A recent study published in the journal Science Direct found that antisocial traits drive compliance with containment measures of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study conducted by the researchers from Latin America noted that lower levels of empathy and higher levels of callousness, deceitfulness, and risk-taking are directly associated with lower compliance with containment measures.

For the study, researchers collected the sample from 1,578 Brazilian adults aged 18–73 years. It was carried out between May 21 and June 29, 2020.

Their research revealed that personality traits play an essential role in adhering to containment measures, especially antisocial and empathy traits.

The latent profile analysis revealed the existence of two groups: people with a higher tendency to antisocial traits (antisocial pattern group) and people with a higher tendency to empathy (empathy pattern group).

The antisocial pattern group presented higher scores in all ASPD (Antisocial personality disorder) typical traits (callousness, deceitfulness, hostility, impulsivity, irresponsibility, manipulativeness, and risk-taking) and lower scores in Affect resonance (an indicator of empathy). While the empathy pattern group presented the opposite.

The analysis demonstrated that the antisocial pattern profile differed significantly from the empathy pattern profile on age, sex, compliance with containment measures, and in presented symptoms of Covid-19.

The study further informed that even after controlling for all covariates, the group represented by individuals that reported not adhering to any containment measures kept the highest mean on profiles, indicating its proximity with the antisocial pattern.