The four US states where psychopaths are most likely to live... are YOU living near one?
Scientists have uncovered the US states where people are more likely to have 'dark' traits.
Researchers measured four traits — narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy and sadism — across all 50 states, using data from at least 100 participants in each.
Nevada, Louisiana, New York and Texas scored among the highest when it came to these devious characteristics.
The study suggested that higher levels of dark traits in certain areas may be influenced by unfavorable societal conditions, such as poverty, crime, inequality, and scarcity of resources, which can foster dark traits.
Nevada scored the highest likely due to its gambling culture linked to risky behavior, while South Dakota suffers from high poverty and inequality, poor health care and limited resources.
New York and Texas experience stark economic inequality, with extreme wealth right next to poverty, which may have attributed to the high score.
However, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and Maine are among the states that scored the lowest in dark traits.
These states typically enjoy more favorable societal conditions, such as higher education and income, better healthcare and strong social services.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, who asked thousands of people to answer a survey via their own website.
The data of 144,576 Americans was collected from February 2, 2019 to February 19, 2024.
To measure aversive societal conditions (ASC), the team creator an indicator based on corruption, inequality, poverty and violence.
They used Census Bureau data on inequality and poverty, homicide rates and Justice Department corruption convictions, Newsweek reported.
Other states that scored high included Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, states with high crime rates, poverty and worse access healthcare.
California also made the list as it has some of the widest income gaps in the country, especially in major urban areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco, where wealthy tech and entertainment sectors coexist with large populations facing poverty and homelessness.
Certain areas in California also struggle with higher crime rates, gang activity and drug-related issues, which may contribute to increased suspicion, aggression or defensive behaviors among residents.
The team found a small but significant link between a state's ASC score and the average Dark Factor of Personality (D) score of its people.
The study suggested that higher levels of dark traits in certain areas may be influenced by unfavorable societal conditions, such as poverty, crime , inequality, and scarcity of resources, which can foster dark traits
Alaska, Oregon and much of the Rocky Mountain states scored the opposite.
Experts have suggested that the lower D scores in Alaska, Oregon, and many Rocky Mountain states can be attributed to a confluence of geographical isolation, cultural heritage emphasizing individualism and resilience and social environments that promote cooperation and adaptability.
This pattern remained nearly the same after we controlled for age and gender, researchers said.
The team also found that the conditions in US state, measured by the ASC index, are related to people's aversive personalities about 20 years later.
This supports the idea that a society's environment can help shape a person's traits and adds to what is known about how aversive personalities develop.
'This is to be expected as both genetic and other socioecological factors likely also affect individuals' aversive personality,' researchers shared in the study published in . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
'Moreover, even relatively small effects can be cumulative in nature, so the relation between ASC and D may have important consequences at scale, especially because higher aversive personality levels imply notable costs for others and/or society.'
Professor Ingo Zettler told Newsweek that he and his team were curious if 'adverse societal conditions contribute to the proliferation of selfish, egoistic and other traits.'
'Aversive personality traits are associated with behaviors such as aggression, cheating and exploitation, and thus with high social costs,' he added.
'Therefore, even small variations can lead to large differences in how societies function.'
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