Scientists Have Developed an IQ-Like Test for Evilness
As most of us have already learned the hard way, there are a lot of different kinds of jerks in the world. There are thin-skinned narcissists. Backstabbing go-getters. Manipulative drama queens. I could go on. And research suggests that toxic, morals-challenged types are over-represented in the business world. If you’re an work in this world, you unfortunately are probably going to come across quite a few of them.
But as diverse as this rogue’s gallery might seem, science claims all these nasty personality types actually boil down to a trio of unpleasant personality traits. These are often called the dark triad, which includes narcissism (inflated self-regard), Machiavellianism (willingness to use others for your own ends), and psychopathy (lack of empathy).
Different people score higher or lower on each of these traits, mixing and matching various types and degrees of nastiness into their own personal blend of toxicity. Which might remind you of something else. Intelligence, too, is made up of different components, such as verbal skill, logic, and spatial reasoning. Each of us has some blend of these abilities, and yet science has long claimed to be able to distill these skills down into a single number — your IQ.
Now, research claims scientists managed to do something similar for evilness.
