Exposing oneself (as well as others) to risk, when it can be avoided, is a typical trait of people with low levels of empathy and antisocial tendencies

The coronavirus pandemic has discovered different types of people: those who try to protect themselves to the point of making hysteria in some cases, those who take it seriously without this affects their life or their mental health, which in general minimize the issue because they do not want to be alarmists and even the last ones who deny that the disease exists and believe that it is all a plot orchestrated by ambiguous powerful people who lead the world.

It is natural when facing a situation that we had never conceived or believed we could live in, people react differently. At the time of coexistence, however, it is more difficult to accept it: it is likely that in recent months you have had more than one discussion with friends or close family members because your views on the pandemic, security and government management are diametrically different. Why this disparity when, in other aspects of your life, you agree? Well, maybe all this has to do with your social traits.

This is confirmed by a new study carried out in Brazil that concluded that people with antisocial traits are less likely to follow the measures to contain the disease. Some traits such as callousness, deception, hostility or risk-taking often occur in people diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, they explained. These traits are related to behaviors that go beyond the law, such as all those related to crime or violence.

The study was recently published in the journal ‘Personality and individual differences’ and it was hypothesized that those with higher levels of antisocial traits as well as less empathy show more difficulties in paying attention to these restraint measures imposed by the governments around the world. As they explained, exposing oneself (as well as others) to risk, when it can be avoided, is a typical trait of people with low levels of empathy and antisocial tendencies.

The sample for the study was carried out with 1,578 adults who answered questions about compliance with containment measures and virus tests. They concluded that the traits mentioned above explain, why some people continue to ignore containment measures even as there are still increases in cases and deaths.

“Our findings can be useful for public health policies,” they explained. “screenings that demonstrate an elevation in these traits, interventions can be carried out aiming at greater awareness and consequent compliance with containment measures.” The key now is for those who choose to ignore containment measures understand the seriousness of doing so, without minimizing the problem or, outright, believing that it is a plot.