"This article was originally published at Higher Perspective. Reprinted with permission from the author."
"Evil can be defined, but it's hard to pin down. Simply put: an evil person is someone who engages in malevolent behaviors. Some argue that they're immoral, sick, depraved, or wicked, but those words are hard to define. Immorality to one is normalcy to another.
But when you meet an evil person, no amount of questioning definitions will change your mind. The truth is, you will know it when you see it. Evil people come from all sorts of places, often ones you wouldn't expect. We find these bad people at our schools, at our churches and places of worship, in the homes of our friends — everywhere we look.
In a study from the University of Copenhagen, researchers found that certain traits — such as sadism, narcissism, psychopathy, and others — are common in people with a dark personality. The common factor of these dark traits is known as the D-factor. The study defines the D-factor as "the general tendency to maximize one's individual utility — disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others — accompanied by beliefs that serve as justifications."
The study found that these dark traits originate with placing one's own interests over others, taking pleasure in hurting others in the process, and not feeling guilt or shame. These results can be compared to a study from 100 years ago by Charles Spearman, which showed that "people who score highly in one type of intelligence test typically also score highly in other types of intelligence tests, because there is something like a general factor of intelligence."
And while a person's "dark core" includes traits that make up the dark triad — psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism — other traits include sadism, spitefulness, egoism, and self-interest. Spot these characteristics in someone, and you can be sure that whatever good is left in them, they will use it against you. There is only one solution for the evil people in our lives.
Here are the 16 warning signs of an evil person:
1. They enjoy the misfortune of others
The malevolent ways of evil people often leave them so twisted and turned around on the inside that they feel good when they see misfortune. It might be a disaster on the news or a dramatic situation in front of them. They seem to delight in misfortune, to relish the bad feelings of other people.
All the times that an evil person has been hurt in their life fall away when bad things happen to other people. The real danger here is that they could create bad situations for you and others in their life to enjoy the misfortune they create.
It is important to recognize who they are before terrible things happen to you and the people they love. If horrible things happening is all that can help them feel better, you can't salvage or save them
2. They have major control issues
Evil people have this in common: they're controlling. But it's not all about controlling you. They often feel downright uncomfortable and powerless if they aren't in control of every aspect of their lives.
Malevolent people are often so cruel to the world and to the people around them that they can't entrust any part of their lives to another person. Because of this obsession, they can come off as polite, concise, and punctual.
But when you let them get closer, they start controlling your life, too, making you just like them. Psychologists have observed that extremely neat individuals may be attempting to exert control over their environment, as having everything in its place gives them a sense of comfort and makes them feel as if they control at least one portion of their lives. This obsession with control can initially make them appear polished and punctual.
Defying the wishes of an evil person doesn't always result in outright evil actions coming back to you. It may feel subtle. Not a slap to the face but a kick to the heart. The goal of the evil person is to control the way you feel on the inside, not how you feel on the outside.
3. They are habitually dishonest
Let's be real. Everyone lies. We all do it. Some are little lies, others are big, big lies. But while everyone lies, not everyone is a liar. A liar is a real special breed. They lie pathologically, constantly, and sometimes without even realizing it. An evil liar will often lie so much that their lies are what form their reality. In living a life of lies, their own minds become prisoners to their own evil behaviors.
Some evil people only lie a little bit, maybe stretching the truth to make themselves seem stronger, smarter, or better. Some evil people lie about you and others. But one thing is for sure: they are liars.
The lies serve as a tool to manipulate a reality for the beliefs that serve them. When caught in a lie, they will probably try to gaslight you, make you question reality as it is, and make you continue to look to them as a source of strength when all they really are are liars.
4. You feel strange around them
It's been pretty well-demonstrated that each of our bodies emits an energy field. Why that is, we're not totally clear on. It could serve as an intuitive defense system. But in the same way that if you eat bad food, it shows on your skin; if you're evil on the inside, it shows up in your energy field.
This might be why evil people give you a creepy feeling without them having actually done anything evil to you at all. Who they are on the inside can be picked up in their subtle energy field by your energy field.
Oftentimes, one of the surest signs of an evil person is that you just don't feel right around them. You get creepy feelings and can't quite put your finger on it.
You might sound crazy to people listening to you talk about it, but don't deny the way the evil people in our world make you feel. Trust your gut and don't worry about it steering you wrong.
