The BBC designed a fun quiz inspired by psychologists to test how dark your personality is - and you can take it now
Although the quiz was designed "solely for entertainment," it still offers an interesting (if unscientific) glimpse into your personality.
The BBC designed the quiz, which was inspired by questionnaires developed by psychologists Delroy Paulhus and Daniel Jones.
Psychologists have defined a "dark triad" of personality traits:
- Machiavellianism - being manipulative
- Narcissism - loving yourself too much
- Psychopathy - lack of empathy
High scores on these three traits suggests you're a malevolent person, though of course the quiz is still just for fun. Still, some actual studies have linked the traits to negative behaviors like aggression and sexual coercion.
Originally, each of the "dark triad traits" was tested separately, but in 2010, Peter Jonason and Gregory Webster developed a combined test. Four years later, Paulhus and Jones developed a another version of the test. That's the one the BBC quiz is based on.
You can take the quiz here.
The quiz presents a series of statements, such as "I like to use clever manipulation to get my way" and "You should wait for the right time to get back at people," and then asks you to select how much you agree with each (from strongly agree to strongly disagree).
I took the test, and scored the result "Infrequently vile - you mostly put others before yourself, though you may find occasions in which you dark side shines."
Take it for yourself and see how malevolent you are!