the dark triad of personality narcissism machiavellianism and psychopathy in everyday life Download PDF - Zeindbook
the dark triad of personality narcissism machiavellianism and psychopathy in everyday life Download PDF
Author Book the dark triad of personality narcissism machiavellianism and psychopathy in everyday life : Minna Lyons
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Machiavellianism
Machiavelhanism has been a widely researched concept in social and person-ality psychology since the 1970 publication of Studies in Machiavellianism by Christie and Geis. The term originates from the 16th century philoso-pher, diplomat, and political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli, who advised leaders to use tactics of deceit in achieving their goals. In Fig. 1.2, Machi-avelli is portrayed by Santi di Tito, painted in the mid-part of the 16th century.
In one of Machiavelli's most famous essay, "The Prince" ("Il Principe"), Machiavelli discussed "conquest by criminal virtue," where he advised the prince that it would be wise to calculate the costs and benefits of cruel deeds (such as the execution of rivals) in an attempt to achieve more power. In one of his famous quotes, Machiavelli advised the prince to "... appear to be
compassionate, faithful to his word, guileless, and devout. And indeed he should be so. But his disposition should be such that, if he needs to be the opposite, he knows how." This quote crystallizes the core of Machia- vellianism as a personality trait-use of strategic manipulation flexibly in order to achieve one's own goals.
Indeed, individuals who score high on Machiavellianism (so-called High-Machs) are sensitive to social context and can switch between tactics of cooperation and competition when it is useful to do so (Czibor & Bereczkei, 2012). High-Machs endorse emotional manipulation, for exam- ple, playing two people off against each other, paying compliments to others in order to get in their "good books," or using emotional skills to make others feel guilty (Austin, Farrelly, Black, & Moore, 2007). It is of no surprise that individuals high in this trait can be successful in careers such as market- ing, business, and sales-fields of work where cool-headed decision making and strategic manipulation would help individuals to further their careers. There is some confusion about what Machiavellianism consists of, and
the theoretical base for this trait is not clear (e.g., Rauthnunn, 2013). Some researchers have claimed that Machiavellianism is not qualitatively different from psychopathy. Rather than a distinctive personality trait, Machiavelhanism could be a subclinical manifestation of psychopathy, only different in the degrees of severity (Mealey, 1995). However, many studies have found dis- tinctive differences between psychopathy and Machiavellianism, suggesting that they are better treated as separate personality traits. Further, it is possible that Machiavellianism is not a unidimensional, monolithic personality trait, but it may consist of several interrelated subcomponents. For example, Christie and Geis (1970) proposed that Machiavellianism consists of two traits: interpersonally manipulative tactics, and a cynical view of human nature. The tactics and views were confirmed in a recent large-scale cross-cultural study which also found that the tactics, but not the views dimension of Machiavellianism related to psychopathy (Monaghan, Bizumic, & Sellbom, 2018). Most studies on the Dark Triad have considered Machiavellianism as just one trait, which may have masked important dif- ferences between actual behavior and perceptions of others.
Narcissism
Narcissism is a well-studied concept in clinical, forensic, and personality lit- erature. Individuals high in narcissism are vain and grandiose. They have a heightened sense of entitlement, thinking that they deserve more than others
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because they are better than anybody else. The term "narcissism" derives from the story of Narcissus in Greek mythology, depicting Narcissus, a young man, who fell in love with his own reflection after seeing it in water. In the context of psychology literature, the idea came popular with the psy- choanalytical movement, and the publication of Sigmund Freud's essay "On Narcissism" in 1914.
According to Keith Campbell and colleagues (2011), it is useful to con- sider narcissism from three different points of view the self, the interper- sonal, and the strategies for self-regulation. First, the self-view of narcissistic individuals is characterized by feeling unique and special. The self-view relates to a sense of entitlement and a will to have power over others. Sec- ond, because of the uniqueness of the self, the interpersonal relationships of high narcissists are characterized by low empathy for others. Narcissistic individuals use other people as a tool for achieving their goals, resulting in shallow and exploitative interpersonal relationships. Third, narcissistic individuals use strategies for maintaining their grandiose self-views. They seek for attention and praise, ride on other people's achievements,and put themselves on the center of everything. When these strategies fail, nar- cissistic individuals may react with aggression and vengeance. When success- ful, narcissist thrives and may even achieve great goals in life.
Over the years, narcissism has been conceptualized in many different ways, depending partially on the instruments that have been used to measure it. For example, according to one idea, there are two, distinctive types of narcissism: grandiose and vulnerable (e.g., Miller et al., 2011). Individuals who are high on grandiose narcissism have elevated self-esteem, and aggres- sive, forceful, and dominant interpersonal styles. Those who are high on vul- nerable narcissism feel insecure and inadequate, and try to mask it from themselves and the rest of the world by faking grandiosity. Needless to say, those who have the features of domineering grandiose narcissism fare better than vulnerable narcissists.
