dark triad

dark triad, cluster of three negative personality traits—Machiavellianism and subclinical (nonpathological) narcissism and psychopathy—that share certain features, including emotional coldness, duplicity, and aggressiveness. The term was coined in 2002 by the Canadian psychologists Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams, who described the three traits as overlapping but distinct. Although some psychologists have questioned the utility of grouping the traits together, suggesting that the differences between them might be more important than their similarities, most other researchers have continued to rely on the concept. The dark triad is generally considered to be helpful in understanding aversive behaviours in the workplace and broad cultural problems such as prejudice. In 2019 some psychologists even proposed expanding the concept of the dark triad to include another personality trait, sadism (see sadomasochism), thus forming a “dark tetrad.”

Characteristics

The theory of the dark triad recognizes specific characteristics associated with each personality trait. Thus, Machiavellianism is marked by a tendency toward manipulative behaviour, narcissism by excessive self-importance and grandiosity, and psychopathy by callousness, impulsiveness, and thrill seeking. Although narcissism and psychopathy can occur at extreme pathological levels that disrupt a person’s ability to live a normal life, in the dark triad they exist at a lower, subclinical level—though even at that level they vary along a continuum of intensity.

The overlap between dark-triad personality traits has been assessed in a variety of ways. The original research by Paulhus and Williams pointed out that all three personality traits involve self-promotion, emotional coldness, duplicity, and aggressiveness. Some psychologists have depicted the similarities between the traits by locating each of them on an interpersonal circumplex, a two-dimensional circular diagram divided into four equal quadrants by two axes—one representing a continuum between hostility and friendliness and the other a continuum between dominance and submission. All three traits fall into the same quadrant, which represents personalities that are both dominant and hostile. Several psychologists have assessed how dark-triad personality traits correlate with the traits making up the five-factor (“Big Five”) model of personality—namely, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism. As indicated in the five-factor model, all three of the dark-triad traits are disagreeable; narcissists and psychopaths correlate with extraversion and openness; Machiavellianism and psychopathy correlate with low conscientiousness; and psychopaths have low neuroticism.

Causes, effects, and correlations

The dark-triad personality traits are consistently found to be more prominent in men than in women. Some researchers have pointed to cultural constructs of masculinity and femininity, and more specifically to negative sexist stereotypes, as a source of dark-triad traits in men. Many researchers have explored how dark-triad traits are tied to other forms of prejudice, such as racism. One study suggested that narcissists and psychopaths are generally antisocial while Machiavellians are biased against racial out-groups. Another found a correlation between dark personality traits and a social-dominance outlook (that is, an attitude of acceptance toward social hierarchies).

Psychologists have found a genetic or hereditary component to each of the dark-triad personalities, though the component is much more significant for psychopathy and narcissism than for Machiavellianism. Environmental factors and formative experiences are also thought to play roles in developing these personality traits.

Because dark-triad personality traits occur at subclinical levels, people with variable tendencies for these traits can live normal lives. Studies show, however, that they often face negative consequences at work and in personal relationships. One study, for example, found that in romantic relationships dark-triad traits correlate with frequent and more-hostile disagreements. Dark-triad traits are also found to correlate with toxic work behaviours such as manipulation and forceful tactics of influence. Additionally, psychologists report a dark-triad correlation with counterproductive workplace behaviours such as taking shortcuts on tasks.