Creating evil: Can sadism be induced?

Abstract

Sadism, as with other dark personality features, is generally considered to be a relatively stable trait. However, there has been little examination of the extent to which sadism may also be a state dependent characteristic. This research examines the extent to which sadistic interest or tendencies can be influenced through a specifically developed and very brief mood induction procedure. An anonymous online study, comprising questionnaires and a short picture-based induction procedure was completed by 323 participants. Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition by the hosting software, Qualtrics. Analysis showed that increased sadistic interest was reported by those in the experimental condition who had higher levels of baseline sadism. The findings indicate that a brief and simple procedure can be used to enhance pre-existing sadistic interest. Further research is needed to examine whether more immersive inductions produce a greater or lasting effect, and to understand the extent to which these might influence behaviour.