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(https://www.psypost.org/antidepressant-escitalopram-boosts-amygdala-activity/) Antidepressant escitalopram boosts amygdala activity
Nov 7th 2024, 08:00

A study of healthy volunteers in the United Kingdom found that the administration of escitalopram, a common antidepressant, increases activity in the right amygdala region of the brain during an emotional processing task known to activate this area. This change in activity was not accompanied by a change in mood. The research was published in the (https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811241286773) Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Escitalopram is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) commonly prescribed to treat depression and generalized anxiety disorder. It works by increasing levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain that plays a key role in mood regulation. Escitalopram effectively improves mood, energy levels, and overall well-being by restoring the balance of serotonin.
However, serotonin is involved not only in mood regulation but also in various brain functions, including cognition and chronic pain management. Many of these functions are associated with neural structures in the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, yet there is little research on escitalopram’s effects on these areas outside of its impact on mood.
Study author Paulina B. Lukow and her colleagues sought to investigate whether escitalopram affects activation and connectivity in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala during an emotional face-processing task. Their hypothesis was that this drug would reduce activity in the amygdala region and decrease its connectivity with other brain areas. They also anticipated increased activity in the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, a part of the prefrontal cortex involved in regulating mood, processing emotions, and responding to stress.
Study participants were 98 healthy volunteers recruited through public advertisements. They were between 18 and 50 years of age and in good mental health.
Participants visited the lab on three occasions. During the first visit, they completed several assessments for depression and anxiety. At the second visit, they performed an emotional face-processing task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In the task, participants viewed pictures of faces displaying various emotions and were asked to indicate the gender of each face. Previous studies have shown that this task activates parts of the brain involved in emotional processing, including the amygdala region.
After this session, participants were randomly assigned to receive either 10 mg of escitalopram or a placebo (an identical-looking tablet without the active substance) for the next 12-23 days. Participants were unaware of whether they were taking escitalopram or the placebo. After the administration period, they underwent another fMRI scan.
The results showed that, prior to treatment, the emotion-processing task led to increased activation in the amygdala and several other brain regions. When comparing the two treatment groups after the escitalopram/placebo period, researchers found that participants treated with escitalopram had higher activity in the right amygdala region. There were no differences in activity in other brain regions.
This change in amygdala activity was not accompanied by a change in mood. There were also no differences between groups in connectivity of the studied brain regions.
“We found evidence that escitalopram treatment of just over 2 weeks in healthy volunteers may selectively increase right amygdala activation during emotional face processing, but not its connectivity with the dorsomedial cortex,” the study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the effects of escitalopram on neural activity in the part of the brain responsible for processing emotions. However, it remains unclear whether these differences in neural activity translate into observable differences in psychological functioning.
The paper, “(https://doi.org/10.1177/02698811241286773) Amygdala activity after subchronic escitalopram administration in healthy volunteers: A pharmaco-functional magnetic resonance imaging study,” was authored by Paulina B Lukow, Millie Lowther, Alexandra C Pike, Yumeya Yamamori, Alice V Chavanne, Siobhan Gormley, Jessica Aylward, Tayla McCloud, Talya Goble, Julia Rodriguez-Sanchez, Ella W Tuominen, Sarah K Buehler, Peter Kirk, and Oliver J Robinson.

(https://www.psypost.org/purity-culture-horrible-sex-new-research-sheds-light-on-white-christian-womens-sexual-well-being/) Purity culture = horrible sex? New research sheds light on white Christian women’s sexual well-being
Nov 7th 2024, 06:00

A recent study published in the journal (https://academic.oup.com/socrel/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/socrel/srae031/7863400) Sociology of Religion has revealed a connection between adherence to purity culture ideals and increased rates of sexual pain disorders among white American Christian women. The study found that belief in certain purity culture principles was linked to both higher rates of sexual pain and lower satisfaction in marriages. However, women who had never internalized these beliefs tended to have more satisfying relationships.
