Study Suggests That The ‘Biggest Jerks’ In Many People’s Lives Are Middle-Aged Men
Probably didn't need a study to tell us this
The Pulse
Everyone knows at least one big jerk. University of Georgia researchers found that the “biggest jerk” in many people’s lives are middle-aged men. The data shows among a group of 400 people, most assigned the label to people in their lives they viewed as manipulative, aggressive, entitled and irresponsible. Many of these same traits are seen in expert profiles of psychopathic, antisocial, and narcissistic personality disorders—though researchers point out this doesn’t mean everyone who’s a doofus has a personality disorder. For one out of three respondents, the biggest jerks they knew were currently in their lives, including co-workers, friends, and even current romantic partners. Most participants also said they think the jerks in their lives were aware that their behavior bothered people but just didn’t care enough to change, and often described this individual as being disagreeable, angry, and holding bigoted views– and were also often middle-aged men. Lead study author Brinkley Sharpe adds, “There’s clearly a lot of variation in how people use this word. 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.”
