Scientists at Sichuan Normal University found that people with more pronounced dark personality traits tend to have more malicious creativity. there was work published In Intelligence Magazine.
Creativity is the ability to create original things and come up with new ideas. This trait is often viewed in a positive light, but scientists note that it also has a dark side. The authors called this malicious creativity the ability to find new and original ways to intentionally harm others.
According to team members, characteristics of the dark triad (psychopath, Machiavellianism, and narcissism) may be prerequisites for such creativity. To test the theory, the authors recruited more than 200 volunteers who were evaluated for their dark triad traits. Volunteers also completed a task where they had to figure out how to ruin a particular person’s life in a particular situation.
The results showed that students who stood out for their originality on the test were more aggressive and had more distinctive features of the dark triad. The analysis also showed that men were better than women at finding genuine malicious solutions. Younger and more creative students also developed more harmful tactics.