TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Can bad be good? The attraction of a darker self
JO  - Psychological science
A1  - Krause, Rebecca J.
A1  - Rucker, Derek D.
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - To avoid threats to the self, people shun comparisons with similar-yet immoral, mentally unstable, or otherwise negatively viewed-others. Despite this prevalent perspective, we consider a contrarian question: Can people be attracted to darker versions of themselves? We propose that with self-threat assuaged, similarity signals self-relevance, which draws people toward those who are similar to them despite negative characteristics. To test this general idea, we explored a prevalent context that may offer a safe haven from self-threat: stories. Using a large-scale proprietary data set from a company with over 232,000 registered users, we demonstrated that people have a preference for villains-unambiguously negative individuals-who are similar to themselves, which suggests that people are attracted to such comparisons in everyday life. Five subsequent lab experiments (<i>N</i> = 1,685) demonstrated when and why similarity results in attraction toward-rather than repulsion from-negative others.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0956-7976
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797620909742
ID  - ref1
ER  -