Ever felt like everyone around you in your state is just… too much? The boss who micromanages and gaslights. The neighbor who always seems a little too charming. The friend who turns every conversation into a power play.
You’re not aloneโand you might not be paranoid, either.
A massive psychological study across the United States has found that where you live might say something about how likely you are to encounter people with โdark personality traitsโโthink narcissism, manipulation, or even sadism.
Thatโs right. The data suggests some states may have more people scoring high in what’s called the D-factor, a unified measure of the darker side of human personality.
The Dark Factor: One Trait to Rule Them All
Developed by psychologists Morten Moshagen, Benjamin E. Hilbig, and Ingo Zettler, the D-factor doesnโt just look at traits like psychopathy or narcissism in isolation. Instead, it rolls them into a single score that reflects a personโs tendency to put their own interests firstโoften at the expense of others.
People with a high D score? Theyโre not necessarily criminals or cartoon villains. But they do see the world as a brutal, competitive place, and theyโre more likely to justify doing whatever it takes to come out on top.
Think: cutting corners, manipulating coworkers, cheating systemsโand, yes, maybe even enjoying someone else’s downfall.
Where the Shadows Are Longest
The study analyzed responses from more than 144,000 Americans. And when the results were broken down by state, some clear patterns emerged:
Nevada topped the list with the highest average D score at 2.26 out of 5.
New York followed closely with 2.24, while Texas and South Dakota tied for third at 2.22.
On the other end of the scale?
Vermont stood out with the lowest score in the countryโjust 1.96, the only state under 2.0.
It was followed by Utah (2.03) and Maine (2.04).
Now, before you start canceling your Vegas trip or moving to Burlington, know this: these are population averages, not personality judgments. Youโll find good eggs in Texas and shady operators in Vermont. But statistically, some environments are more fertile ground for darker traits.
Itโs Not Just About PersonalityโItโs About Place
What makes one state more โdarkโ than another?
The researchers didnโt just stop at personalitiesโthey dug into social data too. They found strong correlations between high D scores and societal factors like poverty, inequality, corruption, and violence.
In other words: when people live in harsher, more unjust conditions, they may adapt by embracing more self-servingโor even harmfulโbehaviors. Itโs not just โbad apples.โ Sometimes itโs the barrel.
This aligns with global findings about how power structures and inequality can shape moral choices. In systems where trust is broken and rules feel rigged, itโs no surprise that survival might start to look like manipulation.
So, What Does This Mean for You?
Itโs easy to point fingers, but the truth is, everyone has some level of dark traits. The real question is how often those traits show upโand in what context.
Maybe itโs how you compete for attention at work. Maybe itโs that one time you justified bending the truth to get what you wanted. The dark side isnโt always obviousโbut itโs often there.
Want to know where you stand? You can take the same test the study used here. Just be ready to confront a few uncomfortable truths.
Because whether you’re in Nevada or Vermont, New York or Utah, the shadows donโt just live around us. Sometimes, they live within.
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