You can spot a person high on the dark triad scale if they have a hard time being warm and friendly (especially if there's nothing to be gained from acting nicely), are prone to risk-taking, use aggressive or dark humor, have difficulty describing or understanding emotions, and have a wobbly moral compass.
The Dark Triad refers to three personality traits—narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism—characterized by malevolence or negativity, hence the name "dark." The phrase was coined in a 2002 study by psychologists Delroy Paulhus, Ph.
Egoism, Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism, spitefulness, and others are among the traits that stand for the malevolent dark sides of human personality.
Paulhus and his colleagues have enumerated four different kinds of self-centered and socially offensive people who most of us encounter in our day-to-day lives: narcissists, Machiavellians, nonclinical psychopaths, and everyday sadists.
We all have a “dark side” — qualities that we often don't like to reveal to others. It's the traits we might be ashamed of or embarrassed about. The ones others may have rejected or that we believe deem us undeserving or unworthy of love. You may sometimes act judgmental, angry, selfish, or controlling.
People with “dark personality traits”, such as psychopathy or narcissism, are more likely to be callous, disagreeable and antagonistic in their nature. Such traits exist on a continuum – we all have more or less of them, and this does not necessarily equate to being clinically diagnosed with a personality disorder.
The 6 traits of the Mettl Dark Personality Inventory (MDPI) are Opportunism, Insensitivity, Self-Obsession, Thrill-Seeking, Temperamental, and Impulsiveness. This trait inventory can be used to assess the predominant dark personality traits of a person.
Dark empathy is characterized by emotional distance disguised as charm and understanding. It is usually motivated by personal gain. Dark empathy is related to the dark triad personality traits. The dark triad refers to the malevolent personality types of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy.
Psychopathy. Psychopathy is considered the most malevolent of the dark triad. Individuals who score high on psychopathy show low levels of empathy and high levels of impulsivity and thrill-seeking.
The light triad consists of Kantianism, humanism, and faith in humanity. People with these traits are said to be primarily motivated by intimacy and self-transcendent values. The light triad was devised in contrast to the dark triad of personality — traits associated with narcissism, Mechiavialinism, and psychopathy.
The Big Five traits (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism: OCEAN) have been suggested to provide a meaningful taxonomy for studying the Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.
Research published in 2021 in the journal Personality and Individual Differences suggests that dark empaths can be aggressive, extroverted, and agreeable, and exhibit dark triad traits at varying degrees. Dark empaths don't necessarily lack empathy, however.
Individuals are considered dark empaths when they possess cognitive and/or affective empathy as well as characteristics from the “dark triad” — a collective term for three dark personality traits: Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism.
ESTP. ESTPs win the title for the most narcissistic personality type. That doesn't mean all ESTPs are narcissists, but this type is more likely to display narcissistic tendencies than any other. ESTPs are charming and outgoing, and they love to be the center of attention.
The light subtype evidenced affiliative interpersonal functioning and greater trust in others, as well as higher life satisfaction and positive self-image. The dark subtype reflected interpersonal dominance, competitiveness, and aggression.
GENETIC/ENVIRONMENTAL ORIGINS
Substantial evidence cites the role of genetics and inheritance in experiencing the Dark Triad. Researchers assessed dark traits of dizygotic and monozygotic twins using behavioral genetic analysis and found evidence for the heritability of psychopathy and narcissism (Vernon et al., 2008).
Malignant narcissism is considered by many to be the most severe type. 2 That's why it helps to recognize when you have someone with this condition in your life and what to expect from interactions with them.
Narcissists' sexual preferences are often very specific. In bed, the narcissist may have very explicit ideas about what their partner should do or even say. They want the narrative to play out in a certain way, and they don't have patience for changes to the script. This has to do with their lack of empathy.
The dark side describes people's behavior when they are not paying attention and/or don't care about creating a good impression; this happens when they are emotionally upset, when they are stressed or ill, when they are under the influence of chemical substances, or when they are simply being themselves.
The one who looks at the negative/dark side of everything – Pessimist.