Are some people born cruel? Learn about the Dark Triangle

Dark Triangle

First, let me introduce this theory. It was proposed by psychologists Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams in 2002. It says that narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism constitute the "dark triangle" in human nature.

Let's talk about Machiavelli first. The name comes from Machiavelli, a philosopher and politician in the Italian Renaissance. He wrote a famous book, which I guess you and I have heard of but not read, namely "The Prince". However, the concept of Machiavelli was actually invented by psychologist Richard Christie and others 50 years ago. Its main characteristics are: it believes that the key to success lies in manipulating and exploiting others, and that it does not care about morality or principles in order to achieve its goals. At the same time, it believes that people are selfish and does not believe in the sincerity and beauty of human nature.

Let's talk about narcissism and psychopathy. These two words should be familiar to everyone. Narcissism refers to conceit, a unique sense of superiority, and always thinking that you are superior to others and should enjoy privileges that ordinary people cannot enjoy.

Psychopathy can be said to be the scariest part of the dark triangle. Its characteristics are: high impulsiveness, pursuit of excitement, and lack of empathy. What is lack of empathy? In simple terms, it means that you cannot feel other people's feelings. Even if you see others in pain, you don't feel anything in your heart. This is also the most important characteristic of psychopathy.

So why put these three things together and make them debut as a group? Wouldn't it be better to let them fly solo? This is because psychological research has found that there is a positive correlation between these three traits. In addition, although they are different, they have some common characteristics, such as varying degrees of emotional indifference and a certain degree of aggression towards others.

It should be emphasized here that the "Dark Triangle" personality theory does not study extreme psychological abnormalities (such as serial killers), but its scope of discussion is actually the general public, that is, everyone present. In other words, the Dark Triangle exists in each of us - each of us is more or less narcissistic, a little bit psychopathic, and a little Machiavellian, it's just a matter of degree.

Dirty Dozen

This is a 12-question questionnaire called the Dirty Dozen, developed by psychologists Peter Jonason and Gregory Webster.

The rules are as follows: For the following statements, select 1 if you strongly disagree, 2 if you somewhat disagree, 3 if you slightly disagree, 4 if you are neutral, 5 if you somewhat agree, 6 if you somewhat agree, and 7 if you strongly agree.

Dirty Dozen

1. I tend to manipulate others to achieve my own goals.

2. I don’t usually blame myself or feel regretful.

3. I want others to admire me.

4. I don’t care much about whether my actions are ethical.

5. I have used fraud or lying to get what I want.

6. I am rather cold and indifferent to other people’s feelings.

7. I have used compliments to get what I want.

8. I tend to seek fame or status.

9. I tend to believe that everyone is selfish and I am skeptical about human nature.

10. I use others to achieve my own goals.

11. I expect special treatment from others.

12. I want others to notice me.

The score is simple to calculate, just add up the answers to each question to get a total. In a study by Webster, the average score of participants was around 36 points, with most people between 33-39 points, and if the score is over 45 points, it can be considered... very dark.

However, it must be added here that the self-test results are for reference only and cannot replace professional evaluation. Due to various factors such as age, country, and culture, the test results of different groups may vary.

In addition, in addition to calculating the total score, this questionnaire can also calculate the scores of three items separately, with four questions in each item - narcissism is questions 3, 8, 11, and 12; psychopathy is questions 2, 4, 6, and 9; Machiavellianism is questions 1, 5, 7, and 10.

What are the characteristics of people with high darkness?

The "Dark Triangle" personality theory has attracted much attention since its introduction. Over the past decade, hundreds of papers have been published on related research. Among them, one question that psychologists are very interested in is: What are the characteristics of those who score high in the "Dark Triangle" test in their daily lives? Here are two aspects that you may be most interested in.

The first is of course mating behavior (huh? Why do I say of course...). Uh, I'm not using vulgar words here... This is the original word in the paper - mating behavior. Studies have found that people with high dark scores are more inclined to adopt short-term mating strategies; in addition, they are more likely to cheat and mess with other people's partners. Among them, psychopaths are more impulsive and aggressive; while Machiavellians are more restrained and strategic in maintaining a relationship.

Oh, by the way, in a large number of relevant studies, men's dark triangle scores are always higher than women's. (Huh? Why do I mention this here...)

Next, let's talk about school performance. As we all know, as the flowers of the motherland, we receive education for two main purposes: one is to acquire knowledge, and the other is to evaluate the potential of each student (that is, exams). People with high dark scores are more likely to take shortcuts for the second purpose. Of course, the ways they take shortcuts are also different - psychopaths are more likely to cheat in exams and copy other people's papers; while Machiavellians are more likely to plagiarize articles. This is also easy to understand, because copying papers happens in an instant, while plagiarizing articles requires a certain degree of planning and self-control.

Nature or nurture?

Finally, I wonder if you are curious about a question: Why are some people's hearts as black as Bao Gong's face, while some people's hearts are as white as freshly baked steamed buns? Why are there so many differences between people? Is this innate or acquired? Can it be changed?

Regarding this issue, psychologists tell us that narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism all have a large number of genetic factors, and only Machiavellianism has a large number of acquired factors at the same time, which can be shaped by life experiences. Current research shows that adolescents aged 11-17 can already show obvious dark triangle personality traits.

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Script/Director: Cai Siyi

Videographer: Tian Yu

Later stage: Huang Xianfeng

Appearance: Cai Siyi, Duan Chen, Han Zijie

References

[1] Paulhus DL, Williams K M. The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy[J]. Journal of research in personality, 2002, 36(6): 556-563.

[2] Jonason PK, Webster G D. The dirty dozen: A concise measure of the dark triad[J]. Psychological assessment, 2010, 22(2): 420.

[3] Furnham A, Richards SC, Paulhus D L. The Dark Triad of personality: A 10 year review[J]. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2013, 7(3): 199-216.

[4] Webster GD, Jonason P K. Putting the “IRT” in “Dirty”: Item Response Theory analyzes of the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen—An efficient measure of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism[J]. Personality and Individual Differences, 2013, 54(2): 302-306.

[5] Psychology Today. Shedding Light on Psychology's Dark Triad. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201301/shedding-light-psychology-s-dark-triad