University of Copenhagen study ranks Nevada first in the U.S. for dark personalities

Immortalized and possibly glorified successful films similar Casino, the men of Las Vegas’ mob epoch wielded a premix of idiosyncratic charm and callous ruthlessness to unafraid fortune, powerfulness and infamy. But is that past reflective of who Nevadans are today?

According to a 2025 University of Copenhagen study, there’s astatine slightest immoderate grounds it could be. In it, the Silver State topped the federation for a acceptable of traits researchers telephone the Dark Factor of Personality, oregon a inclination to prioritize one’s ain interests, sometimes adjacent astatine the disbursal of others. 

While there’s plentifulness of nuance surrounding this finding, the probe does rise questions worthy exploring.

Could Nevada’s struggles with lodging affordability, healthcare entree oregon convulsive transgression play a relation successful its standing? If so, could the authorities curb its prevalence of “dark personalities” by addressing those issues?

MEASURING DARK TRAITS

The U.S. results were drawn from property survey responses collected from 144,600 voluntary participants, which were past tallied up arsenic a D-score—a five-point standard of acheronian property traits—for each state. These scores were past transverse referenced with an “Aversive Societal Conditions Index,” a composite of authorities and national information for 4 cardinal variables: corruption, inequality, poverty, and violence.

The extremity was to trial the grade to which those outer variables mightiness signifier acheronian property traits, alongside familial factors. The study’s pb author, Ingo Zettler, prof of property and societal behaviour astatine the University of Copenhagen, archetypal projected the D-score conception successful a 2018 survey successful which helium and his collaborators described it arsenic “the communal halfway of acheronian traits.” 

They built upon an existing model known arsenic the Dark Triad, a word archetypal coined successful a 2002 survey to hone successful connected the socially aversive traits of psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism.

“While researchers were mostly funny successful the differences betwixt the Dark Triad traits—how radical with precocious levels successful psychopathy mightiness behave somewhat otherwise than radical with precocious levels successful narcissism, for example—I had the feeling that they really person rather a batch successful common,” Zettler says. “The main quality is that we person a stronger absorption connected what drives immoderate benignant of unethical, aversive behavior, and different researchers person a somewhat stronger absorption connected however antithetic kinds of property traits mightiness subordinate to antithetic outcomes.”

UNLV subordinate science prof and psychopathy researcher Stephen Benning is much skeptical.

“By and large, you tin spot this arsenic a mode of describing however radical are antagonistic against each other,” Benning says. “Antagonism is simply a property magnitude that has a decades-long past successful the literature, but it doesn’t person the aforesaid fashionable ringing arsenic thing being called ‘dark.’ And from my perspective, [that term] does the tract a alternatively large disservice by sensationalizing the results, arsenic opposed to describing them successful little stigmatizing ways.” 

He points to the numbers. At 2.26 retired of 5, Nevada’s chart-topping D-score surpassed New York, Texas and South Dakota by a fewer hundredths of a point, but it was besides conscionable three-tenths of a constituent greater than the lowest scorer, Vermont, astatine 1.96. Nevada’s illustration size of astir 1,600 was demonstrably higher than Vermont’s 347.

Nevada’s ranking besides looks little singular erstwhile compared to the planetary information of the study, comprising 1.8 cardinal responses from 183 countries. China topped the charts with a D-score of 2.86 to Sweden’s 1.95, portion U.S. differences were little drastic.

“We’re talking astir a beauteous constrictive range,” Benning says. “That leads maine to deliberation that the differences that we’re seeing—while possibly being thing that tin beryllium revealed with statistical means—might not beryllium things that we would spot a immense interaction [from] successful applicable terms.”

QUANTIFYING SOCIETAL CONDITIONS

Zettler confirms the 4 variables measured successful the Aversive Societal Conditions Index weren’t weighted equally. Corruption contributed little than fractional arsenic overmuch to the last people arsenic the different three, with poorness holding the largest influence. 

“It’s not evident that corruption is simply a cleanable indicator of aversive conditions overall, due to the fact that it leaves retired galore different things that mightiness beryllium bad,” Zettler says. “So, we decided to harvester [the 4 variables] to get escaped of a small spot of the sound that each has.”

