Understanding the Dark Triad of Personality

The Dark Triad of Personality. What exactly is it? And what does it mean to be a Dark Triad member?

What is the Dark Triad and how was it discovered?

The Dark Triad is known as the intersection between three overlapping yet distinct personalities: subclinical narcissism, subclinical psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. By subclinical, we mean that someone might exhibit the traits of a narcissist or psychopath, but they are not severe enough to be diagnosed as a disorder.

This was first brought about in 2002 by scientists Delroy L. Paulhus and Kevin M. Williams from the University of British Columbia. Paulhus and Willliams conducted a study to test the hypothesis that the three personalities were identical. They collected data and looked for correlations between the three personality traits of the Dark Triad and three other psychological aspects: cognitive ability, self-enhancement bias, and the psychological Big Five (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness).

In the study, they found that the correlation patterns were very different between the three personality traits, leading to the conclusion that psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism were indeed distinct.

So, what’s the difference?

In order to better understand the similarities and differences between this triad, it might be helpful to visualize it as a three-part venn diagram. According to Darlene Lancer from Psychology Today, the three definitions are as follows:

• Narcissism: “characterized by the pursuit of ego gratification, vanity, a sense of superiority, grandiosity, dominance, and entitlement” (Lancer 2018).

• Machiavellianism: “marked by manipulation — a calculating, duplicitous, and amoral personality, focused on self-interest and personal gain” (Lancer 2018).

• Psychopathy: “distinguished by callousness, impulsivity, and enduring antisocial and bold behavior” (Lancer 2018).

Let’s break this down. Narcissists tend to have a noticeably large sense-of-self, feeling entitled and superior to those around them. Machiavellianism tends to be a very manipulative and selfish trait. Psychopaths tend to be insensitive, act without thinking, and have a lack of empathy for others.

What do they share? Disagreeableness. This is known to be common within the triad. It is also thought that there is a relatively high genetic component to all three personality traits. In addition, they are all associated with varying degrees of deception, questionable morals, and self-interest. Interestingly, psychopathy and Machiavellianism tend to be more closely related to each other than to narcissism, potentially due to the fact that narcissism is the only one that could originate from a feeling of insecurity.

What about sociopaths?

It is easy to confuse psychopaths and sociopaths. So, you might be wondering, why aren’t sociopaths included in this list?

Both are listed as Antisocial Personality Disorder in severe forms; both share a lack of moral judgment and lack of empathy. There are, however, a few factors that distinguish the two. Psychopaths are likely to be a pathological liar and not always have a guilty conscience, doing whatever they have to do to benefit themselves. They are known to be fearless and often good at mimicking behaviors to hide their psychopathic traits. Sociopaths tend to have a conscience, even if it is weak. Although they are self-centered at their core, sociopaths have more of a regard for others than psychopaths. They are also less skilled at hiding their behavior and act in ways that make their self-indulgence and lack of empathy obvious.

Although it is not clear why sociopathy is not listed in the Dark Triad, it is potentially due to the dominating environmental influence instead of genetics.

How can someone with one or more of these traits act?

According to a 10 year review study, members of the Dark Triad have similar behaviors in a variety of social settings. In the workplace, for example, a Dark Triad member is likely to fit the trope of an entitled boss or leader, able to charm their way to the top, but not make genuine connections with other people around them. In the educational aspect, cheating and plagiarism is predictable, moreso associated with psychopathy and Machiavellianism. The behaviors differ more when it comes to interacting with others, other than the shared exhibition of social entitlement. In a nutshell, psychopaths tend to give negative first impressions and are attracted to appearing intimidating. They also have an uncanny ability to mimic the behavior of those around them to blend in. People with Machiavellianism tend to come off quite cynical and morally suspicious, along with psychopaths. Narcissists interestingly have a skewed sense of self and tend to view themselves as far better leaders and far more empathetic than they actually come off.

Where do we go from here?

As you have seen, recent research has made it possible to distinguish between the Dark Triad of personality, but what does it mean moving forward?

Researchers are starting to look into the function of the Dark Triad in the business world, how these personality traits correlate with the ability to maximize profits. Psychiatrists have also started looking at how the Dark Triad can increase susceptibility to addiction disorders of many types. There are even studies investigating the relationship between the Dark Triad and affective disorders such as depression. There is still a lot to learn about this, and it seems to impact many other aspects of psychology.

References

[1] D’Souza MF, Franco de Lima GAS, Jones DN, Carré JR. “Do I win, does the company win, or do we both win? Moderate traits of the Dark Triad and profit maximization”. Revista Contabilidade & Finanças. January 2019.

[2] Furnham A, Richards SC, Paulhus DL. “The Dark Triad of Personality: A 10 Year Review ”. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. March 2013.

[3] Gómez-Leal R, Megías-Robles A, Gutiérrez-Cobo MJ et al. “Relationship between the Dark Triad and depressive symptoms.” PeerJ vol. 7 e8120. November 2019, doi:10.7717/peerj.8120

[4] Lancer, Darlene. “Beware of the Malevolent Dark Triad”. Psychology Today. 10 December 2018.

[5] Paulhus DL, Williams KM. “The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy”. Journal of Research in Personality. December 2002; 36:556–563.

[6] Robinson, Kara Mayer. “Sociopath vs. Psychopath: What’s the Difference?” WebMD. 24 August 2014.