What Percentage of "Evil" Is Within You? The True Nature of the "Dark Factor" Explored by Psychology

"I Think I'm a Good Person"

When asked this, many people would likely respond that they are at least "not an extreme villain."

But let's change the question a bit.

Do you think it's okay to outsmart others a little if it benefits you?
Do you ever feel you deserve special treatment compared to others?
Do you feel a bit pleased when someone you dislike fails?

When asked these questions, the situation becomes less straightforward.

Human personality includes not only bright aspects like kindness, cooperativeness, and sincerity but also "parts you don't want others to see," such as selfishness, jealousy, aggression, coldness, and egocentrism.

The psychological concept that attempts to measure the core common to these "dark aspects" of personality is known as the "Dark Factor of Personality," or "D-factor" for short.

It gained renewed attention when introduced by the German broadcaster SWR3 on August 27, 2026.

Are "Bad Personalities" Really Disparate?

In psychology, the concept known as the "Dark Triad" has been recognized for some time.

The three main components are narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.

Narcissism involves considering oneself special and having a tendency to seek admiration and superiority.

Machiavellianism involves viewing human relationships strategically and sometimes manipulating others without hesitation.

Psychopathy traits studied in psychology include coldness, low empathy, and impulsivity.

However, as research progressed, it became clear that these "dark personality traits" are not limited to just three types.

Concepts like selfishness, greed, entitlement, a tendency to detach from moral responsibility, sadism, indifference to others' suffering, and malice, which are similar yet slightly different, have been increasingly studied.

Researchers began to question, "Are these really all separate personalities?"

For instance, what if someone who prioritizes their own interests above all else also feels little resistance to exploiting others?

Or what if someone who strongly believes they have special rights tends to disregard the harm to others in achieving their goals?

Instead of placing each personality trait in separate boxes, could there be a common "root" beneath them?

This line of thinking led to the development of the D-factor. In 2018, a research team theorized the Dark Factor as a general tendency common to various antisocial and antagonistic personality traits.

Common "Mindsets" of People with High D-factor

The point of the D-factor is not simply about having a "bad personality" or being "quick-tempered."

The research team focuses on the tendency to "ignore, accept, or sometimes intentionally cause others to suffer if it maximizes one's own benefit," and the mindset that justifies this within oneself.

In other words, the important part is not just

"I benefit"

but also

"It's okay if others suffer for my benefit."

Furthermore,

"I have a reason to do so."

is included in this mindset.

For example, even if the desire for "more money" is the same, striving for a richer life through effort is different from thinking it's okay to deceive people to increase one's own profit.

The D-factor is easier to understand when considered as a concept focusing on "how one tends to think when one's own interests conflict with others' interests," rather than merely the strength of simple desires.

The "Parts You Don't Want to Admit" Asked in the Test

The research team has developed a set of questions to measure the D-factor, and the test is now available online.

The official site offers scales of 16, 35, and 70 questions. The shorter ones can be answered in a few minutes, while the longer ones ask more multifaceted questions.

The questions are a bit more challenging to answer than typical personality diagnostics.

Do you think it's okay to say anything for your own benefit?

Do you feel you deserve to receive more than others?

Do you sometimes feel satisfaction from hurting others?

What do you think about using others to achieve your goals?

These questions explore the respondent's values from these angles.

The results indicate more than just a simple "villain score."

They reveal tendencies such as selfishness, Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychological entitlement, psychopathy, sadism, egocentrism, and malice.

It's important to note that even if the test results show items like "psychopathy," it doesn't mean a psychiatric diagnosis has been made.

It is merely a scale of personality traits used in psychological research.

It's not meant to be used as "80% means a dangerous person" or "20% means definitely a good person."

A Quite Serious Psychological Scale

When you hear "a villain diagnosis you can take online," you might imagine a psychological test on an entertainment site.

However, the D-factor itself is not a diagnosis created on a whim.

A study published in the academic journal 'Psychological Assessment' in 2020 analyzed the questionnaire items using a large dataset of over 165,000 people.

As a result, scales of 70, 35, and 16 items of varying lengths were created.

The study confirmed the internal consistency and retest reliability of these scales and also examined their correlation with actual behavior.

In other words,

"There is research-based evidence for the psychological model of the D-factor"

and

"The score you get from taking it online once is the absolute truth"

are entirely different matters.

Confusing these points can lead to misunderstandings about the test's meaning.

