Psychopathic Traits Linked to Support of Violent Social Change

Some interesting new research was recently published in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences by Polish researchers. Take a look at this excerpt from a Political Psychology post written by Eric W. Dolan about the research:

New research from Poland has found a link between antisocial tendencies and support for group violence. The study, which has been published in the scientific journal Personality and Individual Differences, suggests that people who lack consideration for others’ wellbeing are more prone to political radicalization.

The authors of the study conducted the research to bridge findings from two different areas of psychology.

“Social psychological research on collective action shows us the importance of group identification, perceived injustice or group efficacy in willingness to engage in actions on behalf of one’s group,” said study author Tomasz Besta of the University of Gdansk.

The research paper’s abstract:

We conducted a study to answer the question of whether personality characteristics of nonclinical psychopathy (disinhibition, meanness, boldness) are associated with support for radical collective action (CA) and acceptance of group violence (N = 877). We introduced CA in three contexts: (a) respondents answered the question about CA on behalf of the country, (b) for the Independence March and its right-wing participants, or (c) for the For Our Freedom and Yours march and its left-wing participants.

The results indicated that, of the three personality factors we examined, inhibition and meanness are associated with support for radical group actions (but not for moderate CA). Meanness is an important predictor of support for violent changes in the social system in the country. Disinhibition is related to support for non-normative activities for the right-wing and left-wing organisations.

Moreover, in the case of the right-wing demonstration, group identification was a moderator of the relationship between disinhibition and radical CA. These results are discussed in light of the interplay of individual differences, group dynamics and group norms that prescribe violent actions.