Purity culture gained prominence in American evangelical circles during the 1990s and 2000s. The movement emphasizes strict sexual abstinence before marriage and advocates for traditional gender roles within marriage. The ideology is centered around maintaining a woman’s “purity,” often framing premarital sex as damaging to a woman’s spiritual and physical well-being. This movement promotes the idea that women should preserve themselves as “gifts” for their husbands, discouraging behaviors deemed “provocative” to prevent inciting male desire.
In marriage, purity culture often portrays women as responsible for fulfilling their husbands’ sexual needs, teaching that it’s a wife’s duty to be constantly available to prevent marital problems. These teachings are frequently accompanied by metaphors, such as comparing women who have had premarital sex to “chewed-up gum” or “crumpled petals,” which can foster shame and guilt around sexuality, particularly for women.
The motivation behind the new study was to investigate the long-term effects of purity culture teachings on married women, specifically exploring the impacts on marital satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and sexual pain disorders. While purity culture’s rhetoric often focuses on abstinence and “saving oneself” for marriage, these teachings extend well beyond the wedding day, affecting how women view sex and their roles within marriage. Researchers Joanna Sawatsky, Rebecca Lindenbach, Sheila Wray Gregoire, and Keith Gregoire saw an important gap in understanding how these beliefs impact married women’s experiences.
“(https://www.instagram.com/sheilagregoire/?hl=en) Sheila Gregoire has been a prolific blogger, speaker, and writer in the evangelical marriage and sex space for over a decade, and Rebecca and I worked on her website, too,” explained Sawatsky, the research coordinator at (https://www.facebook.com/baremarriageofficial/) Bare Marriage and co-author of (https://amzn.to/3CiFUNq) The Great Sex Rescue.
“In January of 2019, we actually read for the first time some of the best-selling Christian marriage and sex resources and were appalled to see how many teachings in these books completely erased women’s sexuality, made sex into a power struggle, and presented men as sexually uncontrollable beings. It made us concerned that much of the advice given in these circles makes marriage and sex worse, not better, and we decided to do a research study to test our hypothesis.”
The study included a large sample of 5,489 white American Christian women recruited through snowball sampling, aiming to explore the impact of purity culture beliefs on marital satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and experiences of sexual pain disorders. This sample consisted of mostly white women who identified as evangelical Christians and regularly attended church, reflecting the demographic that purity culture primarily targets.
The researchers assessed participants’ past and current beliefs in various purity culture tropes and measured these beliefs in relation to three key outcomes: marital satisfaction, sexual satisfaction, and sexual pain disorders, such as vaginismus and vulvodynia, which are conditions that cause pain during sex without clear physical causes.
To examine the impact of purity culture beliefs, the study focused on six main tropes commonly found in evangelical teachings. These included “gatekeeping” (the belief that women must be modest to curb male sexual desire), “perpetual lust” (the idea that men are inherently lustful and women must accommodate this), and “soul ties” (the belief that premarital sex creates lasting bonds that damage future relationships).
Other tropes involved in the study addressed women’s roles in marriage, such as the “obligation sex” trope, which suggests that a wife must provide sex to maintain her husband’s happiness and fidelity, and “sexual methadone,” which implies that women should engage in sexual activities to prevent their husbands from seeking satisfaction outside the marriage. Participants rated their agreement with each belief at two different stages: during adolescence (often high school) or engagement (before marriage) and in the present.
By comparing participants’ reported beliefs at these two points, the researchers were able to determine who had retained, rejected, or never held these beliefs. For instance, women who reported high agreement with a trope during adolescence but low or no agreement currently were categorized as having “deconstructed” that belief.
The findings showed that belief in these purity culture tropes, especially during adolescence and early adulthood, was linked to higher rates of sexual pain disorders, particularly among women who had since deconstructed these beliefs. For example, women who believed in the concept of “soul ties” during high school were more likely to experience vaginismus, which causes involuntary muscle tightening and painful intercourse.
The researchers suggested that the mental and emotional stress associated with purity culture teachings—such as viewing sex as risky or sinful—could contribute to a trauma-like response in the body, manifesting as sexual pain disorders. “Seeing sex as a female obligation and a male entitlement leads to horrible sex, frankly,” Sawatsky told PsyPost. “It’s highly destructive to women’s marital and sexual satisfaction and is even associated with higher rates of sexual pain disorders.”
