The Dark Side of Human Personality - The Dark Triad

Abstract

In recent years, The Dark Triad attracted interest of the research community, as well as the public. It is a concept composed of three empirically overlapping components: Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy. The purpose of this paper is to present some of the fundamental research findings on this topic. The paper starts by defining the concept of The Dark Triad, its origin and components, continues with citing findings from a large body of research comparing The Dark Triad with five-factor and HEXACO personality models and finally presents the most widely used existing instruments for measuring the Dark Triad. Gender differences and mating strategies of individuals with pronounced Dark Triad traits are also included, and the article ends with depicting and analysing examples of fictional Dark Triad characters in popular culture.