When faced with people with a clear tendency to deliberately harm others, emphasis is often placed on the causes and motivations behind their behavior. However, no less important are the consequences that their actions have for others; At the end of the day, those people are the victims.
In this article we will review the main psychological effects of dealing with evil people, placing emphasis on mental health.
Answering the question of what exactly it means to be an evil person is a task so complex that it goes beyond psychology as a science; Ultimately, it is more of a philosophical question. Specifically, one approached from the philosophy of ethics.
And in fact, in the behavioral sciences there is no clear consensus about what evil is or what the typical behaviors of evil people are (something that is not surprising, because defining these terms has political implications).
That is why in this article We are going to refer to evil people in general terms and understanding that they are those who present personality traits of the dark triad (“dark triad”), a set of psychological predispositions associated with antisocial behavior. Antisocial behavior is behavior that is carried out without wanting to preserve alliances and the good health of the social fabric in which one lives, but rather aimed at satisfying only one’s own desires from an individualistic value system.
The dark triad is so called because it includes three personality traits: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.
Narcissism
Narcissism is characterized by egocentrism, feelings of grandeur, pride and the need to impose one’s own authority About the others.
Psychopathy
Psychopathy includes impulsivity, lack of empathy and the ability to repent, selfishness, lack of sensitivity towards others and disregard for rules and laws.
Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism It has to do with the tendency to manipulate others and opportunism focused on satisfying one’s own needs and desires.
How do evil people influence us psychologically?
As we have seen, the traits of the dark triad, although they overlap with each other in some aspects, outline a type of behavior with a great capacity to harm others. Here we will see what are the psychological effects that people leave behind when dealing with others.
1. Traumas
Trauma is common, especially in cases where abuse occurs, either through physical violence or through other strategies aimed at causing psychological pain. These psychopathological complications They are expressed through intrusive and recurring thoughts, unexpected peaks of anxiety, fear of carrying out normal daily actions
2. Damaged self-esteem
Many people who are easy to manipulate others dedicate themselves to making their victims doubt their abilities, to the point that they They assume they are useless This is mostly done through what is known as gaslighting.
3. Social isolation
Many evil people They demand exclusive dedication to their partners or friends so that its victims become increasingly socially isolated and, therefore, in a situation of special vulnerability and feeling of loneliness.
If psychological manipulation becomes fully consolidated, it gives rise to emotional dependence. This occurs when the victim She begins to value everything depending on whether it will give her validation from the person who manipulates her or, on the contrary, if it gives her reasons to get angry or even break up the relationship.
You may be interested: “Emotional dependence: pathological addiction to your romantic partner”
5. Fear
Finally, fear is another of the most common psychological elements in victims of these types of attacks and manipulations. Evil people are good at exploiting the insecurities and vulnerabilities of others, or sometimes they don’t even put effort into finding out about them and opt for threats of physical attacks. The person fears upsetting someone who makes their life impossible, and therefore adopts a more or less submissive attitude
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