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The Dark Triad
Are we creating more deviant social traits?
In 2002, psychologists Delroy Paulhus, Ph. D., and Kevin M. Williams, Ph. coined the term “Dark Triad.” I first came across the term while watching a video on YouTube by Jordan Peterson.
The term refers to three distinct but related personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. The traits overlap to some degree. For example, a common trait is the manipulation of others for one’s personal gain. The term “dark” also suggests various degrees of malevolence common to all three.
What led to this concept of a “Dark Triad?” Are these personality traits so common now that we need to focus on them? Does our modern political, economic, and social system encourage those traits more than we would like? After all we want to encourage especially our young people to have empathy and show compassion and kindness.
Let us look a bit more closely at each component of the “Dark Triad.”
Machiavellianism is named after Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it means “cunning, scheming, and duplicitous behavior.” Machiavellian behavior is characterized by an intense focus on personal gain, manipulation of others to achieve it, and low levels of morality.