When it came to marital and sexual satisfaction, the findings were nuanced. Women who maintained purity culture beliefs generally reported lower sexual and marital satisfaction, especially if their beliefs revolved around sexual gatekeeping and perpetual lust. But those who deconstructed coercive beliefs, such as the idea of sex as a wife’s obligation, often had lower marital satisfaction compared to women who still adhered to these ideals. Women who never believed these tropes had the highest levels of marital and sexual satisfaction, suggesting a protective effect for women who never internalized purity culture teachings.
“Deconstruction is a really ‘sexy’ term regarding American Christianity these days, especially white American evangelicalism,” Sawatsky explained. “It’s typically framed in black or white terms: deconstructing is good because it means a personal quest for truth or deconstructing is bad because it provides an excuse to act outside the norms of religious communities. And of course that can come with a lot of baggage about who is ‘better’–it can essentially become a test of personal righteousness in religious spaces.”
“We actually found a mixed result. Deconstructing some purity culture tropes (e.g., all men are perpetually lusting) was associated with better outcomes while deconstructing others (e.g., that divorce is acceptable in cases other than affairs) was associated with worse outcomes. And that makes sense — humans are rational beings who will question beliefs that no longer serve them, but retain beliefs that are consistent with their environment.”
“People in happy marriages don’t have much impetus to question whether or not divorce is OK, but that question is vital for a woman in an abusive marriage,” Sawatsky explained. “Conversely, happily married wives to excellent, loving, devoted husbands will naturally be more likely to question beliefs about all men being sexually predatory because it challenges her lived experience with a good man; whereas women in bad marriages whose husbands are, frankly, problematic, will have no reason to discard a belief that tells her men cannot be trusted.”
“We feel these findings offer an interesting look into survivorship bias, and it adds context to the ‘why’ behind deconstruction that is so heavily contested.”
Overall, the study highlights the potential consequences of purity culture beliefs on women’s health, relationships, and self-perceptions, suggesting that these beliefs can have lasting impacts well into married life.
“A lot of people are unraveling purity culture right now — there are whole docuseries on YouTube about purity balls and purity rings and ‘True Love Waits’ rallies,” Sawatsky said. “There are podcasts on the topic galore. But what we want people to understand is that purity culture wasn’t just about telling kids ‘don’t have sex,’ but also included teachings to married women that told them, ‘You can’t say no anymore because it’s your job to meet his needs.’ Whole generations of women had their ability to consent eroded by threats that their husbands would have affairs or that they’d be failing in God’s eyes if they didn’t have sex every time their husbands wanted it. If she can’t say ‘no’ she also can’t truly say ‘yes.'”
“While our findings are most relevant to those who were or are a part of conservative religious communities, especially American evangelicals, we hope that the broader conversations about how consent can be undermined by misogynistic tropes can be spurred on by our research.”
As with any research, there are some limitations to consider. The study’s findings are correlational, meaning they highlight associations but do not confirm cause-and-effect relationships. Additionally, while the focus on white women aligns with the demographics most targeted by purity culture, the study does not address the potentially unique experiences of women of color within evangelical circles, where racialized notions of purity may add further complexities to these outcomes.
“We would love for someone to replicate our findings specifically with non-white samples,” Sawatsky told PsyPost. “There have been some amazing articles put out recently about the effects of purity culture within a Black context that have found similar trends as ours, but have not looked specifically at sexual pain.”
The researchers are hopeful that their findings will inspire meaningful changes in both religious teachings and the treatment of sexual health issues among women.
“What we’d love to see come from this research is threefold: (1) religious leaders simply must stop talking about sex as something that women give and men take. It’s outdated, promotes marital rape, and removes a woman’s ability to really enjoy her own sexuality since it turns sex into a male entitlement and female obligation. (2) We have had wonderful experiences working with pelvic floor physiotherapists in disseminating this research, and we hope that in the future women who experience sexual pain or discomfort are quick to seek and receive treatment that is consent-focused.”
