The influence of the Dark Triad on various aspects of life – a review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/QS.2024.16.52810Keywords
Psychology, the Dark Triad, Machiavellianism, Narcissism, psychopathy, personalityAbstract
Introduction: The Dark Triad is a construct devised by Paulhus and Williams in 2002. It comprises of three personality disorders: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy, that are believed to be debilitating both to people exhibiting these traits and their social environment.
Aim of the Study: The aim of the study was to collect and analyse current literature regarding the Dark Triad and the influence of its components on different areas of functioning.
Methods and Materials: Extensive research was conducted using PubMed and Google Scholar, with the primary focus on literature from the past 5 years. These databases were searched using “the Dark Triad” and its components names as entries to gather articles. Additionally, references from selected articles were included in the analysis.
Results: Our article showed that the components of the Dark Triad influence many areas of functioning, although this influence is not always negative.
Having all the traits of the Dark Triad is more likely to induce immoral behaviour than having the individual traits in isolation. Thus, further research of the Dark Triad is needed, especially regarding different facets of its components. Devising more in-depth questionnaires that would cover all sub-divisions of the Dark Triad components would largely bolster the research in this field.
References
Aghababaei, N., Lefdahl-Davis, E. M., & Błachnio, A. (2022). Editorial: Positive and Negative Psychosocial Outcomes of the ‘Dark’ Personality Traits. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 919304. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.919304
Bader, M., Hilbig, B. E., Zettler, I., & Moshagen, M. (2023). Rethinking aversive personality: Decomposing the Dark Triad traits into their common core and unique flavors. Journal of Personality, 91(5), 1084–1109. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12785
Blasco-Belled, A., Tejada-Gallardo, C., Alsinet, C., & Rogoza, R. (2024). The links of subjective and psychological well-being with the Dark Triad traits: A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality, 92(2), 584–600. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12853
Brewer, G., Lyons, M., Perry, A., & O’Brien, F. (2021). Dark Triad Traits and Perceptions of Sexual Harassment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(13–14), NP7373–NP7387. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519827666
Brunett, K. M., & Oberle, C. D. (2022). The dark triad moderates the association between orthorexia nervosa and relationship (dis)satisfaction. Eating and Weight Disorders: EWD, 27(7), 2515–2521. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-022-01387-6
Ellen, B. P., Alexander, K. C., Mackey, J. D., McAllister, C. P., & Carson, J. E. (2021). Portrait of a workplace deviant: A clearer picture of the Big Five and Dark Triad as predictors of workplace deviance. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(12), 1950–1961. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000880
Garcia, D., & MacDonald, S. (2017). Dark personality profiles: Estimating the cluster structure of the Dark Triad. PsyCh Journal, 6(3), 239–240. https://doi.org/10.1002/pchj.175
Gómez-Leal, R., Megías-Robles, A., Gutiérrez-Cobo, M. J., Cabello, R., Fernández-Abascal, E. G., & Fernández-Berrocal, P. (2019). Relationship between the Dark Triad and depressive symptoms. PeerJ, 7, e8120. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8120
Hu, Y., & Lan, X. (2022). A Comprehensive and Person-Centered View of the Association Between the Dark Triad and Youth Mental Health. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 900354. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.900354
Jauk, E., & Dieterich, R. (2019). Addiction and the Dark Triad of Personality. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, 662. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00662
Jonason, P. K., Koehn, M. A., Bulyk, R. A., & Davis, M. D. (2020). Standing out and not fitting in: The Dark Triad traits and social values. The Journal of Social Psychology, 160(2), 164–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2019.1623162
Jonason, P. K., & Tome, J. (2019). How happiness expectations relate to the Dark Triad traits. The Journal of Social Psychology, 159(4), 371–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2018.1529652
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2017). Duplicity among the dark triad: Three faces of deceit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(2), 329–342. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000139
Karim, D. N. (2022). Linking dark triad traits, psychological entitlement, and knowledge hiding behavior. Heliyon, 8(7), e09815. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09815
