Scientists have found out what makes a person a "real jerk"

You've probably met assholes in your life, and more than once. Despite the rich experience that most of us have, no one can answer exactly why a person is considered a "real jerk". More precisely, I couldn't until recently. Scientists have set themselves the task of solving this mystery and, finally, answered the age-old question.

The popular scientific journal Collabra Psychology recently published the results of a study in which 400 people participated. The scientists asked them to think carefully and remember the "biggest jerks" they had met in their lives. And not just to remember, but to describe them from the point of view of a Five-factor personality model. This model contains estimates of such indicators as extroversion, benevolence, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience.

As a result of the survey, it turned out that the classic jerk is a middle—aged man. It is difficult to contact him because he is aggressive and stubborn. All jerks are characterized by such character traits as egocentricity, fanaticism, impulsiveness and irresponsibility.

When the respondents recalled such persons from their sad experience, it turned out that the jerks were most often former partners or lovers, family members and bosses. All of them had psychopathic, antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders.

Completely random people whose belonging to this caste was controversial also fell into the category of jerks. Some categorically did not wear medical masks during the pandemic, others rolled their eyes during the conversation, and still others were passionate fans of Donald Trump.

But some respondents described the real jerks who fully justified their proud name. The article about these people says this:

The study showed another interesting point. It turned out that almost all the jerks know well who they are. They understand that they upset everyone around them, but at the same time they do not want to change anything in themselves.

Although the very fact of the existence of jerks is now scientifically proven, it will not be easier for anyone. Psychologists are confident that in the foreseeable future this condition will not be considered as a psychological deviation. The fact is that this term is very subjective and everyone interprets it in their own way.

But it cannot be said that scientific work on the topic of jerks was meaningless. Experts believe that the study will be useful for further scientific work about how people evaluate the personalities of other people and what factors influence this.