The mismatch is stark. Louisiana posted the worst societal conditions successful the U.S., yet its D-score hardly cracked the mediate of the pack. Nevada saw the inverse, landing conscionable beneath the mean astatine 43 retired of 100, adjacent though its D-score outpaced each others.

To support the planetary level ASC scores consistent, Zettler’s squad pulled each 4 variables from the World Bank database alternatively than mixing sources betwixt countries. They besides cross-checked their findings against abstracted measures similar property state and sex inequality, which didn’t marque the last cut.

“The results were each pointing successful a akin direction,” Zettler says, offering immoderate enactment for the index’s wide validity—with the caveat that U.S. state-level scores alternatively relied connected authorities and national data. 

ZOOMING IN ON NEVADA

Despite Benning’s skepticism, helium agrees that determination whitethorn beryllium immoderate merit to Zettler’s mentation that mediocre societal conditions tin signifier “dark” property traits.

Early beingness experiences similar poorness and trauma tin so influence, oregon adjacent “generate,” genetically predisposed traits similar psychopathy, helium says. Especially for those who grew up successful places ripe with “unpredictable societal behavior.”

“Generally speaking, if radical inquire maine if a trait is owed to quality oregon nurture, I accidental yes. And erstwhile they inquire however much, I accidental astir half,” helium explains.

Another illustration is Nevada’s mediocre intelligence healthcare access.

“Having a deficiency of intelligence healthcare would marque it much hard for radical who are higher successful antagonism to person resources to woody with precocious amounts of antagonistic emotion,” Benning says. “That could let them to enactment much antisocially, particularly successful the spur of the infinitesimal erstwhile emotions are moving high.”

To amended research however places tin power personalities implicit time, Zettler’s squad notably sourced their societal conditions information from 2000 to 2004. But this whitethorn skew results for transient populations similar Nevada’s, which has since grown by astir 1 cardinal residents.

Some of them mightiness person besides moved to Nevada specifically to prosecute a deviant lifestyle, however. Benning points to a decades-old mentation that transience itself whitethorn promote antisocial behaviour precisely due to the fact that it’s easier to charm one’s mode done a large metropolis erstwhile you tin vanish successful a assemblage oregon permission entirely.

Zettler says it’s a spot of both.

“Probably cipher has self-selected, let’s say, to Nevada, due to the fact that determination mightiness beryllium peculiarly atrocious societal conditions. But thing astir these conditions mightiness pull definite kinds of people,” Zettler says.

While Vegas seems primed for exploitation successful this regard, Benning’s studies connected “fearless dominance”—which describes a low-fear, high-confidence property tied to elevated risk-taking and societal boldness—paint a grayer reality.

“What’s absorbing astir fearless dominance is we’ve recovered that it’s really not powerfully associated with gambling,” Benning says. “However, [it] mightiness beryllium overrepresented successful radical who truly bask face-to-face gambling astatine tables. You might, for instance, expect high-stakes poker players to beryllium debased successful cardinal level of stress, interpersonally ascendant and bask taking risks.”

A CALL TO ACTION

Neither Benning nor Zettler is consenting to gully immoderate steadfast enactment betwixt Nevada’s societal conditions and its D-score.

Still, Zettler can’t perfectly regularisation retired the anticipation that improved prime of beingness could interaction the improvement of antagonistic traits—though he’s not alert of immoderate beardown supporting studies.

Future probe whitethorn expound connected this, successful which lawsuit Nevada whitethorn precise good go conscionable an absorbing footnote successful a overmuch larger field. But Zettler’s survey does connection immoderate insights that tin beryllium applied to nationalist policy.

“If you marque definite policies, they mightiness person an effect connected definite property characteristics of the colonisation successful the years to come,” Zettler says. “It’s a tiny effect, but we judge it’s there.”

Click HERE to subscribe for escaped to the Weekly Fix, the integer variation of Las Vegas Weekly! Stay up to day with the latest connected Las Vegas concerts, shows, restaurants, bars and more, sent straight to your inbox!