Films often portray step-parents as cold and sadistic. Is there any empirical evidence for this?

Films often portray step-parents as cold and sadistic. Is there any empirical evidence for this? or is it a simplistic and misguided stereotype?

/səˈdistik/ adjective. deriving pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation on others. so pretty much any parent that humiliates their kids or harms them for their pleasure is a sadistic parent.

What are real life examples of sadistic?

People who exhibit everyday sadism experience pleasure from others’ physical or psychological pain as they go about daily life. For example, they might enjoy seeing a fight outside the pub, or someone messing up an important presentation at work. But more than that, they also enjoy doing things to elicit suffering.

What is a sadist example?

: one characterized by sadism : a person who takes pleasure in inflicting pain, punishment, or humiliation on others. a sexual sadist. He’s a sadist and, where Toby is concerned, an unusually relentless one: he’s in the boy’s face constantly, prodding, belittling, taunting.