Dark Triad Personality Traits

Introduction

• The Dark Triad includes three personality traits:
  • Narcissism
  • Psychopathy
  • Machiavellianism
• Common characteristics:
  • Likely to commit crimes
  • Create social problems in society, families, and organizations
• Research application:
  • Widely used in law enforcement, psychology, and business

Narcissism

• Characteristics:
  • Displays grandiosity, entitlement, and superiority
  • Seeks admiration
  • Rarely interested in others unless it enhances status
  • Inflated ego but may hide feelings of inferiority
  • Unlikely to admit being wrong, often lie or blame others

Machiavellianism

• Characteristics:
  • Unprincipled, cold, and cynical view of others
  • Pursues money, power, and winning
  • Uses manipulation; if ineffective, may resort to betrayal
  • Believes it’s better to be feared than liked

Psychopathy

• Characteristics:
  • Perceived as cold and scary
  • Shows little to no fear, acts impulsively
  • Enjoys mental thrills and lacks compassion
  • Does not form emotional bonds, lacks remorse or guilt

Gender Differences

• Men score higher on all three traits compared to women
• Overlapping traits, but each is distinct

Clinical Perspective

• Narcissism and psychopathy: regarded as mental disorders
• Machiavellianism: not considered a mental disorder
• Nature vs. nurture: Twin studies show genetic components in narcissism and psychopathy
  • Environment also plays a role

Big Five Personality Traits (OCEAN)

• Openness: Narcissists and psychopaths are often open
• Conscientiousness: Low in psychopaths and machiavellians
• Extraversion: Narcissists and psychopaths are extroverted
• Agreeableness: All three score low
• Neuroticism: Psychopaths show low neuroticism

Evolutionary Explanation

• "Fast life" strategy:
  • Ancestors lived in unpredictable, dangerous environments
  • Sought many partners, little time on parenting
  • Thrives in competitive environments, e.g., corporations

Implications

• Downsides include:
  • Impulsivity, aggression, and selfishness
  • Potential for drug abuse, feeling excluded, depression, or imprisonment
• Importance of empathy for these personalities

Conclusion

• Encouragement to reflect on personal dark triad traits
• Offered resources for further exploration
• Note on creative commons licensing for educational usage
• Support through Patreon to help change education

Call to Action

• Encourage comments and thoughts
• Provide links and resources in the video description