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Sadism / sadist

Sadism, as described in research on everyday sadism, is a personality trait characterised by the enjoyment of inflicting or witnessing pain upon other people or animals.[1]

Sources: grade B×5, grade C×2, grade D×4. Last checked 8 October 2026. What the grades mean

The word was coined in 1888 with the meaning of love of cruelty, derived from the Marquis de Sade, who was notorious for cruel sexual acts that he glorified in his novels.[2] In casual speech it often denotes the enjoyment or willingness to engage in cruel acts.[3]

Psychologists also use the term, though in its more extreme forms, such as in criminal or sexual contexts.[4] Sadism has been associated with a lack of empathy[5] and with psychopathic traits.[6]

The dark tetrad groups narcissism, machiavellianism and psychopathy together with everyday sadism.[7] Some scholars question its place in the model because of its overlap with psychopathy, while one research team concluded that it is a unique construct with some conceptual overlap.[8]

In one study, over 500 BDSM and non-BDSM participants completed surveys measuring everyday sadism under different consent conditions, along with empathy and personality traits.[9] Psychopathy predicted sadism only in non-consent scenarios.[9]

Sources

  1. Source grade DBuckels, E. E., Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). Behavioral confirmation of everyday sadism. Psychological science, 24(11), 2201-2209 (via Wikipedia: Everyday sadism)
  2. Source grade C"Sadism | Etymology of sadism by etymonline" . etymonline.com (via Wikipedia: Everyday sadism)
  3. Source grade C"Definition of SADISM" . 19 July 2025. merriam-webster.com (via Wikipedia: Everyday sadism)
  4. Source grade DPaulhus, D. L., & Dutton, D. G. (2016). Everyday sadism. (via Wikipedia: Everyday sadism)
  5. Source grade DPajevic, M., Vukosavljevic-Gvozden, T., Stevanovic, N., & Neumann, C. S. (2018). The relationship between the Dark Tetrad and a two-dimensional view of empathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 123, 125-130. (via Wikipedia: Everyday sadism)
  6. Source grade BHolt, S. E., & Strack, S. (1999). Sadism and psychopathy in violent and sexually violent offenders. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 27(1), 23-32.; "All of the above findings demonstrate that psychopaths and likely sexual sadists experience significant deficits in their emotional processing and experience." Kirsch, Laura G., and Judith V. Becker. "Emotional deficits in psychopathy and sexual sadism: Implications for violent and sadistic behavior." Clinical psychology review 27, no. 8 (2007): 904-922.; "Finally, sadism is potentially more similar to psychopathy and Machiavellianism, than narcissism." Bonfá-Araujo, B., Lima-Costa, A. R., Hauck-Filho, N., & Jonason, P. K. (2022). Considering sadism in the shadow of the Dark Triad traits: A meta-analytic review of the Dark Tetrad. Personality and Individual Differences, 197, 111767.; Reidy, D. E., Zeichner, A., & Seibert, L. A. (2011). Unprovoked aggression: Effects of psychopathic traits and sadism. Journal of personality, 79(1), 75-100. (via Wikipedia: Everyday sadism)
  7. Source grade BBlötner, Christian; Ziegler, Matthias; Wehner, Caroline; Back, Mitja D.; Grosz, Michael P. (2022). "The Nomological Network of the Short Dark Tetrad Scale (SD4)" . European Journal of Psychological Assessment . 38 (3): 187– 197. doi : 10.1027/1015-5759/a000655 . econtent.hogrefe.com; Book, A., Visser, B. A., Blais, J., Hosker-Field, A., Methot-Jones, T., Gauthier, N. Y., ... & D'Agata, M. T. (2016). Unpacking more “evil”: What is at the core of the dark tetrad?. Personality and Individual Differences, 90, 269-272.; Međedović, J., & Petrović, B. (2015). The dark tetrad. Journal of Individual Differences. (via Wikipedia: Everyday sadism)
  8. Source grade BJohnson, Laura K.; Plouffe, Rachel A.; Saklofske, Donald H. (2019). "Subclinical Sadism and the Dark Triad" . Journal of Individual Differences . 40 (3): 127– 133. doi : 10.1027/1614-0001/a000284 . doi.org (via Wikipedia: Everyday sadism)
  9. Source grade BErickson, Jennifer M.; Sagarin, Brad J. (2021). "The prosocial sadist? A comparison of BDSM sadism and everyday sadism" . Personality and Individual Differences . 176 110723. doi : 10.1016/j.paid.2021.110723 . sciencedirect.com (via Wikipedia: Everyday sadism)
  10. Source grade DWiseman, Jay (2001) Ten Tips for the Novice, Single, Heterosexual Submissive Woman (via Wikipedia: Glossary of BDSM)
  11. Source grade BDrouin M, Hernandez E, Machette A, Garcia JR, Boyd RL. An exploration of marks/injuries related to BDSM sexual experiences. Sex Med. 2023. doi:10.1093/sexmed/qfad020

Grades: A systematic review or official classification, B peer-reviewed study, C expert or community organisation, D practice from the community without research. How we grade sources.

Every claim was checked against its source before publication. Last checked 8 October 2026.