Science Has a Great New Reason for You to Stop Talking to Your Ex
Today in “dudes are largely awful” news: it turns out that if your male ex wants to keep tabs on you, he might be trying to use you for sex — and there’s also a chance he could be a sociopath.
A new study shows that people with “dark personality traits,” a.k.a. sociopaths, are more likely to want to stay friends with exes for “practical and sexual reasons,” a.k.a., to use you for sex and/or emotional intimacy. The study also revealed that men are more likely to keep in touch for those shady reasons than women are.
Over the course of two studies, Justin Mogilski and Dr Lisa Welling recruited a total of 861 participants.
They questioned them on how they got on with their ex after a breakup and their reasons for remaining friends.
But they also asked them to fill out questionnaires that gave away any clinically relevant personality features, designed to show dark personality traits — those more manipulative personality traits which stretch all the way to narcissism, Machiavellian traits and psychopathy.
Unsurprisingly, people with dark personality traits — people who are manipulative, egocentric, and un-sympathetic — were more likely to use their exes for sex or emotional intimacy after a breakup. And the study also said men were more likely to do this.
But hey, it’s not just men. Maybe you’re the freak who wants to keep tabs on your ex just so you can bone. Conveniently, you can take a test to see if you possess these evil traits here, you little psycho.
Either way, the next time your ex texts you on a holiday to see if you’re busy, don’t feel bed telling him to eff off and sending them a link to the study. You don’t need a total socio in your life.