Narcissistic People With Psychopathic Traits Are More Attractive, According To A Study
They say first impressions are crucial, and rightly so Taking into account that time is money when making decisions, the first minutes in which we come into contact with an unknown person will lead us to decide to what extent they are attractive or repel us.
We simply cannot allow ourselves to examine each person in all their depth, paying attention to all their details and nuances, if we do not even know if it is worth spending our time on it.
When what we have to decide is whether or not the person in front of us is a potential partner, however, the paradox arises that we are trying to judge whether we can plan a life (or a few years) together based on information that we collect in very little time, with the first conversations. Maybe This apparent contradiction is what makes it possible for us to find attractive the people we should least count on when creating common projects.
And, although it may seem strange, a study published in the European Journal of Personality has come to the conclusion that narcissists and people with psychopathic traits have an advantage in speed dating and are perceived as more attractive than the rest.
The seductive power of the Dark Triad
For several years it has been known that there are three personality traits that, despite having bad press and being frowned upon on paper, are especially attractive. These three personality traits form the so-called Dark Triad, or dark triad, and are the following:
You will have realized that These traits don’t fit very well with anything that has to do with collective projects and the establishment of common objectives, which are fundamental pillars of family stability. However, from an evolutionary perspective it is very possible for people who only care about themselves to have reproductive success: they only have to manage to manipulate enough people to generate offspring and make them reproduce.
Thus, These personality traits could be inherited from generation to generation
In the study at hand, a team of researchers wanted to see to what extent these three personality traits could be related to greater success in a series of speed dating carried out under their supervision.
How does the study was realized?
First, the researchers selected 90 people (44 men and 46 women) between 18 and 32 years old. Once this group of volunteers was selected, they were given a questionnaire in which their scores were measured in both the Dark Triad traits and the personality traits of the Big Five test (extraversion, responsibility, kindness, emotional stability and openness to experience), which in other studies have been related to success in maintaining long-term relationships.
After filling out the questionnaires, the participants went on to conduct a series of speed dates with each other. In total, 691 speed dates were carried out, each lasting three minutes. After each date, participants filled out a form in which they rated the other person on several aspects, including their physical attractiveness, how eager they were to start a friendship with them, and the degree to which they would agree. I agree to have casual sex with her.
The scientists found a significant correlation between the psychopathy and narcissism score and the chances of being chosen for short relationships, both in men and women, and regardless of their degree of physical attractiveness. That is, the most narcissistic people with the most psychopathic traits were more desired as partners for short-term relationships. However, the correlation was inverse in the case of the trait of Machiavellianism.
Furthermore, the results reflected that women who obtained higher scores on physical attractiveness also tended to obtain higher scores on narcissism. As expected, the physical attractiveness variable had a powerful relationship with the chances of being chosen as a partner, especially in the case of women.
