One wonders if this stunning-sounding new science is real.

Meet D, the newly identified Dark Factor of Personality.

The theoretical framework of the D factor has its underpinnings in what’s known as the g factor: a construct proposed by English psychologist Charles Spearman over a century ago when he observed that individuals who performed well on one kind of cognitive test were more likely to score well on other kinds of intelligence tests, too.

In other words, a ‘general intelligence factor’ could be measured. But it turns out that’s not all scientists are able to detect.

“In the same way, the dark aspects of human personality also have a common denominator, which means that – similar to intelligence – one can say that they are all an expression of the same dispositional tendency,” explained psychologist Ingo Zettler from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark back in September 2018.

If D turns out to be as real as G, then look for the same people who deny that IQ exists or is relevant to disclaim any attempt to measure darkness. In a way, doing so will be much more imperative for them than crudely dismissing general intelligence. That is because while IQ is helpful a propensity for morality over darkness is critical. And most of the deniers themselves are probably “dark” at best. It will be very interesting to see whether G is correlated with religious belief and acceptance, particularly of the Christian variety. One suspects it is.