The dark tetrad personality traits moderate the relationship between ideological passion and violent activism.

Abstract

Objective: This research examines the interface between ideological passion and the dark tetrad personality traits to predict violent (vs. peaceful) political activism. Meta-analytic research shows that ideological obsessive passion (OP) is one of the strongest psychological factors associated with violent activism. Here, we examine whether this relationship is magnified by the dark tetrad (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism), which have often been associated with antisocial behavior. Method: In Studies 1A-C, the interaction between ideological passion and the dark tetrad was tested cross-sectionally with three distinct ideological groups, namely, Democrats (N = 566), Republicans (N = 479), and Black Lives Matter supporters (N = 204). In Study 2, we tested the same model using an experimental manipulation of obsessive (vs. harmonious) passion in a sample of environmentalists (N = 233). Results: In Studies 1A-C, the relationship between OP and violent activism was systematically accentuated by sadism. Of note, these effects were specific to violent activism and unrelated to peaceful activism. In Study 2, we replicated these findings and showed that the relationship between sadism and violent activism was significant when individuals were in an obsessively (but not harmoniously) passionate mindset. Conclusion: These results shed light on the interplay between motivation and personality traits to predict violent activism.

“Consumed by Creed”: Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms Underpin Ideological Obsession and Support for Political Violence

“…At face value, these criteria match some of the OP scale items (e.g. "I have the impression that my [ideology] controls me", "This [ideology] is so exciting that I sometimes lose control over it", and research has shown that OP predicts distressing thoughts that radical individuals obsess over, such as collective or personal feelings of injustice, humiliation, or perceptions of harm done to the ingroup (Bélanger, 2021;Bélanger et al, 2022).…”

“…Harmoniously passionate individuals view their activity as central to their sense of self, but it is unrelated to self-esteem contingencies (Mageau et al, 2011). Thus, HP is associated with greater flexibility in deciding when to engage in the activity (Vallerand et al, 2003;Bélanger et al, 2013a) and it does not interfere with other life domains such as friendships, professional obligations, or family life (Bélanger et al, 2022). OP, on the other hand, involves strong and uncontrollable urges to pursue one's ideology.…”

“…Whereas HP is a consistent predictor of nonviolent activism (Bélanger, 2021), OP has been shown to predict violent political intentions among a variety of groups ranging from Quebec nationalists (Rip et al, 2012), environmental activists (Gousse-Lessard et al, 2013), US Republicans and Democrats (Bélanger et al, 2019), pro-life activists (Bélanger et al, 2021) and Pakistani Muslims . OP also magnifies the relationship between sadism (a dark tetrad trait) and violent political intentions (see Bélanger et al, 2022). OP was recently identified as one of the best predictors of radical intentions in a meta-analysis including 37 putative risk factors (Wolfowicz et al, 2021).…”

“…Loss of Significance. LOS was measured using a three-item scale developed by Bélanger et al (2022) asking participants to indicate the extent to which they personally experience humiliation, shame, and people laughing at them on a daily basis (5-point Likert scale from 1 'rarely/never' to 5 'very often'). Mediation analyses.…”

“Consumed by creed”: Obsessive‐compulsive symptoms underpin ideological obsession and support for political violence

“…Whereas HP is a consistent predictor of nonviolent activism (Bélanger, 2021; Gousse‐Lessard et al, 2013), OP has been shown to predict violent political intentions among a variety of groups ranging from Quebec nationalists (Rip et al, 2012), environmental activists (Gousse‐Lessard et al, 2013), US Republicans and Democrats (Bélanger, Schumpe, Nociti, et al, 2019), pro‐life activists (Bélanger et al, 2021), and Pakistani Muslims (Bélanger, Robbins, et al, 2020). OP also magnifies the relationship between sadism (a dark tetrad trait) and violent political intentions (see Bélanger, Adam‐Trioan, Quimpo, et al, 2022). OP was recently identified as one of the best predictors of radical intentions in a meta‐analysis including 37 putative risk factors (Wolfowicz et al, 2021).…”