Altruism and Malevolence: Opposite Ends of a Single Dimension

Abstract

Although the possibility sounds paradoxical, several studies have found that positive and negative regard for others’ welfare are orthogonal and have unique personality correlates. We tested whether this result is an artefact of treating the oft-used self-report altruism scale (SRA) as unidimensional. In a pilot study of students and community-dwelling adults (N = 276, 190 women; Meanage = 21.67, SDage = 7.49), we factor analyzed the SRA. We confirmed its factor structure in a study of Mechanical Turk workers (N = 814; 410 women; Meanage = 36.6, SDage = 11.19). Using an S-1 bifactor model, we created a “gold standard” general altruism factor composed of idiographic, behavioral, and questionnaire measures. We used structural equation modeling to assess how the SRA and the gold standard measure relate to gender, sexual history, and malevolence. The SRA contained three factors across both studies. The factor that accounted for the most variance positively correlated with sadism and psychopathy, a history of uncommitted sex, and being male. The other two SRA factors and the gold standard measure generally evinced the opposite associations. In conclusion, regard for other’s welfare is likely a single dimension of personality with a unified nomological network.