Why was Darth Vader so evil? Blame his lack of parental care, say psychologists

Image: wikipediaWhy was Darth Vader such a bad dude? According to a team of psychologists led by Peter Jonason, it's down to his lack of parental care: the fact he was separated from his mother at age 9, and his father's absence. The researchers believe such circumstances can catalyse the emergence of the Dark Triad of personality traits: Machiavellianism, Narcissism and Psychopathy. These traits are usually seen as negative, but Jonason and his colleagues believe they may be an adaptive response to tough early circumstances that signal to a child "life is bad".To test their theory, Jonason and his colleagues surveyed 153 students online and 199 other adults  (across both groups, average age was 25, and there were 60 men). The participants answered questions about their personality, in terms of the Dark Triad; about the care they received from their parents; and about their adult attachment style.The results threw up a web of correlations. Untangling the threads, Jonason's team say their analysis suggests that poor maternal care increases the likelihood of people developing insecure attachment styles, and in turn this increases levels of Machiavellianism, Primary Psychopathy (i.e. callousness) and the entitlement and exhibitionist elements of Narcissism. There were also direct associations between better maternal care and lower levels of the leadership and grandiosity elements of Narcissism. Better quality paternal care was associated, rather oddly, with increased a...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Source Type: blogs