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Updated: May 8, 2026

The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior

The Forced Swim Test as a Model of Depressive-like Behavior

Published on: March 2, 2015

Behavioral confirmation of everyday sadism.

Erin E Buckels¹, Daniel N Jones, Delroy L Paulhus

¹1University of British Columbia.

Psychological Science

|September 12, 2013

Summary

Everyday sadism, characterized by an appetite for cruelty, is proposed as a new addition to the Dark Triad of personality. Research shows sadists exhibit more cruel behaviors, suggesting a "Dark Tetrad" of personality.

Keywords:

aggression antisocial behavior cruelty individual differences killing personality rewards sadism sadistic personality violence

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Social Psychology
Personality Psychology

Background:

Socially aversive personalities are often studied as the "Dark Triad": subclinical psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism.
Previous research has not extensively explored everyday sadism as a distinct personality trait.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether everyday sadism should be recognized as a significant component of socially aversive personalities.
To determine if sadistic tendencies predict cruel behaviors in laboratory settings.
To evaluate the potential inclusion of sadism into a broader framework, the "Dark Tetrad" of personality.

Main Methods:

Two laboratory procedures were used to capture acts of cruelty.
Study 1 involved a bug-killing paradigm to assess willingness to inflict harm.
Study 2 examined participants' willingness to harm an innocent victim, with and without effort.

Main Results:

Individuals scoring higher on sadism measures volunteered for bug-killing tasks more frequently than non-sadists.
Sadism and Dark Triad measures predicted unprovoked aggression when it required minimal effort.
Only individuals high in sadism were willing to exert effort to harm an innocent person.
Sadism consistently predicted cruel behaviors across both studies, independent of other Dark Triad traits.

Conclusions:

The findings support the construct validity of everyday sadism.
Everyday sadism is a reliable predictor of cruel behavior.
Sadism warrants inclusion alongside psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, forming a "Dark Tetrad" of personality.