"It Was High..." Results Stir Up on Social Media

One reason these tests spread easily online is the desire to compare results with others.

Looking at past posts on the public overseas forum Reddit, exchanges of sharing results like "I scored this" or "This was my highest trait" are repeated.

One user posted that their D-factor was extremely high, corresponding to more than 98% of respondents. They questioned the differences since narcissism, entitlement, greed, and Machiavellianism were high, while other traits were low.

In another community, users who took the 70-question version compared their results.

"I was a bit surprised that sadism was the highest."

"I thought another trait would be higher."

"I'm not completely satisfied with the results."

These reactions were observed.

Interestingly, it's not just about competing over "what percentage you got,"

but also the confusion of

"I'm different from what I imagined myself to be."

Some people who thought they weren't selfish scored high in selfishness, while others who believed they had a dark side scored surprisingly low.

This discrepancy might be why personality tests attract people.

"Isn't This a Test of Admitting Your Own Flaws?"

On the other hand, there are quite a few calm critiques of the test itself on social media.

A participant on Reddit reacted to the test by suggesting that it might essentially be a test of "how much you can admit your own flaws."

This is a very important point.

Because,

when asked questions like "I use people for my goals"

or "I feel good when others suffer,"

not everyone will answer completely honestly.

There are aspects of one's personality that one might not want to admit even to oneself.

Moreover,

if someone is taking the test thinking, "I'll show this result to my friends later,"

they might unconsciously choose answers that make them appear as a "good person."

Conversely, in internet culture, there might be cases where people find it amusing to get results like "I'm a villain" or "I have a deep darkness" and intentionally give extreme answers.

In other words, self-reported tests always carry the issues of

"whether the respondent understands themselves correctly"

and "whether they are answering honestly."

This point is also highlighted as a major limitation of the test in the SWR3 article.

Voices of Discontent with the Definition of "Greed"

There is also criticism of the questions themselves.

On social media, a user questioned, "Isn't it natural for humans to want more, so why is that treated as greed?"

Another user expressed discomfort with the idea that a mindset of self-protection is highly rated as selfishness.

This is a common difficulty in psychological tests in general.

For example,

can someone who answers "I would save myself if only one person, either myself or a stranger, could be saved"

be simply judged as selfish?

The thought "I want to prioritize my success above all else"

can also be expressed as ambition, depending on the situation.

Psychological scales measure tendencies by combining multiple questions, so they don't judge humanity based on a single question.

However, from the perspective of those taking the test, the meaning of the words in the questions and the imagined situations can greatly change the answers.

That's why, rather than just looking at the numbers in the results,

thinking about "why did I answer this question this way"

can be considered a more interesting way to use this test.

It Can't Be Used to Judge "Am I a Villain?"

When SWR3 asked experts in their science department, the evaluation was that online self-diagnosis results should not be overly trusted.

One reason is that human self-awareness itself is incomplete.

Even if you believe "I am the type to consider others' feelings," those around you might not think so.

Conversely, someone who is harsh on themselves might evaluate themselves as more selfish and cold than they actually are.

Another issue is what is called "social desirability."

When people answer surveys, they tend to choose answers closer to the "socially desirable self" rather than their true selves.

Especially with clearly negative questions like those in the Dark Factor, this influence tends to be significant.

Therefore, a low score doesn't prove "I have no dark side," and a high score doesn't diagnose someone as a "dangerous person."

Why the D-factor Is Still Important as a Research Subject

So, does this mean that D-factor research is meaningless given its limitations?

Not at all.

Rather than classifying individuals as "good" or "bad," researchers are interested in what tendencies emerge when large groups are studied.

The D-factor has been studied in relation to various socially undesirable behaviors, such as aggression, misconduct, selfish behavior, and trolling on the internet.

In other words, it is not a "villain meter" predicting the future of an individual but a tool for understanding the psychological structure common to antisocial behavior.

Recently, research has expanded to include not only "the person's character" but also the relationship between "the society they have lived in" and the D-factor.

Is "Dark Personality" Not Just a Personal Issue?

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in 2025 is particularly intriguing in this regard.

The research team analyzed extremely large data from about 1.79 million people across 183 countries and over 140,000 people in 50 U.S. states.

They reported a small but statistically significant correlation between "harsh and undesirable social conditions" such as corruption, inequality, poverty, and violence, and higher D-factor scores in later years.

Of course,

this doesn't mean "growing up in a poor society makes you a villain