Hello guys,
I haven’t been active lately mainly because of the enormous amount of work we have at the office recently and partly because of a current empirical study I am doing at the university, exploring the concept of narcissism. When the paper is done I will post some of the interesting findings, but until then I would like to share something else in the field of psychology, which you might find interesting.
Introduction
The Dark Triad is relatively new concept in personality psychology but it has already been an object to various studies. In 2002 Paulhus and Williams identified a ‘‘Dark Triad’’ comprising the following related personality styles: narcissism, Machiavellianism and sub-clinical psychopathy (Paulhus & Williams, 2002).
Although ‘‘unificationist theories’’ propagatethat the three traits are essentially identical or only slight variants of an underlying general dark personality factor, findings generally support the perspective of three distinct trait domains (Jones & Paulhus, 2010). So let’s break these components down and dive into what they actually mean.
Narcissism
The concept of narcissism as personality trait is probably the oldest and one of the most studied in the field of psychology. According to the empirical data from scientific studies, narcissism has controversial nature and there are a lot of misconceptions about the factors behind it. While the actual structural organization of narcissism is still debated by scientists, there is an agreement that there are in fact two types of narcissism – grandiose and vulnerable. The term narcissism could relate to personal trait as well as to psychopathological condition.
While there are various definitions about narcissism, it is generally accepted that narcissists are people who feel entitled to a better treatment than others due to their unrealistic feeling of superiority and aim at gaining others’ attention and admiration (Raskin & Terry, 1988).
Thе construct of subclinical or “normal” narcissism еmеrgеd from Raskin and Halls (1979) attеmpt to dеlinеatе a subclinical vеrsion of thе DSM-dеfinеd pеrsonality disordеr. Facеts rеtainеd from thе clinical syndromе includеd grandiosity, еntitlеmеnt, dominancе, and supеriority. Itеms wеrе rеfinеd on largе samplеs of studеnts and assеmblеd in thе Narcissistic Pеrsonality Invеntory (NPI). Thе succеssful migration from clinical to subclinical construct is wеll supportеd by a strong rеsеarch litеraturе (Morf & Rhodеwalt, 2001).
Machiavellianism
The construct of Machiavellianism was first introduced by Richard Christie, who withdraw a selection of statements from Niccolo Machiavelli’s original books (Christie & Geis, 1970) which he then incorporated into a measure of normal personality by demonstrating reliable differences in respondents’ agreement with the items. The results showed that people who agreed with these statements were more likely to behave in a cold and manipulative fashion in laboratory and real world studies (Christie & Geis, 1970). Individuals who score high in Machiavellianism are characterized by cynical, pragmatic, misanthropic, and immoral beliefs, emotional detachedness, agentic and self-beneficial motives, strategic long-term planning, manipulation and exploitation and deception and duplicity (Christie & Geis, 1970; Rauthmann & Will, 2011).
Psychopathy
Likе narcissism, thе construct of psychopathy is concеptualizеd as both a pathological and sub-clinical trait domain (е.g., Harе, 1991; Lеvеnson, 1992). It is gеnеrally accеptеd that psychopathy has a primary (е.g., sеlfishnеss, callousnеss, lack of intеrpеrsonal affеct, supеrficial charm, rеmorsеlеssnеss, еxploitation of othеrs) and sеcondary form (anti-social lifеstylе).
It could also bе arguеd that psychopathy gеnеrally falls into four componеnts
(Williams, Nathanson, & Paulhus, 2003):
• impulsivity, thrillsееking, and irrеsponsiblе bеhaviors;
• dеcеitful bеhavior and intеrpеrsonal manipulation;
• callousnеss and lack of affеct;
• anti-social bеhaviors.
Thе Dark Triad traits arе tiеd togеthеr by thе phеnotypical bеhavior of еxploitativе manipulation at thе еxpеnsе of communal wеlfarе (Jonеs & Paulhus, 2010) although undеrlying procеssеs and dynamics may diffеr. This makеs dark traits socially rеlеvant and intеrеsting for psychological rеsеarch. Indееd, dark pеrsonalitiеs arе oftеn sееn as sly, cunning, and rеcklеss ‘‘social chamеlеons’’ using diffеrеnt tactics to gеt what thеy want (narcissism: attеntion and admiration; Machiavеllianism: status and powеr; psychopathy:
thrill and fun). This social manеuvеring, howеvеr, would rеquirе skills in two domains (Thorndikе, 1920): pеrcеptional sеnsitivity and bеhavioral abilitiеs. Onе has to bе sеnsitivе to
еxprеssivе cuеs of othеrs to undеrstand how onе’s own bеhavior affеcts thеm (е.g., in a manipulation tactic), but also adjust onе’s dеmеanor accordingly.
