- A new study suggests people with dark traits could be more attractive
- Psychopathic qualities can be hidden via physical appearance
- It helps them gain trust in people, according to experts
A new study has revealed that people find psychopaths more attractive – or people with dark, psychopathic traits, that is.
This new claim comes from research that looked at the connections between unusual and manipulative human behavior and physical appearance. The results revealed some shocking insight into how the general public can be swayed when it comes to trusting new faces.
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The study was published in a new journal with the title Personality and Individual Differences. As reported in outlets like Newsweek, this research paper looked at how people decide on the trustworthiness of strangers.
The main factor that the study inspected revolved around physical appearance. Those behind the research discovered that people who had ‘dark triad’ traits were often found to be more trustworthy in the eyes of strangers.
What are ‘dark triad’ traits? Well, according to the study, they indicate higher-than-average levels of psychopathy, machiavellianism and narcissistic qualities.
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Those who have high levels of these traits were deemed to be more attractive, which in turn helped them to be seen as more trustworthy – according to this research that is.
How did the research work?
According to the journal, around 600 different participants were involved in this particular research. Each was asked to take part in four different experiements that asked them to judge the faces of strangers in a variety of trust exercises and games.
As the research continued, it became clear that people who displayed these dark triad traits emerged as the people who participants deemed the most trustworthy.
“In short-term cooperative settings, individuals with high Dark Triad traits tend to inspire more trust, partly due to being seen as more attractive based on their facial features,” explained professor Qi Wu of China’s Hunan Normal University. Professor Wu is a psychologist and a professor that worked on the paper.
People with dark triad traits “prompt greater trust”
They continued, adding “Notably, their faces still prompt greater trust even when other traits like dominance, extraversion, and attractiveness are accounted for, suggesting facial features have a unique influence on how trustworthy people are perceived.”
These charismatic and charming qualities can be seen in movies and TV shows. Actor Christian Bale famously played the over-achieving psychopath Patrick Bateman in 2000’s American Psycho. Meanwhile, Penn Badgley’s Joe Goldberg has swayed people on-screen and off for five seasons of Netflix hit You.
