A new study from Brazil has found that people with sociopathic traits are more likely to disobey mask wear and other measures to limit the spread of coronavirus.
The study examined the relationship between antisocial personality traits and compliance with COVID-19 measures with a sample of 1,578 Brazilian adults between the ages of 18 and 73 years.
Between May 21 and June 29, participants completed a test that assessed maladaptive personality traits, such as assessments of apathy and adherence to coronavirus-related measures. The findings were published in the journal Personality and individual differences.
The researchers found that those with higher scores in traits, including recklessness, deceit, hostility, impulsivity, irresponsibility, manipulation and risk-taking, were less likely to follow COVID-19 containment measures such as mask-wearing, hand washing and social distancing. .
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But those who had higher levels of empathy tended to be more compliant with the measures.
“Our findings indicate that antisocial traits, particularly lower levels of empathy and higher levels of callousness, deceitfulness, and risk-taking, are directly associated with lower adherence to containment measures,” the authors wrote in the conclusion of their study.
They add: “These traits explain, at least in part, the reason why people continue to fail to comply with the measures contained, even with increasing numbers of cases and deaths.
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“Exposing oneself and others to risk, even if it can be prevented, is a typical trait for people with antisocial tendencies, and with low levels of empathy.”
The authors wrote that containment measures were determined to be the most effective way to “flatten the curve” of coronavirus infections, but previous studies have shown that some people are more likely to take such measures than others.
She wrote that her findings were consistent with previous research showing that certain antisocial personality traits have an impact on compliance with coronavirus-containing measures.
“Additional studies have shown that personality traits play an essential role in following measures for containment, especially antisocial and empathic traits,” she wrote.
“We investigated associations of these traits following COVID-19 containment measures in a large Brazilian adult sample. Disclosure of these associations should help establish public health actions to increase compliance by population control measures.”
She added: “Our findings may be useful for public health policy, for example through screenings proving a height in these traits, interventions can be carried out with the aim of raising awareness and consistent adherence to measures for containment. We propose that further studies are being conducted to examine the interaction of these traits with other variables. “
Brazil is one of the hardest hit countries by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The country has more than 3.58 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the most from any country besides the U.S., according to a Johns Hopkins University census. More than 114,000 people have died in Brazil from the virus.
