New research warns: This is the most dangerous personality structure known today

Empathy is identified as one of the most positive and vital abilities of human beings, but new research warns that in some people - this blessed trait can actually make them far more dangerous than opaque and insensitive people

Walla!

health

04/04/2022

Monday, 04 April 2022, 08:47 Updated: 09:01

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The lives of humans, as well as of other animals, can be very challenging and upsetting.

One way to make life easier is to surround ourselves with people who understand us and can also contain the unpleasant things we face and take out.

This ability is called empathy and is not only unique to man, but also exists in other mammals in the wild.

The same ability greatly affects survival, health and mental stability - but as we will soon understand, it can also be dangerous.

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Thus the ability to feel empathy can hurt us

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A new study published in February 2022, presents the seemingly positive trait in a new and interesting light.

To understand his conclusions, it is worth dwelling a little on the various components of empathy.

In general, this trait can be divided in this way:

: the ability to understand other people's feelings without feeling them for ourselves.

: the ability to feel what people are going through as if we are experiencing it for ourselves.

: This is a skill that consists of combining the other two abilities - that is, the ability to understand and identify with the feelings of others.

We are all somewhere on the scale of empathy.

Not many have the whole package.

Hands of an older man and a young man (Photo: ShutterStock)

All human beings are located at different points on the broad scale of empathy across all three components.

For example, if we see a person who is in pain, we may be able to explain to ourselves why he is in pain, but we will feel less of his pain in ourselves.

It could be that he felt sorry for him, without understanding exactly what he was going through, and it could just be that it would hurt us without us being able to explain why.

It is possible, of course, that we will both understand, identify and express compassion, but this is not as obvious as one tends to think.

"To maneuver people, one must understand them"

In the present study, they analyzed a particular type of empathy that has so far not exactly been talked about.

Researchers have called this "Dark Empathy" or Dark Empathy.

In their view, empathic people, whether they understand the feelings of others or even identify with them, can be very dangerous if they possess one of the personality structures defined in psychology as the "dark trio."

The same dark trio includes people with narcissistic, psychopathic or Machiavellian character traits.

Machiavellianism, we will explain, is a professional term used to describe unscrupulous, manipulative, deceitful and cunning people.

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People who belong to the same infamous trio, in many cases do not feel empathy.

In the current study, in which they performed psychological assessments per 1,000 people, they identified that about 13 percent of the participants were of a "dark" nature and had a low level of empathy.

34 percent of participants were defined as “typical” - with average levels of empathy and dark traits, while 33 percent had high empathy and a low level of dark traits.

However, the main and most interesting conclusion in the study is related to a fourth group that has not yet been analyzed in depth.

The researchers called these people "dark empaths" and noted that they made up 20 percent of all study participants.

According to them, the empathy of those people was higher than average and was expressed both on the cognitive level and on the emotional level.

And why is it so dangerous?

Because it will be much easier for these people to exploit and hurt - without others around them even realizing it is happening.

"In a sense, it makes sense, because in order to manipulate others for personal gain, or in extreme cases even to enjoy their pain, one must have the ability to understand them," the researchers noted.

More dangerous than physical violence

When the researchers analyzed those "dark empaths," they found that relatively, they show lower levels of aggression and violence.

Many of them were also well aware of their negative traits and even testified that they did not like these sides themselves.

Some have even testified that they suffer from self-loathing, which also adversely affects their attitude toward others.

Empathy, in the wrong hands, can also become a weapon.

Illustration of connecting people (Photo: ShutterStock)

However, the high awareness, the experts explain, is not reflected in the attitude they actually give to those around them.

Dr. Ramani Durbasula, a clinical psychologist who was not involved in the study, explained this in an article to PsychCentral: “Dark empathy can be more destructive than colder and less sensitive personality structures.

Such a person can pull you closer - and cause more harm and suffering as a result.

The closer you are to someone, the more you have the power to hurt them. "

The new findings, experts hope, will help shed new light on how we analyze empathy and treat empathetic people. And more considerate - but it is also important that we all know that this is not always the case and empathy, in the wrong hands, can also become a weapon.

• health

• psychology

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• personality

• empathy