How “dark” are the Dark Triad traits? Examining the perceived darkness of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy

The current work investigates the perceived “darkness” of the Dark Triad traits narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. We argue that a trait’s “darkness” may be evaluated by lay persons with three criteria (desirability, consequences for the self, consequences for others) from two perspectives (others vs. self). A sample of n = 213 participants evaluated Dark Triad behaviors (Dirty Dozen: (Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2010). The Dirty Dozen: A concise measure of the Dark Triad. Psychological Assessment, 22, 420–432)) on these evaluation dimensions. Findings yielded that narcissism was evaluated as “brighter” than Machiavellianism and psychopathy in lay people’s perceptions, whereas the latter were rated quite similarly. Findings are discussed regarding the distinction of the Dark Triad traits in people’s perceptions.

► Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy = The DARK Triad. ► Presents six evaluation dimensions for assessing a trait’s “darkness”. ► Lay people’s (N = 213) ratings as a function of trait × criterion × perspective. ► Narcissism is judged “brighter” than Machiavellianism and psychopathy.