“And finally, (3) we hope that the larger takeaway within the evangelical publishing world is that our books simply must be held to a higher standard. It’s ridiculous that this teaching has been so widespread when you consider that none of them are based in peer-review research and some of the best-selling books have zero studies in their references. We simply need a higher standard when it comes to what is passed off as advice in religious circles.”
The researchers also highlighted the severe lack of research on sexual pain disorders among women, describing them as “criminally under-represented in the literature.”
“Seriously, go to PubMed and search ‘vaginismus’ and ‘erectile dysfunction’ and look at the discrepancy,” Sawatsky explained. “Higher rates of sexual pain disorders in conservative religious women were first identified in the 1970s – but there has been very little research done to date on why this trend occurs, or even how best to treat sexual pain disorders in conservative religious women.”
“Pain disorders are often discovered the first time a woman tries to have penetrative sex, and that can be very traumatic, especially considering how few women even know that sexual pain disorders exist beforehand. Our hope is that vaginismus and sexual pain become talked about more openly so that women are empowered to seek treatment, and don’t force themselves to have painful sex over and over again because they don’t feel there’s any hope.”
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srae031) Sanctified Sexism: Effects of Purity Culture Tropes on White Christian Women’s Marital and Sexual Satisfaction and Experience of Sexual Pain,” was published online on November 1, 2024.

(https://www.psypost.org/residential-greenness-linked-to-lower-risk-of-depression-and-anxiety/) Residential greenness linked to lower risk of depression and anxiety
Nov 6th 2024, 14:00

Long-term exposure to residential greenness is associated with a reduced risk of depression and anxiety, as published in (https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00227-z) Nature Mental Health.
Mental health conditions, particularly depression and anxiety, have been increasingly recognized as significant public health issues worldwide. Despite a broad range of genetic and environmental factors known to contribute to mental disorders, emerging research is exploring the potential mental health benefits of environmental exposures, including access to residential green spaces.
Jianing Wang and colleagues pursued this line of investigation to determine whether long-term exposure to neighborhood greenness might reduce the risk of developing depression and anxiety.
Previous studies examining the relationship between greenness and mental health have shown inconsistent findings, with some suggesting protective effects against mental health issues and others finding no such association. Many prior studies were cross-sectional, limiting their capacity to establish causation. The study conducted by Wang and colleagues addresses these limitations by employing a longitudinal approach, utilizing over 400,000 participants, and exploring possible mediating factors such as air pollution.
The researchers utilized data from the UK Biobank, a large-scale cohort of over half a million adults aged 40-69 from across the United Kingdom. The researchers excluded participants with pre-existing depression or anxiety, those with a family history of severe depression, and individuals with missing data on greenness exposure, resulting in a final sample of 409,556 participants. Sociodemographic and lifestyle data were also gathered, including information on age, gender, education, income, physical activity, and residential location (urban or rural), to control for potential confounders.
Greenness exposure was measured using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), which captures vegetation density based on satellite imagery data. NDVI values were calculated for buffers of 300m, 500m, 1000m, and 1500m around each participant’s residence, allowing for analyses of varying distances from the home. The study tracked participants’ mental health outcomes over a median follow-up period of 11.9 years, identifying new cases of depression and anxiety through primary care records, hospital admissions, death registries, and self-reported physician diagnoses.
To explore possible pathways by which greenness might influence mental health, the researchers examined air quality variables, such as levels of PM2.5, NO2, NOx, SO2, and O3, as well as lifestyle factors and neighborhood characteristics. Mediation analysis was used to identify and quantify the potential role of these variables in the relationship between greenness and mental health outcomes.
Over the follow-up period, 14,309 cases of depression and 16,692 cases of anxiety were identified. Higher exposure to residential greenness was associated with a lower risk of developing both depression and anxiety. Specifically, individuals in the highest quartile of NDVI within a 300m buffer zone had a 16% reduced risk of depression and a 14% reduced risk of anxiety compared to those in the lowest quartile. Similar trends were observed for the 500m, 1000m, and 1500m buffers, with consistently protective associations between greenness exposure and mental health, particularly in areas of higher vegetation density.
