Researchers Reveal What Drives Gossip, Exclusion And Social Sabotage
People who undermine others through gossip, exclusion and rumor-spreading are largely driven by dark personality traits, and positive qualities rarely offset this tendency. A new study suggests that while everyday kindness can slightly reduce social sabotage, it does not override deeply rooted malevolent traits in people inclined to manipulate others.
The research, published in Personality and Individual Differences, examined a form of harm known as relational aggression. Rather than involving physical violence, this behavior targets a person’s social status, reputation or relationships. It includes tactics such as spreading rumors, giving someone the silent treatment and encouraging group exclusion, strategies often used in environments where direct conflict is discouraged.
Although less visible than physical aggression, relational aggression can have serious consequences. Victims often experience increased depression, loneliness and feelings of hopelessness as their social support networks begin to erode. Perpetrators themselves also tend to report higher levels of anxiety, emotional instability and engagement in other risky behaviors, suggesting broader psychological difficulties.
Dark and Light Personality Traits
Lead author Brittany Patafio of Deakin University and colleagues wanted to better understand why some people choose covert forms of social harm. Their goal was to examine the balance between dark personality traits and more benevolent dispositions, and to determine whether a positive view of humanity can truly restrain socially aggressive behavior.
Psychologists typically group malevolent personality traits into what is known as the Dark Triad: psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism. Narcissism itself can be divided into grandiose and vulnerable forms. Grandiose narcissists tend to view themselves as superior and deserving of special treatment, while vulnerable narcissists are often insecure, introverted and highly sensitive to criticism or rejection.
People high in Machiavellianism tend to view relationships as strategic opportunities, manipulating others while maintaining a favorable public image. Psychopathy is characterized by low empathy, poor impulse control and a willingness to engage in antisocial behavior without remorse. Previous studies have consistently shown that individuals high in these traits are more likely to engage in relational aggression.
At the opposite end of the spectrum is the so-called Light Triad, which includes faith in humanity, humanism and Kantianism. Faith in humanity reflects the belief that people are fundamentally good. Humanism emphasizes respect for the inherent worth and dignity of every individual regardless of status or usefulness.
Kantianism, based on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, involves treating people as ends in themselves rather than as tools for personal gain. The researchers also examined general prosocial behavior, such as helping others, sharing resources and cooperating, to determine how real-world kindness interacts with these broader personality traits.
How Personality Influences Social Aggression
Theoretical models of aggression suggest that people often act aggressively when they interpret ambiguous social situations as hostile. For example, a vague comment from a coworker may be perceived as a personal attack, prompting retaliatory behaviors such as rumor-spreading or social exclusion.
Patafio and her colleagues proposed that individuals high in Light Triad traits might interpret such situations differently. If a person believes that others generally have good intentions or views them as worthy of respect, ambiguous behavior may appear less threatening. In theory, this should reduce the likelihood of responding with covert aggression.
To test these ideas, the researchers surveyed more than 2,000 Australian adults between the ages of 18 and 82. Approximately two-thirds of participants were women. Volunteers were recruited through universities and social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Reddit.
Participants completed an extensive online questionnaire about their attitudes and everyday behavior. To assess relational aggression, they rated statements involving behaviors such as spreading rumors to hurt someone or deliberately ignoring others as punishment.
Additional measures assessed dark and light personality traits, including manipulative tendencies, empathy levels, narcissistic sensitivity and beliefs about human goodness. Participants also reported how often they engaged in prosocial behaviors, such as helping coworkers, supporting friends or assisting people in need.
Dark Traits Explain Most of the Effect
The researchers found that personality traits accounted for more than one-third of the variation in relational aggression. Dark personality traits explained the vast majority of this relationship, indicating a strong connection between malevolent dispositions and social sabotage.
All Dark Triad traits were associated with higher levels of relational aggression. Psychopathy and vulnerable narcissism emerged as the strongest predictors, suggesting that individuals who are impulsive, lacking in empathy or highly sensitive to rejection are particularly likely to use gossip, exclusion and similar tactics against others.
Grandiose narcissism was also linked to relational aggression, although the association was weaker. The researchers suggest that grandiose narcissists may be more likely to pursue visible forms of dominance and self-promotion, whereas vulnerable narcissists often rely on covert strategies that protect them from perceived social threats.
The findings challenged some of the researchers’ original expectations regarding positive personality traits. They had predicted that all Light Triad traits would be associated with lower levels of relational aggression.
Instead, only Kantianism and actual prosocial behavior significantly predicted lower levels of social aggression. Merely believing that people are generally good or valuing human dignity in principle did not reliably translate into less gossiping, exclusion or rumor-spreading.
Kindness and Manipulation Can Coexist
The results highlight an important distinction between attitudes and actions. Holding positive beliefs about humanity does not necessarily prevent someone from undermining a colleague, friend or acquaintance when doing so seems advantageous. Concrete moral principles about how people should be treated, combined with habitual helping behavior, appeared to offer greater protection against relational aggression.
The researchers also investigated whether dark personality traits weaken the protective effects of kindness. Some individuals may behave generously not out of genuine concern for others but to gain rewards, improve their reputation or increase social status.
Among participants with high levels of dark traits, this pattern was particularly evident. Even when they reported frequent prosocial behavior, they still engaged in substantial levels of relational aggression. For these individuals, helping and harming appeared to function as separate strategic tools that could be used whenever beneficial.
By contrast, people with low levels of dark traits showed a different pattern. Among these participants, prosocial behaviors tended to replace rather than coexist with relational aggression. Their acts of kindness appeared more consistent with genuine concern for others than with calculated self-interest.
Limitations and Future Research
The study’s cross-sectional design means that it cannot establish cause and effect. While the findings reveal strong associations between personality traits and relational aggression, they cannot determine whether those traits directly lead to aggressive behavior over time.
The study also relied on self-report questionnaires, which may introduce bias if participants underreport socially undesirable behaviors or exaggerate positive qualities. This limitation is common in personality research, particularly when questions involve manipulation or cruelty.
In addition, the sample consisted of Australian adults who generally reported relatively low levels of relational aggression and relatively high levels of benevolent traits. Different cultural contexts or populations with higher baseline levels of hostility might produce different results.
The researchers suggest that future studies should follow participants from adolescence into adulthood to better understand how dark and light personality traits develop over time. Longitudinal research could reveal when these traits become stable and how they interact with life experiences to shape social behavior.
Understanding how manipulative personalities use both kindness and aggression to manage relationships could have practical implications for workplaces, schools and community settings. The authors argue that focusing only on outward displays of kindness may fail to identify individuals who strategically alternate between helping and harming others to maintain influence and control.
Article prepared by Alex Morgan.
