Results
Abstract The purpose of this study was to elaborate the reasons lying behind mass murderers. A non-random sample of 277 mass murderers was compared in terms of their environmental stressors, previous psychological status, and the prevalence of narcissism. The data for the study was recruited from mass murder cases between 1996 and 2014 (N= 283). Trait narcissism was estimated based on newspaper articles, but at times was difficult to determine. The general findings of this research demonstrated a plethora of psychiatric disturbances. Many incidents were driven by delusions, narcissistic rage, or depression. With reported number of 271 cases between the years 1996 and 2013, the majority of mass murderers were men (96%). The most common environmental precursors are marital/relational (36%), followed by problems in the job-setting (20%). The results of the study demonstrated a significant relationship between environmental stressors and the relationship of the mass murder to the victims. The number of victims were significantly lower if the primary target was an intimate family member rather than a stranger.
Introduction Research evidence to date has shown that the major characteristics of mass murderers differ in motivation, selection of victims, motive, environmental precursors, and personality from serial murderers. While the concept of malignant narcissism is widely discussed in relationship to serial killers, in-depth analyses on narcissism in mass murderers is very limited to date. Although there is a massive amount of media attention to mass murderers, very little research has been done to empirically explore underpinnings such as motivation, selection of victims, and motive based on offender personality characteristics (Levin &Fox, 1997; Hempel, Meloy & Richards, 1999; Knoll, 2010). Especially in terms of new mass murderer cases after the turn of this century, little research is available to understand their characteristics. Unlike serial killing, mass murder refers to three or more killings, either simultaneously, or without a cooling-out period (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2014). The general perception about mass murdering is that in contrast to serial killing, mass murderers kill, because of perceived status threats, when they lose their resistance to internal stress and stressors (Harrison & Bowers, 2010) However, research has shown that psychiatric conditions or an acting-out personality are prevalent among the majority of mass murderer profiles (Meloy, Hempel, Gray, Mohandie, Shiha & Richards, 2004). Interestingly, in many cases, especially in rampage killing, mass murderers are described as being “loners, quiet, and withdrawn”. In addition mass murderers seem to be driven by paranoid delusions of a perceived threat. Narcissistic rage occurs as a reaction to perceived narcissistic injury, a condition of perceived threat to an individual’s idealized, grandiose self-esteem or omnipotence (Kohut, 1975). This kind of a rage towards a “narcissistic reality” can be expressed in forms of irritation, but also acting-out and violence towards the source object. Hoewvever, there has been no effort to date to determine if narcissism is related to mass murders.
Methods Participants The present study aimed to examine mass murderer profiles. A non-random sample of 283 mass murderers previously gathered (Bowers, Harrison & Holmes, 2014) was compared in terms of their environmental stressors, previous psychological status, psychological status during event, and the prevalence of narcissism. The data for the study was recruited from mass murder cases between 1996 and 2014 (N = 276). The information for this research was gathered through online data sources (Murderpedia.org) and verified by independent press reports.
Demographics The perpetrators included international cases between the years 1996-2013 from the following countries: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Environmental Stressors
Personality Characteristics Research has shown that mass murderers with manic depression are more likely to express more violent behavior during their maniac state (Bushman & Baumeister, 2000). However, although aggression is linked to high selfesteem (Bushman & Baumeister, 2000), at the same time during a depressed condition, in which self-esteem is low and ego is fragile, people may tend to show aggression due to a perceived threat to their ego. We hoped to understand the link of threatened egotism and aggression as well. Narcissistic aggression occurs, when a “narcissists” self-regard has been challenged. When confronted to insulting provocation, individuals with narcissistic qualities may demonstrate increased violent behavior (Bushman & Baumeister, 2000). However, a narcissists’ aggression is primarily towards the source of threat, rather than an innocent third person. Trait narcissism was assessed by the first author, who reviewed the samples from English-written newspaper sources between the years 1996-2013. Coding for narcissism was established based on criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5, and previous empirical literature, and the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Hall, 1979). Classifications for other personality characteristics were established through information provided in the data resources. A chi-squared analysis was run in order to explore the possible relationship of environmental factors and the perpetrators’ relationship to their victims. Subjects who were lacking information about their environmental stressors were excluded from this part of the study (n = 83). A one-way ANOVA was done in order to look for the relationship between the initial target group and number of total victims.
