Dark Triad Personalities: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy

In psychology, the dark triad  represents three personality traits: Narcissism, Psychopathy and Machiavellianism. If we were to ask the three, “who has the darkest personality? ” The Narcissist would  say “me”, the Psychopath would say, “I don’t care” and the Machiavellian would  say “it’s whoever I want it to be”.

People scoring high on the 3 traits are more  likely to commit crimes, and create severe social problems in society, families and organizations.  This is why the research on the dark triad is used widely in law enforcement, psychology, and  business. Here is an overview of what we know.

The Narcissist displays grandiosity, entitlement,  and superiority and wants nothing more than admiration. Once he gets what he wants, the  narcissist is rarely interested in other people. When he does care, it’s to enhance his status, which is why he likes to  mingle with successful others.

They seem as though they're completely in  love with themselves, but at the root of their inflated egos are often deeply-held feelings  of inferiority. To protect their constructed self, they can never admit to being wrong, which  is why they lie or blame others. Machiavellians are unprincipled, cold, and  have a cynical view of other human beings.

They like money, power, and winning, and they use manipulation to get  what they want or exploit others. If manipulation doesn’t work, they steal or  betray. Those high on the spectrum believe it’s better to be feared than being liked and  offend others as a strategy to control them.

When you are a psychopath, you come  across as cold and others think you are scary. You also show little to no fear,  act impulsively and you enjoy mental thrills. Those high on the spectrum  don’t form any emotional bonds.

The result is a complete lack of compassion.  That means they have no problem being mean. If something terrible happens, they later  often don’t feel any remorse or guilt.

The research tells us that men score significantly  higher on all three compared to women. And while these three personalities are  empirically distinct, they do overlap. Clinically, both narcissism and psychopathy are regarded as  mental disorders,while Machiavellianism isn’t.

Whether nature or nurture is responsible  for these traits has been somewhat answered by twin studies that show that narcissism and  psychopathy have substantial genetic components. Machiavellianism seems to be less prevalent in  pairs of twins. However, the environment also matters.

A psychopath may not only pass down his  genes but influence a child by being a role model. A machiavellian father shares with his son not  only genetic material but might also show him all his tricks. The son of a narcissist, not  only gets his dad’s chromosomes, but maybe also experiences his perfectionism.

With the big five personality traits, also known as OCEAN, the three correlate  either positively or negatively. Narcissists and psychopaths are often  open to new ideas and extroverted. Psychopath and Machiavellians  have low conscientiousness All three personality types  score low on agreeableness And Psychopaths are hardly neurotic -  whatever happens, leaves them cold.

An evolutionary explanation for these  traits could be sexual strategy. Many of us pursue a "slow life"  invest in long-term relationships, have a few children, and spend time on parenting. Dark triad traits may have survived because  they looked to optimize a "fast life".

Their ancestors lived in an unpredictable and dangerous  world. Because of a shorter life, they sought many sexual partners, spent no time on parenting,  and did not invest in human relationships. This may also explain why they strive  in competitive environments, such as corporations.

Here a machiavellian may use charm  and insults to manipulate others. The narcissist, his physical appearance and a psychopath, physical  threats. And since they all lack compassion, they often elbow their way to  the top; which is maybe why all 3 dark traits are well-represented  in upper-level management.

But there are also downsides. If your mind  was programmed to be impulsive, aggressive, and selfish, you are also more likely to abuse  drugs, feel excluded, suffer from depression, or end up in jail. This is why we may not only find  ways to protect ourselves from these darker minds, but also have empathy for them.

After all,  maybe they didn’t choose to be that way. What about you? Did you inherit some dark triad  traits?

And if that’s the case, and if you are aware of them, did you develop strategies to cope  with them? Share your thoughts in the comments below and read the description to dig deeper and  find relevant links, sources and information. This and all other Sprouts videos  are licensed under creative commons.

That means teachers from all around the world  can use them in classrooms, online courses, or to start projects — and today, thousands  already do! To learn how it works, and download this video without ads or background music, check  our website or read in the descriptions below. If you want to support our  mission and help change education, visit our Patreon — that’s patreon.