Kaufman, S. B., Yaden, D. B., Hyde, E., & Tsukayama, E. (2019). The Light vs. Dark Triad of Personality: Contrasting Two Very Different Profiles of Human Nature. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 467. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00467
Lämmle, L., Nussbeck, F. W., & Ziegler, M. (2021). Hello from the Other Side: Can We Perceive Others’ Darkness? Observers’ Accuracy of the Dark Triad. Journal of Personality Assessment, 103(1), 106–119. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2019.1683020
Levenson, M. R., Kiehl, K. A., & Fitzpatrick, C. M. (1995). Assessing psychopathic attributes in a noninstitutionalized population. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(1), 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.68.1.151
Limone, P., Sinatra, M., & Monacis, L. (2020). Orientations to Happiness between the Dark Triad Traits and Subjective Well-Being. Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 10(5), 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs10050090
Maples-Keller, J. L., & Miller, J. D. (2018). Insight and the Dark Triad: Comparing self- and meta-perceptions in relation to psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. Personality Disorders, 9(1), 30–39. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000207
Mayor, E., Daehne, M., & Bianchi, R. (2020). The Dark Triad of personality and attitudes toward cognitive enhancement. BMC Psychology, 8(1), 119. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-00486-2
Monaghan, C., Bizumic, B., & Sellbom, M. (2016). The role of Machiavellian views and tactics in psychopathology. Personality and Individual Differences, 94, 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.01.002
Onley, M., Veselka, L., Schermer, J. A., & Vernon, P. A. (2013). Survival of the scheming: A genetically informed link between the dark triad and mental toughness. Twin Research and Human Genetics: The Official Journal of the International Society for Twin Studies, 16(6), 1087–1095. https://doi.org/10.1017/thg.2013.66
Papageorgiou, K. A., Denovan, A., & Dagnall, N. (2019). The positive effect of narcissism on depressive symptoms through mental toughness: Narcissism may be a dark trait but it does help with seeing the world less grey. European Psychiatry: The Journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 55, 74–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpsy.2018.10.002
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6
Sariyska, R., Markett, S., Lachmann, B., & Montag, C. (2019). What Does Our Personality Say About Our Dietary Choices? Insights on the Associations Between Dietary Habits, Primary Emotional Systems and the Dark Triad of Personality. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2591. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02591
Schmitt, D. P., Long, A. E., McPhearson, A., O’Brien, K., Remmert, B., & Shah, S. H. (2017). Personality and gender differences in global perspective. International Journal of Psychology: Journal International De Psychologie, 52 Suppl 1, 45–56. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12265
Shengbo, L., Fiaz, M., Mughal, Y. H., Wisetsri, W., Ullah, I., Ren, D., Kiran, A., & Kumar Kesari, K. (2022). Impact of Dark Triad on Anxiety Disorder: Parallel Mediation Analysis During Pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 914328. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.914328
Van Hauwermeiren, O., Kwamanakweenda, J., Pino, J., Peacock, C., Tartar, J. L., & Cuc, A. (2023). The Dark Triad and Professional Fighters: Destigmatizing Male Combat Athletes. Cureus, 15(1), e33219. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.33219
Vaughan, R. S., & Madigan, D. J. (2021). The winner takes it all: The mediating role of competitive orientations in the Dark Triad and sport task performance relationship. European Journal of Sport Science, 21(8), 1183–1192. https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2020.1825822
Vize, C. E., Lynam, D. R., Collison, K. L., & Miller, J. D. (2018). Differences among dark triad components: A meta-analytic investigation. Personality Disorders, 9(2), 101–111. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000222
Wissing, B. G., & Reinhard, M.-A. (2019). The Dark Triad and Deception Perceptions. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1811. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01811
Zlatkovic, A., Gojkovic, V., Dostanic, J., & Djuric, V. (2024). Structure of resilience: A Machiavellian contribution or ‘paddle your own canoe’. PloS One, 19(4), e0302257. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302257
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Michał Andrzej Kozicz, Paulina Cuper, Ilona Jastrzębska, Krzysztof Bilecki, Hubert Gugulski, Michał Bado, Patrycja Nowoświat, Michalina Cuper
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 169
Number of citations: 0
