People Who Reject Face Masks More Likely To Be Sociopaths: Study

First, the WHO, CDC, Dr. Fauci and the US Surgeon General told everyone not to wear masks to protect against COVID-19. Now, a study suggests that people who shun face coverings during the pandemic are more likely to be sociopaths.

According to The Times, Researchers from Brazil found that individuals who ignore rules on wearing facemasks are “more likely to have malevolent sociopathic traits,” that that those trivializing the risks of COVID-19 showed signs of “the so-called dark-triad of personality traits — narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy.”

Approximately 1,600 volunteers who filled out two questionnaires frequently used by psychologists to assess empathy and diagnose personality disorders. Then, they were split into two groups – one with 1,200 in an ’empathy group,’ and the remaining 400 or so who showed signs of antisocial tendencies in their own group.

Those in the empathy group “displayed an interest in understanding other people’s feelings and motivations,” and “tended to be interested in “developing positive social interactions” with others,” while the antisocial group “tended to look for ways in which their interactions with others could benefit them personally,” and were more likely to feel “socially detached” and engage in hostile behavior.

The research found that those who scored higher on measures of callousness, deceitfulness, hostility, impulsivity, manipulativeness and risk-taking tended to be less compliant with social distancing, frequent hand washing and wearing facemasks in public.

They also tended to minimise the seriousness of the pandemic. The results were published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. –The Times

“Our findings indicated that antisocial traits, especially lower levels of empathy and higher levels of callousness, deceitfulness and risk-taking, are directly associated with lower compliance with containment measures,” wrote the researchers. “These traits explain, at least partially, the reason why people continue not adhering to the containment measures even with increasing numbers of cases and deaths. Exposing oneself and others to risk, even when it can be avoided, is a typical trait for people with antisocial tendencies and with low levels of empathy.”

The Times also notes that “Smaller studies in Denmark, Poland and the US also found a link between antisocial personality traits and a determination to ignore safety codes.”

Maybe some people are just tired of ever-pivoting health officials and reports showing masks might not be as effective as advertised.

Funny. I say the same about the people who wear them.

— Patricia Kelly (@PatriciaKelly49) September 2, 2020