How to Identify Dark Triad Traits
So, if you read carefully everything in this article so far, you probably already know that it is a good idea to avoid people who score high on these traits. How to do that?
In ideal conditions you can have them feel a standardized psychological questionnaire. In 2010 the psychology professors Dr. Peter Jonason and Gregory Webster created such scale called The Dirty Dozen Scale which indicates if a person has the Dark Triad. Another good instrument is The Short Dark Triad, which was developed in 2011 by D. Paulhus and D. Jones. You can find it here online and check your score.
Of course, in real life we can’t just walk around and give all sorts of questionnaires to the ones we interact with. So how to spot if the person in front of us is really the one who claims he is? Well, to be honest there is no easy way, as people who are really good in manipulations are often experts at hiding their behavior and true intentions.
On the long term there are behavioural cues which you could observe and look for. People who tend to be manipulative usually know what’s valuable to others and try to exploit it. In order to do so they tend to represent themselves to different people in different light. You can use that in your advantage if you see that the person behaves paradoxically. This perhaps one of the first signs to give you a ‘heads up’ that something else is going on.
If you challenge a manipulative person, who scores high on the scale of the “Dark Triad”, you could bring out their true self by provoking them. Keep in mind though that these people are unpredictable and if you go too far you might end up as their victim.
Due to their high psychopathy these people can easily lose their temper and that’s where you should be most careful about what really triggered their behavior. Is it coherent with what they previously said or did? This actually sounds easier than done and to be honest, the most skilled manipulative psychopaths would not express their emotions openly.
Rather they would prefer to act in a passive-aggressive manner which makes them even nastier and dangerous. If you are not sure whether you can cope with such person, you can always choose not to communicate with them at all. Just be careful not to make it obvious that you don’t like them, as their narcissistic ego is really sensitive towards such attitude and they could easily react back.
What does it all mean?
Scoring high on this scale doesn’t mean that you are evil or bad person. But you probably fit into the term “asshole”.
In reality such people usually have a lot of positive qualities and if you know how to communicate properly with them, you might end up on the brighter side of things.
How to successfully avoid such people?
Keep in mind that these people’s greatest fear is to be exposed for who they are. They would do anything to protect their façade self, even if that means hurting others. If you can’t handle such people it’s probably a good idea to stay out of their reach. Now if you are a straightforward person you can always say whatever you think about them in their face, not caring about any consequences. Or you can choose to communicate with them in a neutral manner, not revealing anything special about yourself or your goals etc. If these people do not see you as a threat or as a subject of interest, you can freely observe them and see if your suspicions towards them are confirmed.
How to successfully communicate with such people?
Psychopathy correlates with success in many fields. Once you understand the components of the “Dark triad”, you will be able to see through these people and their true intentions.. You would easily understand that to them people in general are nothing but obstacles and opportunities. If avoiding such people is not an option to you and you must maintain good relationship with people who score high on this scale, you must in a manner act like them or at least imitate their attitude and behavior. At first they might appear to you as really nice and close people, but as you get tangled in their net, you will slowly but surely understand that you have been deceived for all this time.
Maintain shallow relationships based on common interest
Let’s face it. With such people it’s either use them or end up being used by them. Since they cannot establish a healthy relationship with others, it would be a mistake to think that you could correct them and act like everything is okay. It’s not.
Do not expose personal information and details about yourself.
Manipulators have a natural talent for exposing and exploiting other people’s values and desires. If you get too close, you will get burned. Keeping a low profile is always a good idea. Small talks, meaningless conversations, while at the same time trying to achieve your final goal with them. Once you are done – run.
Final thoughts
So if you you meet a person who shows these traits and you can’t cope with them, probably the best idea is to avoid them. However if you have to communicate with them, keep in mind that they are not actually evil people and they have their bright sides. Seek them and use them. If that fails, do not get discouraged as most of the times their behavior is just a façade, meant to protect their fragile egos, or hide their insecurities. You can always seek their weak spot and expose it, but be prepared for a severe counter-attack.
Sources:
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of research in Personality, 36, 556–563.
Raskin, R., & Terry, H. (1988). A principal-components analysis of the narcissistic personality-inventory and further evidence of its construct-validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 890–902.
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2010). Differentiating the Dark Triad within the Interpersonal Circumplex. In L. M. Horowitz & S. N. Strack (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal theory and research (pp. 249–267). New York: Guilford.
Christie, R., & Geis, F. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press.
Emmons, R. A. (1984). Factor analysis and construct validity of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 291–300.
Rauthmann, J. F., & Will, T. (2011). Proposing a multidimensional Machiavellianism conceptualization. Social Behavior and Personality, 39, 391–404.
Thorndike, R. L. (1920). Intelligence and its use. Harper’sMagazine, 140, 227–235.