I’m surprised it’s as low as 25%, but they only tested for liking to hurt insects. I suspect that the proportion would be a good bit higher for liking to hurt mammals, and likewise for liking to hurt low-status humans, and possibly for liking to lower the status of high-status humans.
Calling the last one or two ‘sadistic’ would be something of a stretch. The impulse to lower the status of another seems rather independent of sadism. That seems to be a straightforward social politics heuristic.
Calling the last one or two ‘sadistic’ would be something of a stretch. The impulse to lower the status of another seems rather independent of sadism. That seems to be a straightforward social politics heuristic.
You lower people’s status by hurting them, especially by hurting them and getting away with it. I think people show evidence of pleasure in doing so.
After all, if there’s a lot of a behavior, it’s likely to either cause pleasure or relieve pain.