Dark personality traits, including narcissism and psychopathy, increase the desire to enhance one’s brain power through technology and technological methods, according to new research.
As published in the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, the desire to improve the power of the brain through technology is more attractive to those who possess unsavoury traits.
Though self improvement is nothing new, and is perhaps even hardwired into humans as a mode of survival and progress, personality traits such as the Dark Triad traits (machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy), or the Big Five (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism), were linked with a particular desire to do so.
A total of 450 participants completed questionnaires that measured their personality traits, as part of the study.
Researchers presented them with five different (hypothetical) transhumanism-inspired methods to improve cognitive abilities.
The study ultimately found that several personality traits and personal values were associated with a greater willingness to use the self-enhancement methods.
Author of the study, Elena Schönthaler of the University of Graz, said: “Enhancement of human abilities has been a prominent topic throughout human history, but has received little attention from psychological research.
“Nowadays, thanks to advanced technology, there are significantly more possibilities and means to optimise one’s abilities.
“Finding out who would use enhancement methods has thus become an urgent question to answer.
“Our research aimed to shed more light onto individual differences, personality traits, and inner values of those who would enhance themselves using technological methods or devices.”
- The study, “Super Men and Wonder Women: the Relationship Between the Acceptance of Self enhancement, Personality, and Values“, was authored by Elena M. D. Schönthaler, Gabriela Hofer, Sandra Grinschgl, and Aljoscha C. Neubauer.
