Definition
Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy are a constellation of personality traits, collectively termed the “Dark Triad”
The Dark Triad Traits
The Dark Triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) are related but distinct personality traits characterised by emotional coldness, a lack of empathy, and manipulative behaviour (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Narcissism is associated with an elevated sense of self-worth and entitlement, Machiavellianism is associated with cynicism and a willingness to exploit others, and psychopathy is characterised by callous and antisocial behaviour. Whilst the factor structure of each Dark Triad trait has been considered (e.g. Kessler et al., 2010), it is more common to further separate psychopathy into individual components than to do so for narcissism or Machiavellianism. For example, researchers often differentiate between primary psychopathy (callousness) and secondary psychopathy (risk-taking and impulsivity) (Levenson et...
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Brewer, G. (2023). Personality and Individual Differences: Dark Triad. In: Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_126-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_126-1
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