The researchers further investigated potential mediators of this relationship and found that reduced air pollution played a significant role. For example, more than 50% of the association between greenness within a 300m buffer and reduced depression risk was mediated by lower levels of PM2.5, indicating that cleaner air in greener areas significantly contributes to mental health benefits.
NO2 and other air pollutants also acted as mediators, though to a lesser extent. In addition to air quality, certain lifestyle factors, including sleep duration, outdoor activity in winter, and social engagement, had minor but significant mediation effects, suggesting that greenness may indirectly improve mental health by encouraging healthier living.
Together, these findings support a multi-layered relationship between greenness and mental health, emphasizing the direct environmental and indirect lifestyle benefits of green spaces.
The authors noted that while NDVI offers a quantitative assessment of greenness, it does not capture the quality or usability of green spaces, potentially limiting the study’s findings.
The research, “(https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00227-z) Long-term exposure to residential greenness and decreased risk of depression and anxiety”, was authored by Jianing Wang, Yudiyang Ma, Linxi Tang, Dankang Li, Junqing Xie, Yonghua Hu, and Yaohua Tian.

(https://www.psypost.org/how-you-express-anger-could-impact-your-heart-health-study-finds/) How you express anger could impact your heart health, study finds
Nov 6th 2024, 12:00

A new study suggests that how we handle anger could be a hidden factor in cardiovascular health. The findings, published in (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114709) Physiology & Behavior, indicate that people with a quick temper, especially those who hold it in, may experience unusual cardiovascular responses to stress—responses that could affect their risk of developing heart disease.
Previous research has shown that anger is linked to a higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular problems, and some researchers believe that how people respond to anger could play a role in these health risks. By examining how anger affects cardiovascular responses, scientists hoped to uncover new insights into why anger might lead to these health problems.
“Anger personality types have been consistently associated with adverse cardiovascular health outcomes, with atypical stress responses acting as a key pathway leading to disease. We were particularly interested in identifying whether the way individuals express their anger was also an important factor in understanding this relationship,” said study author Adam O’Riordan, an assistant professor of psychology at The University of Texas at San Antonio.
To test their hypotheses, the researchers analyzed data from 669 participants from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) dataset, who underwent a controlled stress test while their blood pressure and heart rate were closely monitored. They examined two specific facets of anger: anger temperament (the tendency to feel unprovoked, spontaneous anger) and anger reaction (anger triggered by specific situations, like unfair treatment or criticism). They also measured how each participant typically expressed their anger, categorized as “anger-in” (suppressing anger), “anger-out” (directing anger outward), or “anger control” (managing and regulating anger).
To simulate psychological stress, participants completed two tasks known to induce stress responses: a mental arithmetic task and the Stroop task. The arithmetic task required participants to solve math problems under time pressure, while the Stroop task challenged participants to identify the color of a word that named a different color (for example, the word “blue” written in red ink). Both tasks were administered via computer, which recorded participants’ responses and adjusted the difficulty based on performance to maintain a steady level of stress.
Blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) and heart rate were monitored continuously throughout these tasks using a Finometer device, which measured beat-to-beat cardiovascular responses. Additionally, before and after the stress tasks, participants rated their stress levels on a scale of 1 to 10, providing insight into their perceived stress in response to each task.
The findings showed distinct patterns in how anger-related traits and expression styles influenced cardiovascular reactions. People who frequently felt anger across many situations—classified as having high anger temperament—tended to show a “blunted” response, meaning their heart rate and blood pressure increased less than expected under stress. However, these individuals reported feeling more stressed, despite their bodies showing a lower cardiovascular response.
Interestingly, the effect of anger temperament on cardiovascular response depended on how the individual expressed their anger. Those who frequently suppressed their anger (anger-in) showed even lower increases in blood pressure when experiencing anger temperament, suggesting that holding in unprovoked anger could further dampen the cardiovascular response.
Participants who tended to feel anger as a reaction to specific triggers, like frustration or unfairness, had different cardiovascular responses depending on how they expressed their anger. Those who typically expressed anger outwardly or had limited control over their anger exhibited lower cardiovascular reactivity when they felt triggered anger. In contrast, those who managed their anger (high anger control) showed stronger cardiovascular responses, with higher blood pressure and heart rate increases during the stress tasks.
