Toward a Taxonomy of Dark Personalities Paulhus, Delroy L.
Current directions in psychological science : a journal of the American Psychological Society,
12/2014, Letnik:
23, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The term dark personalities refers to a set of socially aversive traits in the subclinical range. Not extreme enough to invite clinical or forensic attention, they can get along (even flourish) in ...everyday work settings, scholastic settings, and the broader community. Along with my research group, I have studied a constellation of these personalities—Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and everyday sadism—under the label "Dark Tetrad." We have argued that, because of their overlap, these four traits should be studied in concert. Recently developed inventories now facilitate identification of the unique contributions of each trait. The present review highlights key advances and controversies emerging from work on these malevolent, yet fascinating, characters.
Although all 3 of the Dark Triad members are predisposed to engage in exploitative interpersonal behavior, their motivations and tactics vary. Here we explore their distinctive dynamics with 5 ...behavioral studies of dishonesty (total N = 1,750). All 3 traits predicted cheating on a coin-flipping task when there was little risk of being caught (Study 1). Only psychopathy predicted cheating when punishment was a serious risk (Study 2). Machiavellian individuals also cheated under high risk-but only if they were ego-depleted (Study 3). Both psychopathy and Machiavellianism predicted cheating when it required an intentional lie (Study 4). Finally, those high in narcissism showed the highest levels of self-deceptive bias (Study 5). In sum, duplicitous behavior is far from uniform across the Dark Triad members. The frequency and nature of their dishonesty is moderated by 3 contextual factors: level of risk, ego depletion, and target of deception. This evidence for distinctive forms of duplicity helps clarify differences among the Dark Triad members as well as illuminating different shades of dishonesty.
Researchers have recently drawn a contrast between two forms of envy: benign and malicious envy. In three studies (total N = 3,123), we challenge the assumption that malicious envy is destructive, ...whereas benign envy is entirely constructive. Instead, both forms have links with the Dark Triad of personality. Benign envy is associated with Machiavellian behaviors, whereas malicious envy is associated with both Machiavellian and psychopathic behaviors. In Study 1, this pattern emerged from meta-analyzed trait correlations. In Study 2, a manipulation affecting the envy forms mediated an effect on antisocial behavioral intentions. Study 3 replicated these patterns by linking envy to specific antisocial behaviors and their impact on status in the workplace. Together, our correlational and experimental results suggest that the two forms of envy can both be malevolent. Instead of evaluating envy’s morality, we propose to focus on its functional value.
Behavioral Confirmation of Everyday Sadism Buckels, Erin E.; Jones, Daniel N.; Paulhus, Delroy L.
Psychological science,
11/2013, Letnik:
24, Številka:
11
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Past research on socially aversive personalities has focused on subclinical psychopathy, subclinical narcissism, and Machiavellianism—the "Dark Triad" of personality. In the research reported here, ...we evaluated whether an everyday form of sadism should be added to that list. Acts of apparent cruelty were captured using two laboratory procedures, and we showed that such behavior could be predicted with two measures of sadistic personality. Study 1 featured a bug-killing paradigm. As expected, sadists volunteered to kill bugs at greater rates than did nonsadists. Study 2 examined willingness to harm an innocent victim. When aggression was easy, sadism and Dark Triad measures predicted unprovoked aggression. However, only sadists were willing to work for the opportunity to hurt an innocent person. In both studies, sadism emerged as an independent predictor of behavior reflecting an appetite for cruelty. Together, these findings support the construct validity of everyday sadism and its incorporation into a new "Dark Tetrad" of personality.
Among the Dark Triad of personality, both narcissism and psychopathy have been linked to impulsivity. What remains unclear is the pattern of associations that the Dark Triad have with functional and ...dysfunctional types of impulsivity. Using both student (
N
=
142) and adult samples (
N
=
329), we investigated the association of the Dark Triad variables with Dickman’s measures of functional and dysfunctional impulsivity. Based on regression analyses, psychopathy was most closely associated with dysfunctional impulsivity whereas narcissism was associated with functional impulsivity. It appears that narcissistic impulsivity involves venturesome social engagement whereas psychopathic impulsivity stems from poor self-regulation. As expected, Machiavellianism had no consistent association with either type of impulsivity. In short, the Dark Triad members show a coherent pattern of relations with impulsivity.