If you get the wrong sense about someone, apologize. But better safe than sorry. Scientists explain that we notice something unsettling about a new person before we can name exactly what it is, because our mental apparatus is wired to be especially sensitive to signs of danger and register them before we can consciously recognize and act on them. If something in your environment is even slightly irregular, your brain processes this information, and you get that "weird" feeling.
5. They mislead you
Controlling reality is what gives an evil person most of their power. In doing so, they're able to make it serve as justifications for their petty wants and desires. This is why evil people have a tell: they mislead you into thinking one way or another about them, about the people in your life already, and about yourself.
This misleading can come in many different forms, like misquoting, lying, or stretching the truth and twisting the facts. The result is a world of their creation and a world that you have trouble understanding or believing in.
This is one way to spot an evil person, especially a sly one: look for ways they mislead others. If you see it, go the other direction right away.
6. They lack remorse
Let's cover what we've talked about so far: Evil people are controlling. They're liars. They delight in misfortune. They make you feel weird on the inside. You know the worst part about it all? They aren't ever sorry for the things they do and the way they make you feel. Evil people truly have no remorse.
If you press them on the fact that they're unapologetic for their malevolent behavior and dark personality, they'll deflect, push it off onto you, and gaslight you into thinking the reality you know to be true isn't actually true. In reality, all they want to do is maintain their current quality of life by controlling you, and an apology would indicate fallibility.
The evil ones in our world want you to see perfection to keep you wrapped around their fingers. Admission of fault would shatter that image they've carefully cultivated.
Research shows that individuals with antisocial and psychopathic traits demonstrate little to no remorse for the consequences of their actions. When a lack of empathy combines with an absence of remorse, these individuals can inflict pain without feeling sorry and without even realizing the consequences of their actions.
7. They are cruel
So far, we've talked about evil people and the subtle ways they express their inner malevolent desires. Not all evil people like to be sly about it. Some choose to be outward with it. And one way they do so is through cruelty.
This can come in the form of getting into fights, hurting their loved ones — their spouses, their children, their friends, or even hurting animals. Evil people are often victims of the prisons they've built for themselves, which is why they take so much joy out of misfortune and pain.
It dulls the pain they each have inside their hearts. But that doesn't mean you justify it or stick by evil people. If you're with someone who expresses themselves in such cruel ways, find ways to get away as soon as you can. One day, they may push their cruelty too far and really do some serious damage.
8. They lack responsibility
An evil person has no sort of moral compass. They'll do as they please and will never feel responsible for the pain they have caused to others. If they sense any sort of blame coming their way, they'll start redirecting it immediately.
They love to shift the blame to others and have no understanding of what an apology is. They think apologizing is for the weak. They'd much rather make you apologize for their mistakes.
Research shows that individuals with narcissistic traits use a strategy called DARVO (Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender) where they deny wrongdoing, attack those confronting them, and reverse the roles to position themselves as the victim. These individuals deflect responsibility through tactics like gaslighting, minimization, and manipulation, twisting stories to make others vulnerable rather than acknowledging their own behavior.
9. Their friends and family warn you
A lot of the time, one of the first signs that a person is truly evil is if their "friends" and family issue you warnings. They might talk about an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend who ran from them. They might casually dismiss the problems with previous relationships and make excuses for the evil person in their lives.
This is a sort of manipulation, but it can also be seen as a warning sign of impending disaster. In a sense, these people are telling you that something is wrong and that it's your responsibility to do something about it. Other times, the people in their lives will outright tell you that the evil person is not healthy and that you should avoid them at all costs.
In either case, don't ignore the signs of a truly evil person, especially when people who supposedly love them are tipping you off about it.
10. They are bad friends
If an evil person comes to your assistance, know that they are doing it for a purpose. In other cases, they will only be there when things are going well for you. Once things start to go sour, they're nowhere to be found.
Research on friendship reveals that among toxic individuals, their support always comes with hidden strings attached. When conditions suit them psychologically, they reveal interest in you, but as soon as storm clouds appear, they quickly take cover and suddenly feel no caring or responsibility for your welfare.
11. They are racist, sexist, homophobic, or bigots
Evil thrives when the good are divided. This has made some of the evilest people in the world — from Hitler to Stalin to Osama bin Laden — so wildly successful. They've taken the petty differences between people and used them to sow larger and larger rifts that end up in disaster.
