Reducing risks from malevolent actors
How can individuals with particularly dangerous personality traits be prevented from gaining power?
This profile is tailored towards students studying biological sciences, history, philosophy and ethics, and psychology and cognitive sciences, however we expect there to be valuable open research questions that could be pursued by students in other disciplines.
Why is this a pressing problem?
The Dark Tetrad is composed of four correlated personality traits: machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy and sadism. It’s been proposed that the core of these traits could be defined as ‘the general tendency to maximise one’s individual utility – disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others – accompanied by beliefs that serve as justifications.’
In this research, researchers David Althaus and Tobias Baumann argue that individuals high in these traits are more likely to instigate large scale atrocities when in positions of power, and take other actions that lead to highly negative outcomes. While history is shaped by systemic forces, including economic, cultural and institutional factors, it seems that the personality traits of leaders are also influential, particularly in autocratic regimes.
This is particularly concerning given dark tetrad traits seem to be over-represented among individuals in powerful positions relative to the general population. Leaders high in dark tetrad traits seem particularly likely to spread dangerous ideologies, increase the risk of international conflict, form totalitarian regimes, make dangerous decisions and undermine social cooperation and coordination. Powerful individuals high in these traits could pose a greater danger as technologies such as artificial intelligence are developed, as they may be more likely to use technologies to do enormous harm or disregard the importance of safe development.
Further research in this area could explore how testing for dark tetrad traits could inform who is appointed to powerful positions; identify circumstances in which individuals high in these traits are likely to gain power; or seek a greater understanding of the genetic correlates of dark tetrad traits. Interventions in this area could also raise ethical questions, and further research is needed to understand risks associated with possible interventions.
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Lilienfeld, Scott O., Ashley L. Watts, & Sarah Francis Smith (2015) Successful Psychopathy: A Scientific Status Report, Current Directions in Psychological Science
Marcus, David K., Jonathan Preszler, & Virgil Zeigler-Hill (2018) A Network of Dark Personality Traits: What Lies at the Heart of Darkness?, Journal of Research in Personality
Nai, Alessandro & Emre Toros (2020) The Peculiar Personality of Strongmen: Comparing the Big Five and Dark Triad Traits of Autocrats and Non-Autocrats, Political Research Exchange
Shulman, Carl & Nick Bostrom (2014) Embryo Selection for Cognitive Enhancement: Curiosity or Game-Changer?, Global Policy
Taylor, Steve (2021) The Problem of Pathocracy
Vukasović, Tena & Denis Bratko (2015) Heritability of Personality: A Meta-Analysis of Behavior Genetic Studies, Psychological Bulletin
Read the full post this profile is based on for more information and further reading.
Magnus Vinding’s Reasoned Politics includes an exploration of the political interventions that could decrease the likelihood of individuals high in dark tetrad traits rising to power.
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If you want to work on this research direction, consider reaching out to the Center on Long-term Risk for support.
This list of programs may be helpful if you’re studying psychology.
Contributors: This profile was last updated 14/07/22. Thanks to David Althaus and Tobias Baumann for help with creating this profile. All errors remain our own. Learn more about how we create our profiles.
