How do psychologists measure malicious behaviour? How do psychologists measure malicious behaviour in humans? Is there a definitive definition of what constitutes malicious behaviour? Are there varying scales of malicious behaviour? Is it possible do conduct experiments where malicious behaviour can be reliably observed? E.g. is cheating in a competition against other humans considered malicious? If malicious behaviour is much further along the spectrum than this example, then how can you conduct such an experiment that remains ethical?
The Dark Triad maybe what you are seeking.
You have described the behaviours as &quot;malicious&quot;, where as the Dark Triad uses the word &quot;malevolent&quot;. The Oxford Dictionary advises that these two words are synonyms.
Reference
Jones, D. N., &amp; Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the Short Dark Triad (SD3): A Brief Measure of Dark Personality Traits. Assessment, 21(1), 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113514105