The Dark Side of the States: How Aversive Societal Conditions Shape Dark Personality Traits
As it turns out, our personalities are not just a product of our genes, but also shaped by the environments we grow up in. A recent study conducted by Ingo Zettler, Lau Lilleholt, Benjamin E. Hilbig, Morten Moshagen, and Martina Bader at the University of Copenhagen found that humans display different levels of "dark personality traits" depending on their location and the concentration of aversive societal conditions (ASC) that place possesses.
The study, published in 2025, took place over a 20-year period and involved researchers studying global correlations between general living conditions and the percentage of the population that possesses dark traits. The study probed 183 countries across the world with a total of 1,791,542 participants, including a focus on the United States through the lens of individual states.
Dark personality traits, or the dark triad, are recognized by psychologists as psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism—the desire or urge to exploit others. Aversive societal conditions can be defined as societal circumstances that occur on a large, collective scale, such as exploitation, fraud, corruption, inequality, and violence.
The researchers found that states with high rates of both poverty and crime, large income disparities, and minimized healthcare access tend to produce people who exhibit more dark personality traits as a result of individual hardship. In contrast, rural areas like much of Vermont, Utah, Maine, and Oregon—the four states with the lowest probability of producing individuals as a result of living conditions—are more likely to be geographically isolated and relatively economically balanced.
The study used survey data on socioeconomic disparity and poverty, FBI homicide rates, and Justice Department corruption sentences to draw conclusions. Within the U.S., researchers looked into all 50 states and compiled responses from 144,576 Americans. The more adverse conditions in a society, the higher the level of the dark factor of personality among its citizens.
"The more adverse conditions in a society, the higher the level of the dark factor of personality among its citizens," Zettler summarized. "Aversive personality traits are associated with behaviors such as aggression, cheating, and exploitation—and thus with high social costs. Therefore, even small variations can lead to large differences in how societies function."
Susan Krauss Whitbourne wrote in Psychology Today that while studies often view dark traits as predominantly genetic or inborn, these findings suggest it can be more flexible. "Because you might grow up in a country with a high ASC, you’re not necessarily fated to become an immoral, exploitative, and self-centered individual," she wrote. "What the findings suggest is that consistent with the adaptational hypothesis, people may acquire a tendency toward high levels of D if that’s what they see around them, or if their own economic deprivation and hardship are particularly pronounced."
Zettler concluded that "our findings substantiate that personality is not just something we are born with, but also shaped by the society we grew up and live in." He added that "reforms that reduce corruption and inequality not only create better living conditions now but may also contribute to mitigating aversive personality levels among the citizens in the future."
