New research published in journal current psychology This suggests that narcissistic personality traits are actually associated with lower levels of left-wing authoritarianism. This finding contradicts previous claims that individuals with dark personalities are widely drawn to left-wing activities simply to feed their egos. This study provides evidence that the relationship between progressive political aggressiveness and dark personality traits is highly complex and requires sophisticated statistical methods to fully understand.
Interest in the psychological roots of political attitudes has increased significantly in recent years. Media reports and commentators often question whether prominent political activists are driven by genuine moral concerns or by hidden narcissistic motives. This public curiosity is consistent with academic research exploring the relationship between political extremism and the Dark Triad of personality traits.
The Dark Triad includes three distinct but related personality types. Narcissism involves grandiosity, a sense of entitlement, and a deep desire for admiration. Psychopathy is characterized by impulsivity, thrill-seeking, and a severe lack of empathy. Machiavellianism involves a cynical worldview and a tendency to manipulate others for personal gain.
A particular concept known as the dark ego-vehicle principle proposes that people with dark personality traits are drawn to certain forms of political activity. According to this idea, these individuals use ideological movements as a convenient means to satisfy their own ego-based desires, such as gaining social status or dominating others, rather than pursuing actual social justice. A 2024 study introduced this principle into the scientific literature, suggesting a positive association between left-wing authoritarianism and traits such as narcissism and psychopathy.
Left-wing authoritarianism, sometimes abbreviated as LWA, generally refers to the strict and aggressive enforcement of progressive moral values. This structure includes three main aspects. Anti-hierarchical aggression refers to the willingness to challenge, oppose, or overthrow established power structures, sometimes using force. Anti-conventionalism involves an absolute rejection of traditional moral values and social norms. Top-down censorship favors the use of government or organizational authority to suppress speech that individuals deem offensive or intolerant.
Alexandra (Sasha) Cook, assistant professor of work and organizational psychology at the University of Amsterdam, noticed a theoretical contradiction in previous research linking narcissism and left-wing authoritarianism. Authoritarianism typically requires individuals to conform to the established norms of a particular social group. Narcissism, on the other hand, involves an exaggerated sense of self-importance and a desire to control others. Conforming to group norms seems completely at odds with the narcissistic desire to stand out and feel socially superior.
Cook and his colleagues also identified methodological issues in the 2024 study that first proposed the dark ego vehicle principle. They noted that previous papers relied on standard linear regression, arguing that this basic statistical method cannot adequately model the complex simultaneous relationships between all subdimensions of the Dark Triad and left-wing authoritarianism. The researchers argued that standard regression models often obscure shared variance among multiple related traits, which can lead to inaccurate conclusions.
Cook said “curiosity and perhaps my own insular desire” led to the new investigation. “After reading the original paper, I noticed that two of the three LWA subdimensions were not investigated in the second study. Since they are all related subdimensions of the same higher-order construct, it seemed worth checking.”
To get a more accurate picture, the authors decided to reanalyze the original data using a more advanced statistical approach. “Also, because many of the variables are significantly correlated, we thought it was important to assess whether the results were robust to methods that accounted for these correlations,” Cook explained. “The authors made the original data public, so we decided to run an analysis and find out.”
The researchers utilized the original dataset from the 2024 study. This dataset included 375 participants based in the United States. The sample was roughly divided by gender, with 50.7% identifying as female. Additionally, 53 percent of participants reported Democratic Party affiliation.
To measure dark personality traits, participants completed the Short Dark Triad Questionnaire, which assessed narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Left-wing authoritarianism was measured using the Left-wing Authoritarianism Index. The survey also includes measures of virtue signaling, social justice commitment, age, and gender. Virtue signaling refers to the habit of expressing opinions primarily to demonstrate one’s good character and moral superiority to observers.
Cook and her team analyzed this data using structural equation modeling. Specifically, we adopted a post-measurement construct approach. This advanced statistical method separates measurement and structural model estimation into two distinct steps.
This method reduces complexity and increases stability, especially when dealing with relatively small sample sizes. By explaining how all Dark Triad traits and authoritarian aspects interact simultaneously, scientists were able to isolate the specific effects of individual traits.
The analysis revealed that narcissism is negatively related to left-wing authoritarianism overall. Indeed, higher levels of narcissism predicted lower levels of anti-hierarchical aggression and anti-conventionalism. Narcissism had nothing to do with top-down censorship.