Indeed, aspects of narcissism relate to leadership, charisma, and a willing- ness to dominate, which could lead to (at least) temporary career success. For example, studies on achievements of US presidents have indicated that those who are perceived as having traits of grandiose (but not vulnerable) narcis- sism have successful profiles in terms of crisis management, popularity, and number of initiatives (Watts et al., 2013). However, the authors also warned about the double-edged sword of narcissism, as the same presidents also engaged in detrimental unethical decision making. I will reviewPsychopathy
Psychopathy is perhaps the "darkest" of the Dark Triad traits. Psychopathy, more than the other two traits, has stronger associations with disregard for
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others, manifesting in disruptive interpersonal behaviors such as bullying (Baughman, Dearing, Giammarco, & Vernon, 2012) and sadism (Carton & Egan, 2017). This disregard for others is especially relevant in the criminal context. Those high on psychopathy are more likely to exhibit criminal activity, varying from small everyday crimes (such as opportunistic shoplifting; Lyons & Jonson, 2015) to having a chronically criminal life-
style, leading to imprisonment and high levels of recidivism. The existence of individuals who show deviant behavior and no regard for others has been acknowledged for a long time. Psychopathy was prob- ably noted first within the context of psychology by Philippe Pinel in the 1800s, where he used the term "mania without delirium" to describe indi- viduals who engage in morally questionable, deviant behavior without obvious signs of cognitive disturbances. Cleckley published the "Mask of Sanity," in 1941, which has become a historical landmark outlining case studies on psychopathic personalities. In his book, Cleckley discusses the ability of psychopaths to outwardly mimic a normally functioning individ- ual, having the skill to mask their mental illness. Psychopathy is also acknowledged in other cultures. Anthropologist Jane M.Murphy (1976) interviewed Inuit people in the Bering strait, who had invented the term "kunlangeta" to men who lie, cheat, steal, take sexual advantage of women, and do not care about punishments. Apparently, the Inuit way of dealing with these socially deviant individuals was to quietly push them off the ice.
Psychopathy is unlikely to be a monolith construct but may consist of several subcomponents. There are still debates about what the factors of psy- chopathy are. The findings vary from study to study, often depending on the scale that is used to assess psychopathy. Theories and empirical evidence has suggested four-, three-, and two-factor models. For example, according to the triarchic model, psychopathy comprises of boldness, meanness, and dis- inhibition (Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009). The two-factor model divides psychopathy into primary (Factor 1) and secondary (Factor 2) psy- chopathy. Primary psychopathy involves interpersonal and affective factors, such as coldness and callous manipulation, whereas secondary psychopathy is more about risky, impulsive behaviors.Primary psychopathy has also been named as the "successful" psychopathy, as having low guilt and empathy could be a great tool for achieving power in the society. Secondary psychop- athy, in turn, is the "unsuccessful" psychopathy facet, leading to crime and imprisonment rather than a career in the parliament. the litera- ture on the Dark Triad and career success in more detail in Chapter 6.
Psychopathy
Psychopathy is perhaps the "darkest" of the Dark Triad traits. Psychopathy, more than the other two traits, has stronger associations with disregard for
The Dark Triad of Personality
12
others, manifesting in disruptive interpersonal behaviors such as bullying (Baughman, Dearing, Giammarco, & Vernon, 2012) and sadism (Carton & Egan, 2017). This disregard for others is especially relevant in the criminal context. Those high on psychopathy are more likely to exhibit criminal activity, varying from small everyday crimes (such as opportunistic shoplifting; Lyons & Jonson, 2015) to having a chronically criminal life-
style, leading to imprisonment and high levels of recidivism. The existence of individuals who show deviant behavior and no regard for others has been acknowledged for a long time. Psychopathy was prob- ably noted first within the context of psychology by Philippe Pinel in the 1800s, where he used the term "mania without delirium" to describe indi- viduals who engage in morally questionable, deviant behavior without obvious signs of cognitive disturbances. Cleckley published the "Mask of Sanity," in 1941, which has become a historical landmark outlining case studies on psychopathic personalities. In his book, Cleckley discusses the ability of psychopaths to outwardly mimic a normally functioning individ- ual, having the skill to mask their mental illness. Psychopathy is also acknowledged in other cultures. Anthropologist Jane M.Murphy (1976) interviewed Inuit people in the Bering strait, who had invented the term "kunlangeta" to men who lie, cheat, steal, take sexual advantage of women, and do not care about punishments. Apparently, the Inuit way of dealing with these socially deviant individuals was to quietly push them off the ice.
Psychopathy is unlikely to be a monolith construct but may consist of several subcomponents. There are still debates about what the factors of psy- chopathy are. The findings vary from study to study, often depending on the scale that is used to assess psychopathy. Theories and empirical evidence has suggested four-, three-, and two-factor models. For example, according to the triarchic model, psychopathy comprises of boldness, meanness, and dis- inhibition (Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009). The two-factor model divides psychopathy into primary (Factor 1) and secondary (Factor 2) psy- chopathy. Primary psychopathy involves interpersonal and affective factors, such as coldness and callous manipulation, whereas secondary psychopathy is more about risky, impulsive behaviors.Primary psychopathy has also been named as the "successful" psychopathy, as having low guilt and empathy could be a great tool for achieving power in the society. Secondary psychop- athy, in turn, is the "unsuccessful" psychopathy facet, leading to crime and imprisonment rather than a career in the parliament.
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