What Is the Dark Triad?

The term “Dark Triad” refers to a trio of negative personality traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism,

and psychopathy—which share some common malevolent features. The construct was coined
( STARTED ) by researchers Delroy L. Paulhus and Kevin M. Williams in 2002 and has increasingly taken
hold of the public imagination since.

People with these three "dark" traits tend to be callous and manipulative, willing to do or say practically
anything to get their way. They have an inflated view of themselves and are often shameless about self-
promotion. These individuals are likely to be impulsive and may engage in dangerous behavior—in some
cases, even committing crimes—without any regard for how their actions affect others.

Notes :

Niccolo Machiavelli – a real person who wrote a book ; The Prince – the best- selling book in
HISTORY

malevolent – to cause harm ; to inflict harm to other people IMPULSIVE – not thinking before
doing

inflated – ( inflated balloon ) - unreasonably high inflated cases of COVID in Japan

construct – means idea callous – insensitive ; harsh ; rude ; thick – faced

Being manipulative is NOT ENTIRELY bad ; it can be good. DEPENDING ON THE SITUATION.

Most researchers consider psychopathy—a disorder characterized by a lack of empathy and remorse—

to be the “darkest” of the Dark Triad, followed by Machiavellianism. Machiavellianism is not a mental
health diagnosis; rather, it's a personality trait describing a master manipulator and conniving individual
who deceives and tricks others to achieve their goals. It is based on the political philosophy of the 16th-
century writer Niccolò Machiavelli. The third piece of the triad, narcissism, is characterized by excessive
self-regard and heightened arrogance.

People who are high in psychopathy and Machiavellianism are more likely to lash out and inflict harm on
others, while those high in narcissism are more likely to hurt themselves. While many researchers
consider psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism three distinct traits with overlapping
characteristics, others believe the commonalities suggest an underlying personality construct that has
yet to be identified. The D or "dark" factor in personality has been postulated to encompass the dark
triad and other harmful behavior. At the core of this construct is the desire to maximize one's own gain,
even at the expense of others, and to feel justified in so doing.
Psycho – means mind empathy ( putting yourself in other people’s shoes ) – empathize
( try to do action )
sympathy – feeling pity – sympathize ( don’t take action )
remorse – EXTREME regret
YOU ARE REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY ABOUT SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE DONE.
regret – a feeling of having wasted sth I REGRET not studying for the exam.

The killer felt no ( regret , remorse ) . --- REMORSE is connected to your CONSCIENCE

Conniving – They are conniving to rob a bank. – grouping ideas with another person to do
something bad.
They are conniving to cheat during the exam.

Lash out – My father lashed out his anger over dinner . My father lashed out his temper on me.

Inflict – negative – means to do inflict harm – to do harm

Postulated – theorized

What Is Narcissism?

Narcissists have a prominent place in the popular imagination, and the label "narcissist" is widely
deployed to refer to people who appear too full of themselves. There's also a growing sense that
narcissism is on the rise around the world, especially among young people, but psychological research
does not support that notion.

Narcissism, like many other traits, is properly viewed on a spectrum. The trait is normally distributed in
the population, with most people scoring near the middle, and a few scoring at either extreme.
Pathological narcissism, in the form of narcissistic personality disorder, has always been rare and
remains so: It affects an estimated 1 percent of the population, a prevalence that hasn't changed since
clinicians started measuring it.

The disorder can be diagnosed only by a mental health professional and is suspected when a person's
narcissistic traits impair their daily functioning. That dysfunction typically causes friction in relationships
due to the pathological narcissist's lack of empathy. It may also manifest as antagonism, fueled by
grandiosity and attention-seeking. In seeing themselves as superior, the pathological narcissist naturally
views everyone else as inferior and may be intolerant of disagreement or questioning.
Notes :

Psychologist ( psychometrician , graduates ) is different form psychiatrist ( MEDICAL DOCTOR ;

M.D. )

Dysfunction – not functioning properly - mental dysfunction

On the rise – increases – INSTAGRAM , FACEBOOK , selfie, groufie – social media traits tend to make
narcissism popular or plenty - Emotional dysfunction - narcissistic dysfunction

We have a friction at work. We don’t too much to each other. – CONFLICT

MANIFEST – show as antagonism – against

Intolerant – they cannot tolerate

Pathological narcissistic – it’s in their GENES ; they were born with it ; these are the children of
models , actors actresses , K- pop culture – rare

Narcissism – developed thru time ; thru influence of friends and environment

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), developed by Robert Raskin and Calvin S. Hall in 1979, is the
most commonly used measure of the trait. Scores range from 0 to 40, with the average tending to fall in
the low to mid-teens. Healthy individuals who score somewhat higher on the trait may be perceived as
exceedingly charming, especially on first encounter, but eventually come across as vain. Such individuals
may have awkward or stressful personal encounters, but still have a fundamentally healthy personality.

Notes :

Immature – teenagers are still immature

NARCISSISM – NARCISSUS – A GREEK MYTHOLOGY – MYTH

What Is a Psychopath?

Psychopathy is characterized by the absence of empathy and the blunting of other affective states.
Callousness, detachment and a lack of empathy enable psychopaths to be highly manipulative.
Nevertheless, psychopathy is among the most difficult disorders to spot. Psychopaths can appear
normal, even charming. Underneath, they lack any semblance of conscience. Their antisocial nature
inclines them often (but by no means always) to criminality.

PSYCHOPATH – WORST DARK TRIAD

1. Antisocial – don’t like friends . don’t like people who don’t share the same interest – detached
from people

They choose to be alone most of the times.

2. They have killed a cat , a rat , or a small animal before. In their childhood, they like to hurt and
torture small animals .

RED FLAG – WARNING !!!!!!!!

3. Lack of empathy, lack of care, callous , don’t show emotions too much BUT they can deceive
thru their charms

4. When they are triggered/ angered , they can do a crime.

Psychopaths spark popular fascination and clinical anguish: Adult psychopathy is largely impervious to
treatment, though programs exist to treat callous, unemotional youth in hopes of preventing them from
maturing into psychopaths.

Septuagenarian – 70 years old ( adult psychopathy )

Incurable psychopath – impervious – cannot be capable of ; a blockage

The terms “psychopath” and “sociopath” are often used interchangeably, but in correct parlance a
“sociopath” refers to a person with antisocial tendencies that are ascribed to social or environmental
factors, whereas psychopathic traits are thought to be more innate. That said, a chaotic or violent
upbringing may tip the scales for those already predisposed to meanness and remorselessness of
psychopathy.

Sociopath – mild term used by the Americans

Sociopath – - antisocial ; innate ( inborn ) traits which are more antisocial ; chaotic ( full of disturbance ;
messy ) or violent upbringing
Parlance – in a particular or common word meaning
Tip the scales – may heighten / increase the possibility
Predisposed – accustomed to ; used to