Are we humans really completely different? Or are there certain traits that shape a personality? Personality models assume that people can be classified according to a limited set of characteristics.
In 2002, the psychologists Paulhus and Williams developed the so-called dark triad personality concept. These people are therefore characterized by narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. In her publication, Barbara Tiefenbacher presents these three types and explains which properties characterize each of them.
She is applying the concept to the private sphere for the first time. How are partnerships formed with these social predators? Can they function successfully or in the long term? Tiefenbacher shows which qualities should complement each other in a happy couple relationship.
From the content:
- Love;
- Career;
- Psychology;
- Partnership;
- Dependency
Table of contents
Foreword
Abstract
1 Introduction
1.1 Problem statement
1.2 method
2 Definition of the Dark Power of the Triad
2.1 Example James Bond
2.2 Introduction to the three forms of the dark triad
2.3 Gender differences
3 Individual fault patterns
3.1 Narcissism
3.2 Machiavellianism
3.3 Psychopathy
4 Partnership relations with social predators
4.1 Love and the Dark Triad
4.2 Short-term relationship
4.3 Long-term relationship
4.4 The Dark Triad in Correlation with Dependent Personalities
5 Conclusion and outlook
6 Bibliography
Foreword
The present bachelor thesis "The Dark Power of the Triad – Partnership Relationships with Social Predators" was written as part of my psychotherapy studies at the Sigmund Freud University in Vienna.
I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Anna Jank very much. She was immediately ready to get involved in the topic and supported me.
The idea for my work came from my interest in abnormal phenomena in psychology. I once came across the concept of the dark power of the triad by chance through research on the Internet. I was immediately fascinated and kept this discovery in mind. In the course of my bachelor thesis, I decided to take up this topic and to deal with it in more detail.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents, who made my studies possible in the first place and whose support and support I can always count on.
Vienna, August 2018
Abstract
The personality model of the Triad, which includes narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy, has been given more and more attention in recent years, especially when it comes to professional and economic life. The social predators strive for success, power and achievement and are characterized by an exploitative character. In this bachelor thesis, the focus is placed on interpersonal relationships and the following research question is asked: How do partnerships with social predators develop and can they be successful or not? To answer this, a literature search was carried out, which includes several current studies. It turns out that people of the dark triad can be quite successful in short-term relationships, while that is not the case with long-term connections. Furthermore, a positive correlation with dependent personalities could be observed. On this basis, it is advisable to conduct further research to anchor the concept of the dark triad in the consciousness of society.
The personality concept of the dark triad consisting of Narcissism, Machiavellianism and Psychopathy gained a lot of attention during the last couple of years, especially when it comes to working and economic life. The social predators seek success, power, as well as performance and have an exploitative character. The bachelor paper is focusing on interpersonal relationships. The research question is: Can amorous relationships of social predators be successful? To answer that, a literature research was conducted including a couple of current studies on the subject. It turned out that short-term relationships could be successful whereas long-term relationships are often doomed to fail. Furthermore a positive correlation between people of the dark triad and people with a dependent personality structure has been established. Based on these results it would be recommended to conduct further research to increase awareness on this topic.
