The Darker Side of Environmentalism By James Reed

An academic paper has appeared: H. Zacher, "The Dark Side of Environmental Activism." Personality and Individual Differences, 219 (2024), that confirms much of what I have said about Greenies and environmentalists over the years here at the blog. The Zacher study examined the prevalence of dark triad traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism) and left-wing authoritarianism (i.e., antihierarchical aggression, anticonventionalism, topdown censorship). A significant association was found between environmental activism and these dark triad traits. In other words, the environmentalists are authoritarian Machiavellians, who are on a quest for power. It is much the same we see elsewhere with Leftists; the Yes side of the Voice referendum gave some specular examples of this. From the paper:

"ABSTRACT In times of growing concerns about climate change, environmental activism is increasing. Whereas several studies have examined associations between environmental activism and the Big Five personality characteristics, the potential "dark side" of environmental activists' personality has been neglected. Accordingly, this study examined associations between environmental activism, the dark triad traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism) and left-wing authoritarianism (i.e., antihierarchical aggression, anticonventionalism, topdown censorship). Data came from 839 employed individuals in Germany. Results showed positive associations between environmental activism and Machiavellianism, narcissism, antihierarchical aggression, and anticonventionalism. Most of these associations remained significant after controlling for Big Five characteristics, demographic characteristics, political orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism. These findings suggest that environmental activism, in addition to its potential positive outcomes, may also have a dark side in terms of activists' personality.

4. Discussion Previous studies have proposed and found positive relations between political activism and the dark triad traits (Bertrams & Krispenz, 2023; Rogoza et al., 2022) and left-wing authoritarianism (Costello et al., 2022; Krispenz & Bertrams, 2023). This study advances this literature by demonstrating positive associations between environmental activism and two of the dark triad traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism) and two dimensions of left-wing authoritarianism (i.e., antihierarchical aggression, anticonventionalism). Most of these relations remained significant when demographics, Big Five personality characteristics, right-wing authoritarianism, and political orientation were controlled. Given that environmental activism is considered a meaningful activity by many (Lubell, 2002), these findings contribute to research suggesting that certain aberrant personality characteristics, in addition to their potential negative consequences, may also lead to favorable outcomes (Volmer et al., 2016; Wille et al., 2013). The findings provide further empirical support for the "dark-egovehicle principle," which suggests that people with high levels of the dark triad traits may use activism as a means to satisfy their ego-focused needs, including positive self-presentation, status gain, dominance over others, and excitement seeking (Bertrams & Krispenz, 2023). At the same time, people with high levels of Machiavellianism and narcissism may actually be more effective in the context of environmental activism, which aims to change attitudes and behavior of other individuals, organizations, and governments. The people possess strengths with regard to forming alliances, leadership of groups, authority, and using moral superiority to influence others (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Accordingly, the findings may not only uncover a "dark side" of environmental activism, but also suggest that environmental activism may be a "bright side" of certain dark triad traits. In contrast to Machiavellianism and narcissism, psychopathy was not significantly associated with environmental activism. Previous research has shown that psychopathy is positively related to people's support for violent political activism, including physical attacks (e.g., Gøtzsche-Astrup, 2021; Pavlovi´c & Wertag, 2021). A potential explanation for the null findings may be that environmental activism is typically non-violent (Alisat & Riemer, 2015) and, thus, may be rather unattractive for people with high levels of psychopathy."