Well-being and the Dark Triad

• Relations of Dark Triad with eudaimonic and hedonic well-being were investigated.
• Narcissism was positively correlated with both variants of well-being.
• Psychopathy was negatively correlated with both variants of well-being.
• Machiavellianism was generally unrelated to well-being.
• Dark Triad significantly predicted well-being beyond HEXACO personality factors.

Much of the research in the last few years has linked the Dark Triad traits (narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) to negative outcomes. In a sample of Polish undergraduate students, we examined how the Dark Triad traits differ in their relationships with eudaimonic and hedonic well-being. Narcissism was positively related to both variants of well-being, and after controlling for its shared variance with the other two dark traits its relations to well-being outcomes have noticeably increased. While psychopathy was related to lower levels of both eudaimonic and hedonic well-being, Machiavellianism was generally unrelated to well-being outcomes. The Dark Triad managed to predict unique variance in most of well-being scales, beyond broad personality factors. This research, depicting independent contributions of the Dark Triad traits to eudaimonic and hedonic well-being, suggested that having a sub-clinical narcissistic personality is helpful for living a good, full functioning life, and may even be useful for well-being of others.