This controlled response suggests that having a healthy way to manage anger may lead to a more “normal” cardiovascular reaction, which some researchers believe could be beneficial for long-term heart health. Blunted cardiovascular responses, on the other hand, have been linked to potential health issues, including lack of motivation, psychological difficulties, and lifestyle factors that may contribute to cardiovascular disease.
The study’s findings highlight that how people experience and express anger can have meaningful effects on their physiological reactions to stress. While anger temperament (quick, unprovoked anger) was associated with lower cardiovascular responses in general, this effect was intensified in those who suppressed their anger.
“The key findings from this study suggest that while individuals vary in terms of how they experience anger, it is extremely important to consider how these individuals express their anger. In particular, the adverse effect of high anger temperament on stress physiology appears to be heightened amongst individuals who suppress this anger,” said O’Riordan.
While the study sheds light on how anger can affect the heart, it does have some limitations. The stress tasks used in the experiment, like math problems and color-word matching, may not fully capture the real-life scenarios that typically provoke anger, such as arguments or unfair treatment.
Future research could explore how people react in more realistic anger-inducing situations. Additionally, it could examine how repeated exposure to stress affects cardiovascular reactions, as the current study only focused on single stress events. This type of research could help reveal patterns in how individuals’ bodies respond to recurring stressful situations and show whether different anger management techniques can promote a healthier heart response.
The study, “(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938424002579) Examining the moderating effects of anger expression style on the association between facets of trait anger and cardiovascular responses to acute psychological stress,” was authored by Adam O’Riordan and Aisling M. Costello.

(https://www.psypost.org/of-all-the-dark-personality-traits-this-one-shows-the-strongest-link-to-crime/) Of all the dark personality traits, this one shows the strongest link to crime
Nov 6th 2024, 10:00

New research is shedding light on how certain personality traits may influence criminality. In a study published in (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-024-06500-9) Current Psychology, Machiavellianism—a trait characterized by manipulative and deceitful behavior—emerged as the strongest predictor of repeated criminal activity. This trait, along other Dark Tetrad personality traits such as psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism, could help explain why some individuals are more likely to reoffend.
The Dark Tetrad is a group of four personality traits—Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism—known for their links to malevolent and antisocial behaviors. People with these traits tend to manipulate, deceive, or harm others, show emotional coldness, or have an inflated sense of self-importance.
Machiavellianism involves manipulation and strategic thinking for personal gain, while psychopathy is characterized by a lack of empathy and impulsive behavior. Narcissism focuses on excessive self-regard and entitlement, and sadism includes deriving pleasure from others’ suffering. These traits have been widely studied in psychology for their connections to antagonistic behaviors, but researchers wanted to see how they individually relate to criminal activity.
Previous studies mostly examined these traits collectively or within non-criminal populations, limiting insights into how each trait might distinctly influence crime. The new study specifically looked at a sample of incarcerated individuals to better capture these dark traits in people with a history of criminal activity, potentially enhancing risk assessments and rehabilitation strategies.
“There is a large amount of empirical data that show the importance of personality traits in explaining criminal behavior, delinquency, and antisocial behavior,” said study author Janko Međedović, a researcher at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade and author of (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-32886-2) Evolutionary Behavioral Ecology and Psychopathy.
“The most of the research in this field was focused on trait psychopathy, which indeed turned out to be a robust predictor of criminal behavior and criminal recidivism. However, the Dark Tetrad taxonomy has a heuristic potential to even more precisely and detaily describe the personality characteristics associated with amoral and antisocial behavior.”
“Curiously, the empirical research that examines the associations between the Dark Tetrad traits and criminality in the samples of lawfully convicted individuals is still relatively scarce. This was our motivation for the current study – to empirically evaluate the explanatory potentials of Dark Tetrad traits in predicting criminal behavior as a highly socially-relevant aspect of human functioning due to its socially-detrimental outcomes.”
