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2 weeks ago
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If someone in your office only does the bare minimum and is always shirking responsibility, scientists say they could be a psychopath.
Psychologists have discovered a strong connection between 'quiet quitting' and so-called 'dark triad' personality traits.
Quiet quitting is a trend where workers don't leave their jobs outright, but simply fade into the background by doing only what is absolutely required of them.
Researchers found that high levels of psychopathic and narcissistic traits make someone significantly more likely to quiet quit.
The scientists say that people with these traits have a greater sense of entitlement and feel less guilt about holding back when their expectations aren't met.
Lead author Dr Hanfia Rahman, of Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, told the Daily Mail: 'Our findings show that people who score higher on everyday psychopathic tendencies are somewhat more likely to engage in quiet quitting.
'This trait didn’t mean violence or criminal behaviour; it showed up as being emotionally detached, impulsive, and less concerned about how their actions affect others.
'What we found is simply that those who already have a colder, more self-focused style of thinking may find quiet quitting an easier choice.'
If you know someone at work who only does the bare minimum and constantly shirks responsibility, scientists say they might be a psychopath (stock image)
The 'dark triad' of personality is a collection of three types of traits that are often associated with antisocial behaviour; these being psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism.
Narcissism is associated with an inflated feeling of entitlement or superiority, leading to selfish or arrogant behaviour.
People who score highly on tests for psychopathic traits typically have low levels of empathy for others, a tendency to prioritise their own needs, a lack of guilt, and emotional detachment.
Previous studies have shown that some psychopaths tend to perform extremely well in a corporate environment, with the rate of clinical psychopathy being three times higher among corporate boards than among the general population.
However, there has been very little investigation into how these traits might be connected to quiet quitting.
To learn more, the researchers surveyed 402 senior managers working in IT, banking, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Each participant was assessed on their dark triad traits, psychological entitlement, and level of moral disengagement.
The researchers also rated how likely each person was to quiet quit in their current job.
Researchers found that psychopathic or narcissistic traits, like those of fictional psychopath Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (pictured), make someone more likely to quiet quit at work
This revealed that both psychopathic and narcissistic traits significantly predisposed someone towards quiet quitting.
According to Dr Rahman, this is largely because of psychopaths' increased feelings of entitlement and ability to prioritise their own needs without guilt.
She says: 'If they believe the job isn’t giving them what they deserve, they don’t struggle much with the idea of quietly pulling back.'
Psychopaths also have higher levels of impulsivity and find it easier to break the unspoken rules that most people instinctively follow.
'Quiet quitting is essentially a silent rule-break: you meet the bare minimum but stop investing discretionary effort,' says Dr Rahman.
'For most people, that creates inner tension or guilt. For someone higher on psychopathic tendencies, that tension simply isn’t there.'
This means that people with psychopathic tendencies can see quiet quitting as a perfectly acceptable choice, rather than making the step due to anger or burnout.
In addition to these traits, the researchers found that moral disengagement was one of the most important mechanisms that leads to quiet quitting.
The researchers say that people with psychopathic traits have lower empathy and a greater sense of self-worth, making it easier for them to justify quiet quitting
This is the process where someone finds moral justifications or 'mental shortcuts' that allow them to detach from the sense of moral responsibility or guilt.
This is something that people with narcissistic or psychopathic traits are significantly better at, making it easier for them to step back from work.
For example, someone with psychopathic traits might rationalise doing less work as protecting themselves from burnout or as something that everyone does.
Interestingly, the researchers discovered that quiet quitting had no association with the third dark triad personality: Machiavellianism.
People scoring highly for this trait are willing to act immorally in order to achieve personal gain, often manipulating others and doing whatever they feel is needed to achieve their goals.
The researchers had thought that this would lead to more quiet quitting, but their data showed that this was not the case after all.
Dr Rahman says: 'People high in this trait are not driven by emotion or impulsive withdrawal; they’re driven by advantage.
'It’s not that they’re more loyal; rather, they’re too calculated to fade into the background when staying visible benefits them more.'
Both entitlement and moral disengagement, the ability to find moral justifications for their actions, lead to a higher likelihood of quiet quitting (illustrated)
The researchers also stress that this does not mean everyone who engages in quiet quitting is necessarily a psychopath or a narcissist.
People might also engage in quiet quitting for other reasons, such as bad management, burnout, or feeling undervalued.
In the study, published in the journal Acta Psychologica, the researchers suggest that dark triad traits might just be one part of someone's reasons to quit.
However, what they did find was that people who are more psychopathic are likely to find that decision easier and choose to step back more readily.
HOW TO SPOT A PSYCHOPATH
Psychopaths display different traits depending on their disorder.
Common signs include superficial charm, a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others and a lack of remorse and empathy.
But despite the popular association, not all psychopaths become killers.
Experts claim people usually find psychopaths intriguing, but can't put their finger on why.
This is down to incongruous behaviour because psychopaths tend to do a lot of acting to deceive, or mimic normal reactions, sometimes changing their views and reactions quickly.
For example, Self-professed psychopath Jacob Wells said that upon meeting someone, he tries to become 'the most interesting person they know' and presumably adopts suitable interests and responses to do this.
His response also gives away another common trait - a grandiose notion of self-worth - in that he can be the most interesting person in the room.
Psychopaths occasionally tend to exhibit unconvincing emotional responses, with slip-ups including tone of voice or body language.
This may be because they are unable to understand emotions such as fear and love, but can mimic them.
Psychopaths display different traits depending on their disorder, but common signs include superficial charm and the ability to manipulate others. Despite the popular association, not all psychopaths become killers (stock image)
Generally psychopaths' 'emotions' are shallow and short-lived and there is a manipulative ulterior motive to showing them.
For example, Mr Wells said he offers to do favours and tells false secrets to people to gain their complete trust.
He also displays insincere charm - another trait associated with psychopaths.
He says: 'I keep secrets, and tell them fake secrets to further gain their trust, and once they trust me enough, I ask for favours, reminding them of the favours I did them. I can get literally anything from them, which is incredibly useful.'
Psychopaths typically display an incredible ability to manipulate others and sometimes take pleasure in doing so.
Psychopaths often have an air of superiority about them, perhaps shown by Mr Wells' belief he can spot other psychopaths
Even expert Dr Hare, who came up with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) used as a diagnostic tool to determine where someone lies on the psychopathy spectrum, warns that anyone can be duped during a short interaction with a psychopath.