“We were surprised to see that the results showed a picture that contradicted the conclusions of the original paper to a large extent,” Cook told SciPost. “First, we found a negative relationship between narcissism and the two dimensions of left-wing authoritarianism, which is exactly the opposite of the authors’ original hypothesis.”
This finding directly contradicts previous claims that narcissistic individuals are highly attracted to left-wing authoritarianism. In fact, the data provides evidence that just the opposite tends to be true. The researchers suggest that the positive association between narcissism and left-wing authoritarianism shown in previous studies was a methodological artifact. Previous statistical methods failed to account for the common overlap between different personality traits, leading to inaccurate conclusions about narcissistic behavior.
Cook and her colleagues found a clear link between psychopathy and left-wing authoritarianism. Specifically, higher levels of psychopathy were associated with higher levels of anti-hierarchical aggression and anti-conventionalism. However, the third characteristic of the Dark Triad, Machiavellianism, had nothing to do with left-wing authoritarianism or its subdimensions.
The researchers also took a closer look at the psychological motivations behind progressive attitudes. The original 2024 paper suggested that some left-wing activists don’t actually care about equality and are simply using politics to express their own anti-social needs. New structural equation modeling analysis paints a very different picture of progressive activism.
“We also found that social justice commitment was consistently and positively associated with left-wing authoritarianism, contradicting the original paper’s conclusion that some activists ‘don’t actually strive for social justice,'” Cook said.
The data suggests that individuals who score high on left-wing authoritarianism are indeed driven by a commitment to equality and social justice. The presence of some psychopathic traits in the data does not erase the fundamental role of genuine social justice motives among leftist individuals.
“The relationship between personality and political ideology (or activism) is complex, and psychological research does not provide simple answers,” Cook explained. “However, our results do not support the idea that left-wing authoritarianism (as a form of left-wing ideology) is structurally driven by narcissism or selfish desires.”
Several important limitations provide context for interpreting these findings, particularly with regard to the concept of psychopathy. “When we talk about narcissism and psychopathy, we’re not necessarily talking about the everyday understanding of ‘narcissist’ or ‘psychopath,'” Cook pointed out. “There is a difference between the common understanding (and interpretation) of these words and their definitions and measures in psychology.”
The overall level of psychosis reported in the sample was very low. “This study is not comparing pathological psychopaths to ‘non-psychopaths’; but it is looking at (often small) differences in agreement with descriptions of aspects such as high impulsivity and a tendency to seek revenge,” Cook said.
“In our sample, mean scores for psychopathy were on the low side, meaning that higher psychopathy may reflect a tendency to choose ‘somewhat disagree’ or ‘neutral’ rather than ‘disagree’ as an answer option,” she added. “In fact, most people don’t score the lowest on psychopathy scales (everyone can take the survey for free here: https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/SD3/).”
The wording of certain questions in psychopathy surveys also poses potential problems in interpreting the data. Some items ask whether you would avoid dangerous situations or break the law. These questions may incorrectly measure participation in political protests rather than actual insanity.
Similar risks of circular inference exist with other survey items. As a measure of insanity, the study asked participants whether they enjoyed sex with people they barely knew. The researchers note that this question may simply reflect anti-conventionalism, or more permissive sexual behavior that accompanies progressive attitudes.
“I think it’s important that people know the details of these methodologies, and I think it’s our responsibility as researchers to communicate them in a clearer way,” Cook said.
Future research should examine these relationships in populations with a broader range of psychopathy scores. Scientists also need to evaluate the specific wording of survey questions to ensure they are not confusing political behavior with dark personality traits.
“Personally, I am interested in further investigating why people are so quick to believe that political activity is inauthentic or driven by ulterior motives, especially when the opinions of others do not align with their own political beliefs,” Cook said. “I think this prevents us from truly engaging with other people’s opinions and motivations.”
A comprehensive understanding of political behavior requires moving beyond a singular focus on authoritarianism to account for the complex realities of human motivation.
“I think psychological research can and will provide important insights into how we deal with political differences. But I don’t think looking at stable negative personality traits in people on a particular side of the political spectrum is a particularly useful approach because it doesn’t offer any solutions,” Cook explained.
“Beyond the specific content and findings, I think this paper and the story that led to its birth shows once again that open science and data transparency are very relevant to psychology,” she concluded.
The study, “The Big Picture: Revisiting Left-Wing Authoritarianism and its Link to Dark Personality Traits,” was authored by Alexandra (Sasha) Cook, Berthold Meyer, and Frank Asbrock.