Most assumptions about mass murderers’ motives are based on their environmental stressors, which we were able to estimate within this study. The environmental stressors were located for 200 international subjects (Men = 192; Women = 8). We looked for environmental stressors at 8 domains: marital/relational, familial, job problems, economical, a history of loss, being bullied, educational, and housing problems. Perpetrators were found to be more likely to have marital/relational problems (arguments, divorce issues, domestic violence) with their partners or significant others (36%) prior to the killings. Interestingly, instead of familial problems (11.5%), marital problems were followed by job problems (20%), which refers to achievement and problems with co-workers or employer. Other frequent environmental stressors were economic (11%), history of a loss (7.5%), being bullied (6.5%), educational problems (2%), and housing problems (1%). Based on information from the media and the online data resources only 4.5% of the cases were not experiencing an environmental stressor.
Personality & Narcissism The mass murderers in this sample commonly were expressing longterm personality issues (anger-control, loner, narcissistic, borderline, obsessive-compulsive, 40%), were driven by delusions (14%), suffering from depression (9.8%), had at least some serious mental illness (2.4%). While some (16.7%) appeared to be entirely affected by an environmental condition. Narcissistic traits were identified in 121 subjects. Narcissism was not evident for 81 subjects, whose stressors were more likely to be environmental such as losing job, having financial problems, suffering from depression, delusions or ‘burn out’ about life issues. Although narcissistic traits were suspected in the 74 subjects, due to a lack information these individuals were judged to be indeterminate. The results showed that individuals whose ego was threatened (narcissistic rage) were slightly more likely to have familial problems prior to murder χ2 (24, N = 146) = 9.32, p = 0.052. However, in contrast to our expectations, the number of victims and the target group are not significantly linked to egotism. Figure 2.
Results Target and Number of Victims The primary targets were analyzed in all 276 cases. The primary targets were divided into 7 subdomains: immediate family, close acquaintances, extended family, coworkers, known associates, strangers, and law enforcement. The findings were that the primary targeted victims were strangers (39.9%), immediate family (31.5%), known associates (8.7%), co-workers (8.3%), close acquaintances (7.9%), extended family (2.0%), and law enforcement (1.1%). The results showed that the mass murderers were significantly more likely to have targeted immediate family members (wife, children, parents) if environmental stressor was marital/relational (husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend; χ2 (40, N = 197) =105.33, p < . 01 It also appears to be that mass murderers attack significantly more individuals when their primary intended was a stranger (F (6,256) = 2.90, p < .01). However, we were not able to find significant differences among psychopathological characteristics and the number of victims. Figure 1.
Discussion Some of the results about mass murderer profiles appears to be consistent with previous research findings (Hempel, Meloy, Richards, 1999; Bowers, Harrison, Holmes, 2014). Psychiatric disorders or at least psychological conditions, and personality traits appear to be significantly related to mass murderers. Previous studies (Harrison & Bowers, 2010) have illustrated that status threats are an important indicator for mass murders, and it seems that ego threats to narcissistic traits may contribute to mass murders as well. It appears to be that a significant number of mass murderers were provoked by an injury towards their self-esteem. Reports have shown that many cases experienced anger because they felt “jilted”, made fun of, or even bullied. These perpetrators felt the need for revenge. In addition, many individuals who were arrested after the mass murders did not show any remorse or guilt about the act, which also suggests narcissism. Additional research is required to understand whether cultural differences might have been related to mass murderer cases rather than narcissism, considering the fact that shame and honor are important cultural components in Asian regions. One of the main problems about narcissism in this study is its ability to be replicated. As no previous studies have been done to understand the narcissism among these individuals, ensuring the consistency of the relationship of narcissism to mass murders is problematic. It is proposed that further research needs to be done to evaluate the reliability of the findings of narcissism in the perpetrators. References available from the author: Cansu B Ozmen, Penn State Harrisburg, 777 W Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA, 17057,
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