Often, they use bigotry, homophobia, sexism, racism, and fascism, in general, to keep good people apart and to breed more evil people in the world.
We won't mince words here: white supremacists are evil. Racists are evil. Homophobes/transphobes are evil. And bigots, while not every time, are evil quite often. Be conscious of these types of people. Some are only misled, but many are outright malevolent.
12. They manipulate
Evil people are just as capable of showing kindness as any malevolent behavior, but what truly sets them apart is the price that comes with their kindness. Often times, evil people will be kind to you only to get something they need from you later, be it money, subservience, or worse.
Make it clear if they try to manipulate you based on their past kindness that kindness doesn't come with a price tag. You don't need any motivation or incentivization to do the right thing and to be kind to one another. Truly kind people are kind without the expectation of getting anything in return.
Research shows that manipulators strategically use gifts and favors to create a sense of indebtedness in others, exploiting the psychological principle of reciprocity to secure compliance later. When a manipulator is behind the gesture, gift-giving becomes a different story because they use it to secure a sense of indebtedness, exploiting a common human tendency to want to reciprocate
13. They belittle you
One of the worst manipulations of an evil person is emotional manipulation. Usually, this comes in the form of being belittled.
Belittling comes in a lot of different forms, too. It can be playing the victim when you haven't done anything wrong. Ridiculing your appearance, your body, your interests, your hopes, your hobbies, your goals, your friends, your house, your dreams — anything really can be belittled in the eyes of an evil person.
Don't let malevolent people change your opinion of yourself and the decisions you've made. Simply say, "I'm sorry you aren't happy with that part of my life, but it is important to me." And that's that.
14. They confuse and conflict
In the same way that evil people use the aforementioned tactics to split up good people, they'll utilize chaos, confusion, and conflict to their benefit. The more scattered, scared, and unsure you are, the more power they're going to have over you.
You can fight back against this by being level-headed and secure in yourself, even when you don't fully understand what's going on in your life and your world. Oftentimes, evil people are the ones who are putting all that confusion and conflict into your life in the first place. Don't fall into their trap.
No matter what's happening, keep a cool demeanor. Use a level-headed approach to handling conflict and confusion in your life. Studies on manipulation show that when people experience cognitive dissonance and emotional turmoil, they become more susceptible to external influence and less able to make clear decisions. This strategy, sometimes called "crazymaking," keeps targets off-balance and doubting their own perceptions.
15. They lead double lives
Malevolent people will never reveal their true selves to you. Saying they lead double lives is a huge understatement. They lead hundreds of lives.
They are whoever they need to be to get what they want. They are a different person to everyone. They have a well-devised history and image they are trying to portray. The only common thing about all of them is that no one truly knows who they are.
Research on Machiavellianism reveals that individuals high in this dark personality trait are skilled manipulators who can adapt to any social context and flexibly switch tactics to attain their goals successfully. People with Machiavellian traits possess certain cognitive and social skills that enable them to properly adapt to the challenges of environmental circumstances, while also being incredibly perceptive to the presence of others and able to feign altruism to enhance their reputation
16. They don't have boundaries
Evil people are persistent, gregarious, intense, clingy, and fake. In a lot of ways, they're like boomerangs. No matter how hard you throw them out of your life, they always wind up circling back around to you. But only if you let them. You see, an evil person will try and manipulate you into opening the door and letting them back in. But there are dire consequences to doing this, and a malevolent person will gladly take off their jacket, kick off their shoes, and park themselves in front of the TV if you let them back in (so to speak). One thing is certain: no matter what, when you kick an evil person out of your life, they'll always try to work their way back in. It's inevitable, but it can be prevented. No matter how persistent, gregarious, intense, clingy, and fake an evil person is, they can always be booted from your life for good. They'll use every tool at their disposal to force you to let them stay. They'll manipulate, they'll lie, they'll pretend to be nice, they'll attack and belittle, they'll mislead and control.
But one thing is for sure: when you've made the call to give them the boot from your space, your circle, and your life, you can never go back on it. They'll try to get you to change your mind, but the only way to liberate yourself from them is to leave them behind.
An evil person can change, but they can only do it on their own. And you can't force them to change. They can only change when their hearts are open, they're ready to atone for what they've done, and they're ready to work hard at reforming their male."
(I removed its pictures and condensed its text somewhat to save space)
