On the Mysteries of Sadism, Masochism, and Sadomasochism

Let us begin by defining these concepts through lists of the questionnaire items from which the clusters of these properties were formed (at the end of each item - the correlation of its type profile with the averaged profile of the property as a whole is indicated)

PHYSICAL SADISM - LIKES TO CAUSE PAIN TO OTHERS, ALSO EXPERIENCES PLEASURE UPON SEEING THAT THEY HAVE AROUSED FEAR IN ANOTHER PERSON:

Property: Likes to cause pain to others, also experiences pleasure upon seeing that they have aroused fear in another person - physical sadism

Number of questionnaire items used when averaging the profiles: 5

Total number of respondents: 11777

Numbers in the type profile are deviations of the group mean values of the property from the mean level, expressed as fractions of the standard deviation of the general population.

1. At times I like to cause pain to another person. __ 0,97
2. At times another person’s fear gives me satisfaction. __ 0,99
3. It is possible that certain notes of sadism occasionally break through in my behavior. __ 0,96
4. I like hurting certain people - at times I like bringing them to distress and even to tears. __ 0,94
5. The thought of the pain that I can cause myself and others always stops my rage. __ -0,96

INCLINATIONS TOWARD PSYCHOLOGICAL SADISM - LIKES TO MOCK AND TORMENT OTHER PEOPLE:

Property: Likes to mock and torment other people; inclinations toward psychological sadism

Number of questionnaire items used when averaging the profiles: 21

Total number of respondents: 33137

Numbers in the type profile are deviations of the group mean values of the property from the mean level, expressed as fractions of the standard deviation of the general population.

1. In a discussion I rarely feel goodwill toward my opponent, so I sometimes exaggerate and “twist” their words. __ 0,96
2. I derive pleasure from causing someone discomfort and then watching how the helpless sucker squirms from it like a snake on a frying pan. __ 0,96
3. Periodically, in conversation with my acquaintances, I try to preemptively “put one of them down” so that they do not get too full of themselves. __ 0,96
4. Sometimes you shit on someone else - and your mood improves. __ 0,95
5. When I am in a good mood, I like to play with people, somehow “squeezing” their interests in favor of my own. __ 0,95
6. I derive pleasure if I manage to cause discomfort to someone equal to me or above me. __ 0,94
7. I like testing and putting people through trials, watching from the sidelines how they will get themselves out of a difficult situation. __ 0,94
8. I keenly notice the weaknesses and mistakes of those around me, not missing a chance to “take a swipe” at them on that account. __ 0,94
9. At times I like to torment certain people. __ 0,93
10. Sometimes I entertain myself with psychological “attacks” on another person - to see how they become nervous and how their mood gradually worsens. __ 0,93
11. I know how and like to shame a person out loud and verbally torment them if they have annoyed me or are behaving not as I would like. __ 0,93
12. Sometimes, for no reason, I can turn a person down or even torment them if they ask me to let them use something for a few minutes. __ 0,93
13. I know how to derive pleasure from another person’s bad mood. __ 0,93
14. At times I feel like doing minor harm to certain people - scorching, breaking, or damaging something in their home. __ 0,90
15. I derive pleasure from tormenting some of the people around me. __ 0,89
16. At times I deliberately spoil another person’s mood - so that they suffer and know their place. __ 0,78
17. Some of those close to me sometimes reproach me for liking to torment them and constantly “pester” them (regardless of whether this accusation is deserved or not). __ 0,73
18. I strongly dislike it when, during a conversation, people begin to make a point of someone’s mistake. __ -0,87
19. In life, there is room and unoccupied space for activity for everyone; only pathological personalities throw themselves into struggle with one another. __ -0,93
20. Given my psychology, the role of a peacemaker would suit me better than that of the attacking party. __ -0,94
21. I find it very difficult and unpleasant to interact with mean and selfish people. __ -0,95

TENDENCY TOWARD MASOCHISM, PLEASURE FROM ONE’S OWN PAIN AND SELF-ABASEMENT:

Property: Tendency toward masochism, pleasure from one’s own pain and self-abasement

Number of questionnaire items used when averaging the profiles: 6

Total number of respondents: 54816

Numbers in the type profile are deviations of the group mean values of the property from the mean level, expressed as fractions of the standard deviation of the general population.

1. At times I am interested in painful and humiliating sensations; I experience a certain “high” while going through them. __ 0,98
2. Sometimes it is pleasant to feel my own subordination and experience humiliation. __ 0,97
3. I sometimes like it when I am humiliated and even subjected to moderate pain. __ 0,97
4. Sometimes I like hurting myself. __ 0,96
5. At times I catch myself finding that, in relationships with strong and aggressive people, I subconsciously like playing a dependent role, while acting somewhat capriciously and provoking them. __ 0,95
6. I sometimes have fantasies involving ideas of self-torment and self-destruction. __ 0,90

Analysis of the composition of items correlated with the physical sadism cluster shows that there are practically no masochistic elements in such sadism. It is built on the pleasure of the victor, the master. The victim’s suffering is not reflected in the sadist’s own emotions. The sadist’s pleasure is attained, on the contrary, through the emotions of the victor, master, violent aggressor – reinforcement comes through the red color of blood, the victim’s screams and grimaces of pain (visible evidence of one’s triumph over another person, the result of one’s victory). Confirmation of this explanation is provided by the following table of correlations:

CORRELATIONS OF PHYSICAL SADISM WITH OTHER CHARACTERISTIC CLUSTERS:

