Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, Vol 134(7), Oct 2025, 691-692; doi:10.1037/abn0001024
Imagine an article that offers a model of the manifestations of low intelligence, titled the “D(umb) Factor of Low Intelligence.” Many psychologists would object to this label as being stigmatizing, unhelp ful, vague, and offensive. Yet a similarly troublesome term has slipped into the psychological literature without protest—the use of “dark” as a descriptor of antagonistic constructs (e.g., psychopathy, narcissism). The ubiquity with which this term has become embedded in psychology is disconcerting. We write to object to this term’s use as it is stigmatizing, sensationalistic, inaccurate, and problematic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)