I dreamed ... But the attractions are beyond my expectation," said Lyu Xiaole, a very grown-up seven-year-old whose family were among those able to get limited tickets for a pre-opening visit on Friday. China's economy has been hit by weak consumer spending in recent years amid a prolonged property slump and high youth unemployment, but Legoland Shanghai will be counting on resilient domestic travel and "experience" spending which have remained strong. Legoland Shanghai is operated by a joint venture between Merlin Entertainments, which runs Legoland parks around the world, and the Shanghai Jinshan District local government. The replica of downtown Shanghai and the city's waterfront is housed in the "Miniland" building at the site, where skyscrapers face the colonial era splendour of buildings along Shanghai's famed Bund promenade. The Miniland creations took 168,000 hours to complete, using more than 20 million bricks. "I think it's best to play Lego in Legoland because I have much less Lego at my place," said seven-year-old Shen Jieqi. Lego, the Danish family-owned toymaker that produces the bricks, is a familiar name in China where it has more than 400 stores. In Shanghai, Legoland will offer another leisure space in the city for those who can afford it. Tickets will start from 319 yuan ($44.46) in low season and up to 599 yuan on peak days. "We came very early in the morning. The atmosphere in the park is very joyful. The staff are full of passion," said Huang Xuanhua, 44, who lives close by the resort in Shanghai's Jinshan district and visited on Friday. "It has been a joyful day." ($1 = 7.1756 Chinese yuan renminbi)
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Revealed: The AI chatbot requests that cause the most carbon emissions
A new study reveals that every query to large language models like ChatGPT consumes energy and generates carbon emissions. Complex reasoning questions, such as those in abstract algebra or philosophy, lead to significantly higher carbon emissions, up to six times more than simpler queries. Models designed for explicit reasoning processes produce substantially more carbon dioxide, with some generating up to 50 times more emissions than concise response models. The study highlights an "accuracy-sustainability trade-off," where highly accurate AI models often result in greater energy consumption and carbon footprint. Researchers recommend that users reduce emissions by prompting AI for concise answers and reserving high-capacity models for tasks that genuinely require their advanced capabilities.
The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
New blood test could transform chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis
Scientists have identified a potential blood test that could provide the first reliable diagnosis for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Currently, ME is diagnosed by ruling out other illnesses, a lengthy process that can take years for patients. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh compared blood samples from ME patients and healthy individuals, identifying 116 "biomarkers" linked to chronic inflammation, insulin resistance, and liver dysfunction. This breakthrough challenges the perception that ME is psychological, with Professor Chris Ponting stating that evidence is visible in patients' blood. While promising, the research is still in its early stages, and further work is required before a definitive diagnostic test can be guaranteed.
