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opinion: when it comes to masks, don't be a jerk
we shouldn't judge others if they do or don't wear a mask and we should be mindful that not everyone is as robust as the next person
study uncovers what it takes to be a big jerk
according to the findings, a-holes are often irresponsible, unable to regulate anger and they hold bigoted views.
the jerk or a*****e is described as somebody who is not agreeable and is angry. getty
a new study titled, “they are such an a-hole”: describing the targets of a common insult among english-speakers in the united states,” that plumbs the depths of what makes a person an a-hole has found that the villains in our lives tend to be viewed as manipulative, aggressive and entitled. a large number also happen to be middle-aged men.
the research, published in the journal collabra: psychology, asked participants to describe the toxic traits that bubble to the surface when they think of the “biggest a-hole” they know. some of the those listed were the very same that are included in expert profiles of people with psychopathic, antisocial and narcissistic personality disorders, although researchers stress this does not mean the they are trying to kill you — at least not directly.
“people didn’t really have very much trouble figuring out who the ‘biggest a-hole’ in their life was,” said brinkley sharpe, the lead author of the study and a doctoral student in the franklin college of arts and sciences at the university of georgia. “on average, participants didn’t think that they were very close to these individuals, which makes sense because these people are being described as having pretty aversive behaviours.”
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despite this, roughly one-third of the biggest jerks were people participants were forced to deal with on a regular basis, including co-workers, friends and even, in some cases, current romantic partners. around half were former bosses, romantic partners or estranged family members whose behaviour no doubt relegated them to the sidelines.
once the almost 400 participants in the study identified the biggest a-hole in their lives, they were asked to describe their relationship with this person, consider how aptly the term described them and list the top three behaviours that backed up their opinion. a series of follow-up questions explored whether or not subjects thought their a-hole was aware they were a jerk, if they cared that their behaviour bothered others and whether or not they were capable of changing their ways. the majority felt their jerks were aware the designation was deserved but that they just couldn’t be bothered to act in a more acceptable manner.
a-holes are often angry and disagreeable
“it’s interesting to me that the behaviours people were keying in on sort of run the gamut,” sharpe said. “when we talk about personality, the a-hole was described as somebody who is not agreeable and is angry. when we talk about behaviours, the a-hole was not necessarily being antagonistic toward people but they just didn’t really care about what others were thinking or how they were perceived by others.”
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some common qualities included irresponsibility, an inability to regulate anger and the holding of bigoted views.
“some of the responses were pretty violent,” sharpe said. “we had a couple where the individual had done something that was frankly criminal.”
other bad behaviours reflect the times in which we live, including voting for donald trump or failing to wear a protective mask when in the company of others.
“there’s clearly a lot of variation in how people use this word,” sharpe said. “i think the implication of the study is that insults matter. we do mean certain things by using them or we associate them with certain characteristics.”
dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca
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