The study involved 471 prisoners in Serbia, predominantly men with an average age of around 40. Participants were selected from five major prisons and represented a variety of educational backgrounds, though most had completed only high school or lower levels of education. This study took place with the consent of the participants, who completed questionnaires in supervised settings.
To measure the four dark personality traits, the researchers used the “Dirty Dozen” inventory, a brief survey assessing Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. For sadism, additional questions from a related scale were included. Međedović also gathered detailed information on each participant’s criminal history, including their first offense, whether they received corrective measures as juveniles, and instances of repeated offenses. Additionally, participants reported if they had engaged in problematic substance use, such as illegal drug use or alcohol misuse, before their incarceration.
The results showed that Machiavellianism was the most significant predictor of criminal behavior among the dark traits. Individuals with high levels of Machiavellianism were more likely to engage in repeated offenses, with this trait playing a particularly prominent role for men.
Machiavellianism was also linked to a higher likelihood of early criminal behavior, which, in turn, was associated with continued criminal activity into adulthood. This trait’s association with manipulation and deceitful behavior may explain why it stands out as a predictor of crime over time.
“Conceptually, the best candidates to explain criminal behavior from the taxonomy of Dark Tetrad traits are psychopathy and sadism,” Međedović told PsyPost. “However, our data showed that Machiavellianism is actually the most important for understanding criminal behavior.”
Psychopathy and sadism also showed some connections to criminal behavior, but to a lesser extent than Machiavellianism. Interestingly, psychopathy was related to problematic substance use, suggesting that individuals with this trait may use substances more frequently, possibly leading to increased chances of criminal behavior. Narcissism, on the other hand, showed a weak link to criminal activity and appeared to have a protective effect against substance use and repeat offenses.
Sadism showed unique effects based on gender, representing a risk factor for early criminal behavior and substance use among female offenders. This finding suggests that sadism may impact criminal behavior differently in women, although the reasons for this are still unclear and would benefit from further study.
“I believe that the most robust finding of the current study is that all Dark Tetrad traits are associated with criminal behavior, though to a different extent,” Međedović explained. “The result that Machiavellianism was the best predictor in our current study may vary across different samples and measures—we will evaluate this when we obtain more data on the associations between Dark Tetrad traits and criminal behavior in future studies.”
The results highlight that “personality is indeed important” when it comes to predicting criminal behavior, Međedović said. “Among other factors (which I would like to emphasize), dark personality traits can help us understand and predict criminal behavior. I highlighted ‘among other factors’ because the role of personality traits in crime should always be evaluated along with socio-economic predictors of criminal behavior that are varied—from general poverty and resource scarcity to particular situations that can promote criminal behavior.”
While this study provides important insights into the relationship between dark personality traits and criminal behavior, there are limitations. One major limitation is that the research was conducted on a sample of incarcerated individuals in Serbia, which may not represent all offenders or populations with dark personality traits.
“The sample was not representative, but this is really hard to achieve in prisoner populations,” Međedović noted.
Additionally, the measures for each dark trait were brief and may not capture the full range of each trait’s effects. For example, psychopathy is a complex trait that may involve impulsivity as well as emotional coldness, yet only certain aspects were captured in this study.
“Most importantly, our study was retrospective, meaning that the outcomes we tried to predict occurred earlier in life than when we collected data about personality traits,” Međedović explained. “Hence, there is no possibility of suggesting causal links. We do have data from developmental psychology showing that some forms of dark traits (e.g., callous-unemotional traits) can emerge early in development, but this still cannot help us make conclusions about the causal links between personality and crime in our current study.”
Future research could benefit from exploring these traits over time through longitudinal studies, which could clarify how these traits develop and influence behavior. More detailed measures, especially multidimensional assessments that explore various aspects of each trait, might also reveal subtler links between personality and crime. By further examining these connections, researchers and practitioners could enhance risk assessment tools for preventing criminal recidivism and improve rehabilitation strategies for those involved in criminal behavior.
The study, “(https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06500-9) Machiavellianism as a crucial Dark Tetrad trait for the prediction of life-course criminal behavior,” was published September 11, 2024.

Forwarded by:
Michael Reeder LCPC
Baltimore, MD

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