Sadism Test (CAST)

The Comprehensive Assessment of Sadistic Tendencies (CAST) was developed by personality psychologists Erin E. Buckels and Delroy L. Paulhus to measure subclinical, everyday manifestations of sadism in the general population. In contemporary personality psychology, everyday sadism refers to a dispositional tendency to derive pleasure, amusement, or satisfaction from the suffering, humiliation, or discomfort of others. Unlike severe clinical or forensic manifestations, everyday sadism is studied as a continuous personality dimension that varies across ordinary individuals rather than an all-or-nothing psychiatric condition.

The CAST evaluates sadistic tendencies across three distinct facets: Physical Sadism, Verbal Sadism, and Vicarious Sadism. Physical Sadism reflects a self-reported enjoyment of inflicting bodily hurt, physical intimidation, or overt dominance over others. In daily life, individuals with higher physical sadism scores may report finding satisfaction in physically overpowering others, rough confrontations, or causing physical discomfort. Verbal Sadism captures the enjoyment of social cruelty, belittling remarks, sarcasm at someone else's expense, and deliberate public humiliation. People high in verbal sadism often find genuine amusement in tricking people, mocking others, or observing social embarrassment when the targeted person realizes what is happening.

Vicarious Sadism differs from direct interpersonal cruelty by focusing on the passive enjoyment of witnessed aggression, conflict, and graphic violence. This facet reflects an appetite for observing cruelty or physical combat from a safe distance, such as enjoying brutal fight clips online, violent contact sports where participants cannot easily escape, or graphic depictions of harm in video games and cinema. While many people consume action-oriented entertainment, high vicarious sadism reflects an explicit enjoyment of authentic pain, injury, and realistic destruction rather than mere narrative interest, strategic appreciation, or athletic competition.

Psychological research indicates that sadism operates as an independent trait within the broader dark personality literature, distinguishing itself from narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. While other antagonistic traits often pursue material gain, social status, or manipulative leverage, sadism is uniquely characterized by the intrinsic emotional payoff derived from another person's distress. Empirical investigations have shown that everyday sadistic tendencies correlate with behaviors such as aggressive online trolling, unprovoked retaliation in laboratory tasks, and harsh punitive attitudes. However, a pronounced score in one domain, such as media preference, does not imply that an individual engages in active interpersonal cruelty.

Your overall score provides a broad summary of your reported tendencies, while your subscale scores reveal whether your profile leans more toward direct physical, verbal, or vicarious expressions. The population comparison markers displayed on your results chart are approximate benchmarks derived from published research samples and academic norms rather than validated clinical percentiles or universal standards. They are designed to provide comparative context for your self-reported responses relative to typical academic participant groups. These comparison markers are estimates from published samples, not validated percentiles.

Please note that this assessment is intended strictly for educational, informational, and self-reflective purposes. It is not a diagnostic tool, psychological evaluation, forensic assessment, or prediction of personal conduct, empathy, or future behavior. A high score on any facet does not mean that an individual is dangerous, abusive, or diagnosed with a psychological disorder. This online instrument is based on the Comprehensive Assessment of Sadistic Tendencies (CAST) and is not affiliated with its original authors or their academic institutions.

References

• E. E. Buckels. The psychology of everyday sadism // thesis, 2018.