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Heartlessness, a tendency to lie and manipulate others, which are typical features of a sociopath, are commonly found in people who notoriously break the safety rules introduced during the coronavirus pandemic. Research carried out in Brazil and Poland has shown that social rigors also negate narcissistic and psychopathic personalities.
- The sociopath can be characterized as a soulless and insidious person, with a tendency to manipulate others
- People with similar personality traits do not accept the safety rules of the coronavirus pandemic
- The above conclusions are confirmed by studies conducted, among others, by in Brazil and Poland
These conclusions are based on a study of 1600 people in Brazil, the country that ranks second in the world in terms of COVID-19 (3,8 million). Polish psychologists made similar findings. Researchers from the University of Warsaw and the SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Poznań found that people with psychopathic or narcissistic traits are more prone to breaking hygiene rules, preventing the spread of infections, and accumulating excess supplies, e.g. toilet paper.
Who doesn’t wear masks? Here’s what scientists in Brazil found
The Brazilian research was conducted with the team by Professor Fabiano Koich Miguel, a lecturer at the Universidade Estadual de Londrina in the south of the country.
19 Brazilian adults were asked to comply with COVID-1578 restrictions. The question was: “Do you think it is necessary to use the face mask / social distancing / hand washing more often?” Each respondent had to additionally perform several personality tests on-line. Their results determined the allocation to one of the two groups.
The first group, the so-called the empathy group consisted of 1200 people. Its members showed interest in the feelings and motivations of others. The second group of 400 showed signs of antisocial personality disorder – sociopathy or psychopathy. Its members tended to seek personal gain in contacts with others. They felt “detached from society” and were prone to engage in hostile behavior. And it was they who more often refused to wear masks and obey the rules of social distancing.
The anti-social group was more callous, hostile, impulsive and irresponsible. They more often resorted to manipulation and risky activities than people from the empathetic group.
The researchers also divided the participants into four groups depending on how they perceived the restriction (based on what the person thought was important).
The results showed that the anti-social group believed that COVID-19-related restrictions were not necessary and therefore most likely denied them. The findings of Professor Miguel’s team, published in the journal “Personality and Individual Differences”, also indicate that this group minimized the severity of the pandemic, and compliance with the restrictions was more difficult for people with sociopathic features.
“ Our findings indicate that anti-social traits, especially lower levels of empathy and higher heartlessness and lies, combined with a propensity to take risks, are associated with non-compliance with restrictions, say Brazilian scientists.
The team also concluded that people with anti-social tendencies can pose a threat to themselves and others. Although Professor Miguel said in a statement for the Times newspaper that this discovery should be approached with caution.
“We can’t say that someone doesn’t want to wear a mask just because they’re a sociopath,” said the professor. – Some people do not wear masks for health reasons, for example.
At the same time, Miguel suggested that the number of infections in Brazil is not declining as people are following the example of President Bolsonaro, who is skeptical about the effectiveness of wearing masks and the coronavirus in general.
Demonstrations against wearing masks attract crowds of thousands. This was the case recently in Berlin. In central London, a rally was held in July, before face-covering in shops and supermarkets became compulsory. People gathered on the Keep Britain Free march were carrying signs that read: “No masks.”
Psychotherapist and protest organizer Leah Butler-Smith told a reporter for Sky News that the command to cover the face “doesn’t make sense” and the government is trying to “scare people.”
The results of the Brazilian study confirm two others, previously published in the same journal. In the second half of April, scientists from the University of Warsaw surveyed 263 people online. In contrast, psychologists from the SWPS University in Poznań asked 755 people in the second half of March, at the beginning of the Polish lockdown. The latter report is only one of the studies conducted on the behavior of Poles in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Another project was initiated by three psychologists working at the same university. In the name of popularizing science, they decided to share the results of their research with a wider audience. They created a blog (www.covid19psychologia.com) where they publish their works.
It turns out that people with psychopathic and narcissistic personality traits are more likely to ignore the limitations of a pandemic. They disregard the command to wear masks, wash hands, social distancing and stay home. Scientists believe this is because they either don’t believe the preventative measures are working or they don’t care about the consequences of ignoring health-promoting ordinances.
Research also found that psychopathic and narcissistic people were more likely to stockpile during a lockdown. It may be due to greed, a desire to stay ahead of the competition, and an exaggerated sense of authority.
Most people, if not all, display similar traits from time to time, but then feel remorse. One in 100 people is narcissistic or has a personality disorder (NPD), and the proportion is similar for psychopaths.
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