1. Likes to cause pain to others, also experiences pleasure upon seeing that they have aroused fear in another person - physical sadism __ 1,00
2. Likes to mock and torment other people; inclinations toward psychological sadism __ 0,96
3. Tendency toward violence and preference for actions and decisions involving violence __ 0,94
4. Need for enemies __ 0,94
5. Often deliberately intimidates, escalates fear __ 0,93
6. Respects the rights of another person __ -0,93
7. Goodwill toward people __ -0,94
8. Lives by the principle of causing no harm __ -0,95
9. Empathy for negative emotions __ -0,71
10. Empathy for another person’s pain __ -0,84
11. Tendency toward masochism, pleasure from one’s own pain and self-abasement __ 0,17

If the correlations with empathy are sharply negative for sadism - then for masochism these same correlations are, on the contrary, weakly positive:

CORRELATIONS OF MASOCHISM WITH EMPATHY:

1. Tendency toward masochism, pleasure from one’s own pain and self-abasement __ 1,00
2. Empathy for negative emotions __ 0,18
3. Empathy for another person’s pain __ 0,17

SADOMASOCHISM

Judging from the book by Marquis de Sade, sadomasochism appears in persons simultaneously predisposed to both sadism and masochism, and it appears as a striving partly for sadistic pleasure, but to the greatest extent - for masochistic pleasure experienced through the masochist’s partial mirror co-experiencing of the victim’s suffering (this is the cardinal difference from pure sadism, where pleasure is attained by no means through co-experiencing and partial mirror identification with the victim, but exclusively through contemplation – moreover, with the feeling of a victorious violent aggressor and master - of the victim’s subordinate position, their blood, and suffering).

We have no statistics from questionnaire items directly measuring sadomasochism, but a hypothetical profile of the sadomasochist can be constructed by averaging the profiles of physical sadism, psychological sadism, masochism proper, as well as – empathy for negative emotions. The latter component is included in the sum because the sadomasochist’s reflexive sensitivity to other people’s negative emotions should not be too low; otherwise, other people’s suffering will not produce the required resonance in the form of pleasant mild pain, experienced in mirror form by the masochist themselves (of course, still not remotely comparable with the suffering of the tormented victim).

Property: Hypothetical profile of the sadomasochist (averaging the profiles of physical and psychological sadism, masochism, and empathy for negative emotions)

Number of questionnaire items used when averaging the profiles:

Total number of respondents:

Numbers in the type profile are deviations of the group mean values of the property from the mean level, expressed as fractions of the standard deviation of the general population.

CORRELATIONS OF THE HYPOTHETICAL SADOMASOCHISM PROFILE WITH OTHER CLUSTERS:

1. Hypothetical profile of the sadomasochist (averaging the profiles of physical and psychological sadism, masochism, and empathy for negative emotions) __ 1,00
2. Empathy for negative emotions __ -0,01
3. Empathy for another person’s pain __ -0,18
4. Tendency toward masochism, pleasure from one’s own pain and self-abasement __ 0,76
5. Likes to mock and torment other people; inclinations toward psychological sadism __ 0,69
6. Likes to cause pain to others, also experiences pleasure upon seeing that they have aroused fear in another person - physical sadism __ 0,63

A search for the items most closely correlated with the hypothetical sadomasochism profile reveals the principal personality correlates of this property:

STRONGEST PERSONALITY CORRELATES OF SADOMASOCHISM (in the form of questionnaire items most closely correlated with the property’s profile):

1. I like an atmosphere of tragic passions. __ 0,88
2. Even when narrating in an even tone, I can easily create an atmosphere of emotional tension among my listeners. __ 0,88
3. When necessary, I can mislead others in a calculated manner and predict in advance my partners’ reactions to my deliberate words seemingly dropped in passing. __ 0,86
4. When necessary, I know how to “punish” my partner with uncertainty or waiting (and I usually do this involuntarily, subconsciously - so recall your latest quarrels more carefully and consider whether that is how it all actually happened). __ 0,85
5. I know how to manipulate people. __ 0,85
6. I have a talent for intrigue: I understand individual people well, know how to use them, and subtly direct their actions. __ 0,85
7. When solving a life problem, I know how to intrigue and subtly pit people in a group against one another. __ 0,84
8. I know how, with healthy cynicism, to convincingly demonstrate “sincere repentance,” and I use this quite often. __ 0,84
9. I like dominance, assertiveness, and strength in people. __ 0,84
10. I know how to be treacherous. __ 0,84
11. At times I deliberately provoke some escalation in a relationship in order to stir myself up a little. __ 0,84
12. At times I stage minor provocations among acquaintances in order to understand their hidden thoughts and motives even better. __ 0,83
13. I experience an instantaneous, acute hatred of any attempts at domineering rudeness and violent coercion. __ -0,84
14. It is true that I absolutely do not tolerate or forgive crude coercion. __ -0,84
15. I would enjoy looking for mushrooms in the forest more than sitting at a concert. __ -0,84
16. On average, my mood contains much more of a feeling of calm, confident comfort than of anger or anxiety. __ -0,85
17. My problem is that I am completely unable to “dissemble.” __ -0,87
18. Considerations of convenience are much more important to me than considerations of external beauty. __ -0,87
19. I do not like resorting to cunning in business; I prefer to reach honest agreements with partners on mutually beneficial terms. __ -0,89
20. I judge people’s importance by the degree of their industriousness, effectiveness in their role, intelligence, decency, and care for others, whereas a person’s position and its outward trappings mean absolutely nothing to me. __ -0,89

Thus, the sadomasochist is often also a music lover and, what is especially important, - a treacherous intriguer.

The socionic profiles of all the properties considered are shown in the attached images. From them it can be seen, in particular, that sadism, masochism, and sadomasochism most often manifest in “Beta.” Peripheral types are foreign to all these manifestations.

© V. L. Talanov 2018 Reproduction is permitted provided the author is credited.