The Dark Triad Personality

The Dark Triad Personality

Even people who do not work in the corporate world are likely to have heard of the psychological theory referred to as the “Dark Triad.” Some scenarios are made more challenging by a person’s personality traits. One may be able to bring out their best attributes while also reducing their worst tendencies with the proper management, regardless of their erratic, arrogant, or dominant personalities. They can equally bring long-term harm to their co-workers, potentially poisoning and demoralizing an entire team if they exhibit this toxic combination of qualities. Thus, the term “Dark Triad” encompasses qualities of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, which can be detrimental to a person’s behavior.

Describe the dark triad personality. Why is the idea a cause for concern?

Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy form the “Dark Triad” of personality traits. Psychopathic and narcissistic conduct were the initial formations of this trait. However, Stiff (2019) argues that politics and strategy for the Medici family in the 1500s led to the emergence of the Machiavellianism movement. Thus, narcissism and psychopathy have in common despite their divergent origins: they both display a selfish, emotionally frigid, and dishonest disposition.

Explain how the dark triad might be partly based on biology: evolution, genetics, and hormones. For starters, see the Wikipedia link for a brief review of studies examining associations between the dark triad and biology.

Even though there is no inherited basis for this correlation, a correlation between the Dark Triad and moral development characteristics was genetically and environmentally influenced. In Lyons’ (2019) study, higher-level levels of moral development and genetic variation were observed. However, shared and non-shared contextual factors were solely ignored in the higher levels of moral development. Consistently, higher levels of Machiavellianism and psychopathy related to low morals have been connected to the genetics that causes psychopathy and good moral development.

Explore the practical implications of the dark triad. Could this concept be useful for law enforcement and criminal justice? Does it explain internet trolls? Could some people be attracted to “bad boys” or “fixer-uppers” that ultimately lead to bad relationships?

A leader’s success can be ensured by focusing on narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy during any selection process. Also, leaders’ dark personality traits might be utilized to gauge their readiness for growth and promotion. Only Machiavellians and psychopaths are more likely than narcissists to achieve success in their careers (Kowalski et al., 2018). The feature of narcissism is the most closely linked to agentic qualities of openness, extraversion, and self-leadership among the members of the Dark Triad. In many instances, self-leadership development is a prerequisite for both charisma and transformative leadership. These people are masters of deception and manipulation. As a result, their followers may perceive narcissistic leaders as charismatic.

Narcissists try to be recognized and admired by others in the social arena. Machiavellians may also benefit from leadership development since they can maintain self-control, adapt quickly to changing conditions, and be adaptable under pressure. Even in leadership development, the long-term objective of strengthening one’s self-regulation may motivate Machiavellians to show a significant capacity for learning (Kowalski et al., 2018). The Dark Triad’s most self-controlled members can maintain the most self-control to distinguish themselves. They must be aware of their environment to adapt to changing conditions quickly. Thus, Machiavellians may gain from leadership development by being more aware of internal and external processes and learning new, personally relevant information.

The dark triad concept is somewhat controversial. Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Explain why.

I agree with this idea because it has been discovered over time that the Dark Triad of personality has a particular social structure. I equally feel that narcissism and the Dark Triad are separate concepts. Narcissism is distinct from the Dark Triad. However, the critical features of the Dark Triad may be separated from the pool of dark things from psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and nativism, and the Dark Triad can be re-arranged inside the Dark Triad. 

References

Kowalski, C. M., Kwiatkowska, K., Kwiatkowska, M. M., Ponikiewska, K., Rogoza, R., & Schermer, J. A. (2018). The dark triad traits and intelligence: Machiavellians are bright, and narcissists and psychopaths are ordinary. Personality and Individual Differences, 135, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.06.049

Lyons, M. (2019). Dark triad and friendships. The Dark Triad of Personality, 111-136. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-814291-2.00005-x

Stiff, C. (2019). The dark triad and Facebook surveillance: How machiavellianism, psychopathy, but not narcissism predict using Facebook to spy on others. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/g94nr