Dark Minds in Action: How Criminal Thinking Drives Sadistic Behavior Through Aggression

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to find out the impact of criminal thinking on sadism among young adults from Sargodha district and moderating role of aggressive behavior.  The study was consisted of sample of (N = 300). The purposive sampling technique was used to collect the data from participant of the study. The TCU criminal thinking scale by (Knight et al., 2002), Brief aggression questionnaire by Bryant and Smith (2001) and Sadistic impulse scale by O’Meara et al. (2011) were used to measure the construct of the present study. To achieve the objectives multiple statistical analyses were also conducted including descriptive statistics, reliability analyses Pearson correlation and moderation analysis. Statistical analysis revealed that all variables were correlated in the expected directions. Aggressive behavior moderates the relation of criminal thinking and sadism. Finally, implications of these results and limitations of the study were discussed in line with the literature and suggestions for future studies were reflected upon.