1 Introduction
1.1 Problem statement
"Also, men are so simple-minded, obey the hardships of the moment, that the deceiver will always find One who allows himself to be deceived"
Niccolò Machiavelli (Holzinger 2013, p. 45)
People who belong to the dark triad want to deceive. This is not a sect, but the three personality traits narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. These manifestations have dark facets and together an antisocial core. In the foreground is always the personal benefit, which they constantly strive for, whatever the cost. The personality concept is very young, it was founded in 2002 by two English-speaking psychologists, Paulhus and Williams. As a result, there is still no wide-ranging literature on this phenomenon, as can be found, for example, in the topic of depression. Unfortunately, the books, articles and forum discussions that can be found often only shed light on one aspect: managerial staff. Studies have been carried out for this and confirm that people who belong to the dark triad often sit on boardrooms. The first really well-founded German-language work on the subject is called: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy in organizations. The fact that on the one hand it was only published in 2018 and on the other hand has exactly this career-heavy aspect in the foreground, confirms my observations. Most of the literature to date is about people of the dark triad using power and manipulation, or behaving recklessly, self-centeredly and deceitfully in order to reach their goal quickly. In most cases, they strive for a rapid career advancement – which they succeed. The reason why one should beware of these social predators is the danger that they can seem very charming, refreshing and charismatic to outsiders. You will be dazzled by its shiny surface. The warning mechanisms are switched off at the other person and unfortunately this is often only noticed when it is already too late. This is the key phrase for interest in the topic. In this work, I would like to differentiate myself from the economic field and focus on the interpersonal relationships between people with a relatively high healthy proportion and people of the dark triad. Specifically, I would like to shed light on the love or partnership relationships, as I am very interested in whether such connections can be successful or not. My assumption is that the social predators even succeed in a partnership due to their talent for manipulation in order to be able to get their personal advantage out of the relationship. The benefit of my work is to develop awareness of the dark triad in order to be able to protect oneself. While mindfulness is essential in professional life on the one hand, I think it is also important to increase awareness in private life. I have often read in exchange forums on the Internet: "If I had known about this phenomenon earlier, I would have saved myself a lot." This confirms to me that there is still a lot of clarification needed and this is the goal of my work.
1.2 method
I decided to write a literary paper. The point of contact for this was the Main Library on the Gürtel, as well as the Department Library of Psychology of the University of Vienna for more subject-specific works. For the search for studies or English-language articles, the Internet was a helpful source. I have done extensive research and decided to divide the work, in addition to the section of the definition, into two large chapters in order to educate the reader about this topic in the best possible way. The first chapter deals with the personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. The explanations should help to get a holistic understanding of the dark power of the Triad and the knowledge of how to identify such people. The second chapter deals with the topic: "partnership relations with social predators" and thus forms the core. Afterwards, the results will be discussed.
2 Definition of the Dark Power of the Triad
2.1 Example James Bond
"My name is Bond. James Bond." Under this name lives the probably most famous secret agent in the world. Unscrupulous, manipulative and stubborn are three qualities that best describe James Bond. He has not only his enemies, but also countless women's hearts on his conscience. His goal must be achieved, whatever the cost. Decency is alien to him. He overlooks the wishes and needs of his fellow human beings, as he is only interested in himself and his own advantage. Despite all this, he has good manners and knows how to behave. James Bond is charming and polite. He does not mob or become abusive (Jiménez 2015).
The Australian social psychologist Peter Jonason describes in a study that James Bond is the prime example of the dark power of the Triad. Consequently, this topic has been referred to as a "James Bond Psychology" (Jonasan et al. 2010, p. 2). A mysterious, tempting, yet quite dangerous combination of the three personality traits narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Jonason attributes high values to the secret agent in all three forms. Narcissism can be found in his fascination with expensive cars, suits and watches. Its appearance is very important to him, the tie must always fit correctly even after taking out an enemy. The Machiavellian part can be found in its strong focus, directed towards a goal and the will to achieve it with all strength and effort. The psychopathic trait can be described as the "licence to kill", the most emotionless way of harming or even killing people who stand in its way and prevent it from its goal. James Bond symbolizes both the charisma and the incredible power and determination, as well as potential danger. The secret agent is a pure form of the dark power of the Triad, which is extremely rare in reality (Jiménez 2015).
2.2 Introduction to the three forms of the dark triad
Canadian psychologists Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams developed the concept of the dark triad in 2002. Their study deals with properties in the subclinical area. This means that these are personality traits that we interact with in everyday life and that are not clinically relevant. The results prove that narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy are highly correlated (Paulhus and Williams 2002, p. 2). Although all three manifestations have different characteristics, some of which also have opposing components, there is a fundamental commonality, namely the antisocial core. This is consistent self-interest (Externbrink and Keil 2017, p. 3).