Three socially aversive traits—Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—have been studied as an overlapping constellation known as the Dark Triad. Here, we develop and validate the Short Dark ...Triad (SD3), a brief proxy measure. Four studies (total N = 1,063) examined the structure, reliability, and validity of the subscales in both community and student samples. In Studies 1 and 2, structural analyses yielded three factors with the final 27 items loading appropriately on their respective factors. Study 3 confirmed that the resulting SD3 subscales map well onto the longer standard measures. Study 4 validated the SD3 subscales against informant ratings. Together, these studies indicate that the SD3 provides efficient, reliable, and valid measures of the Dark Triad of personalities.
How did Donald Trump dominate his more experienced competitors in the primaries? We suspected the answer might lie in his communication style rather than his platform details. Hence, we analyzed the ...announcement speeches of the top nine Republican contenders as of October, 2015. We transcribed 27 speech segments each and applied Pennebaker's Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), a computerized text analysis software. We also conducted acoustic analyses of the speech recordings and had them coded for grandiosity by trained (but blind) raters. Trump scored highest on (a) grandiosity ratings, (b) use of first person pronouns, (c) greater pitch dynamics, and (d) informal communication (including Twitter usage of all 17 candidates). With number of primaries won as the criterion, our results suggest that Trump benefited from all these aspects of campaign communication style. It remains to be seen whether this same communication profile will help or hinder success in a general election.
•Donald Trump showed surprising success during the Republican primaries.•Speeches and Twitter behavior of all candidates were coded to yield measure of grandiosity, informality, and dynamism.•It appears that Trump's communication style was able to overcome his questionable political platform.•All these factors predicted number of primaries won by the candidates.
The Dark Triad of Personality: A 10 Year Review Furnham, Adrian; Richards, Steven C.; Paulhus, Delroy L.
Social and personality psychology compass,
03/2013, Letnik:
7, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Ten years ago Paulhus and Williams (2002) called attention to the ‘Dark Triad’, a constellation of three conceptually distinct but empirically overlapping personality variables. The three members ‐‐ ...Machiavellianism, narcissism and subclinical psychopathy ‐‐ often show differential correlates but share a common core of callous‐manipulation. There are now dozens of studies on the triad and, according to Google Scholar, over 350 citations. The goal of this review is to update and critically evaluate this rapidly expanding literature. The standard measures of each Dark Triad member are reviewed along with newer combination measures. The Dark Triad members are located in in mainstream structural models, namely, the interpersonal circumplex as well as Five‐ and Six‐Factor Models. Key issues and controversies are addressed.
Objective
This research seeks to clarify the association between online trolling and sadistic personality, and to provide evidence that the reward and rationalization processes at work in sadism are ...likewise manifest in online trolling.
Method
Online respondents (community adults and university students; total N = 1,715) completed self‐report measures of personality and trolling behavior. They subsequently engaged in one of two judgment tasks. In Study 1, respondents viewed stimuli depicting scenes of emotional/physical suffering and provided ratings of (a) perceived pain intensity and (b) pleasure experienced while viewing the photos. In Study 2, the iTroll questionnaire was developed and validated. It was then administered alongside a moral judgment task.
Results
Across both studies, online trolling was strongly associated with a sadistic personality profile. Moreover, sadism and trolling predicted identical patterns of pleasure and harm minimization. The incremental contribution of sadism was sustained even when controlling for broader antisocial tendencies (i.e., the Dark Triad, callous‐unemotionality, and trait aggression).
Conclusions
Results confirm that online trolling is motivated (at least in part) by sadistic tendencies. Coupled with effective rationalization mechanisms, sadistic pleasure can be consummated in such everyday behaviors as online trolling.
We describe the development of FAD-Plus, a 27-item measure of lay beliefs in free will and 3 closely related constructs: scientific determinism, fatalistic determinism, and unpredictability. ...Previously published measures included only a subset of these variables and tended to assume an a priori pattern of relations among these 4 beliefs. In Study 1, exploratory factor analyses suggested relatively independent factors. This independence was sustained in Study 2, using a confirmatory analysis. Each of the 4 subscales (Free Will, Scientific Determinism, Fatalistic Determinism, and Unpredictability) showed acceptable internal consistencies. Study 2 also mapped out associations with the Big Five personality traits and showed that believing in free will is not synonymous with having an internal locus of control. Study 3 replicated the instrument's structure and subscale reliabilities in a community sample. Preliminary applications are described.
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