This triad often appears in organizations, especially in leadership positions. Their fearlessness and unscrupulousness, lack of empathy and exploitation of interpersonal relationships make people climb the career ladder relatively quickly. Due to their manipulative behavior and their lack of decency, they quickly get what they want – also because everyone else acts too much and no one stops them. People who have parts of the dark triad are extroverted, open and extremely self-confident, whereas dutifulness is not one of their strengths. They are very individual, willing to take risks and competitive. Exactly these qualities are a prerequisite in high positions (Jiménez 2015).
Narcissism is about grandiose overconfidence and arrogance. Narcissists distort themselves after admiration and react sensitively to criticism, otherwise they come into contact with their self-esteem problems. People who have a high Machiavellian share are manipulative, assertive and have no compassion for their environment. Machiavellists set their own rules and, if necessary, also act morally reprehensible. Psychopathy is the darkest facet of the Triad. They, too, act recklessly, but are not afraid of consequences. They are impulsive, cold-blooded and have great potential for crime (emvio GmbH 2017).
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Figure The core of the dark triad
If one uses the model of the Big Five in this context, it is interesting to question whether and how the dark triad correlates with the other personality traits. The five-factor model, or Big Five, is a design of personality psychology. The development of this concept began as early as the 1930s. Louis Leon Thurstone, Gordon W. Allport and Henry Sebastian Odbert founded a lexical approach (HeLv 2012). This means that personality traits are reflected in the language. Based on lists of over 18,000 terms, five independent and stable elements were found through factor analyses: Extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, neuroticism (emotional lability or vulnerability) and compatibility. All three have low tolerance – narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy – in common, as helpfulness, striving for harmony, compassionate and understanding behavior, and indulgency are foreign words to them. Narcissists, for example, have a strong self-attention or self-centeredness, unless they want to be confirmed by other people for their grandiosity. The goal of their highly personalized power motive is to perceive their own supposed strength and greatness. Accordingly, narcissistic personalities are very extraverted, open and are often described as charismatic (Externbrink and Keil 2018, pp. 16-18). Psychopaths exhibit impulsive and unpredictable behavior. They are cold and characterized by a rigid, tactical behavior, which should fulfill their wishes as quickly as possible. For this reason, there is a negative correlation with the characteristics of conscientiousness and neuroticism. Machiavellianism is associated with immoral intentions aimed at gaining money, power, and status. They use interpersonal manipulation to achieve their long-term goals, which are in the foreground. They can control their feelings very well and therefore have good self-discipline (Furtner and Baldegger 2016, p. 19).
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Figure Correlation between the Big Five and the Dark Triad
Looking at the dark triad using the HEXACO model ("Big Six"), it can be seen that people with relatively high values of the dark triad achieve low results on the honesty-modesty dimension (Lee and Ashton 2005). In doing so, they also show tendencies towards fraud and deception in highly sensitive matters, because a successful liar involves more than just the intention to tell untruths (Externbrink and Keil 2018, pp. 16-18).
Another example, besides James Bond, is the American bank manager Richard Fuld, the last chairman of the investment bank Lehman Brothers and the longest-serving director of Wall Street. When he started as an intern at the company, he quickly made a name for himself. He quickly rose position by position to CEO and earned the nickname "Gorilla" because of his ongoing outbursts of rage. Fuld helped the company to profits in the millions. In 1997, the company's profit was $48 million, of which $46 million was used to reward senior management and only two million for employees in lower positions. This enormous increase in profits was associated with incalculable risks. In an internal speech in 2007, he fired against "short-sellers" who harmed his company: "If we get this right today, I hope we'll squeeze some of those shorts, and squeeze 'em hard. Not that I wanna hurt 'em, don't get that please, cause that's just not who I am. I am soft, I am loveable. But what I really wanna do, is, I wanna reach in, rip out their heart and eat it before they die" (Externbrink and Keil 2018, p. 2).
The higher the position, the less critical you become. But this is exactly where the mistake lies. In the lower floors of a company, there are other criteria for personnel selection, while in high floors, which actually entail much more responsibility, "laissez-faire" is acted. People of the dark triad quickly make it to the top and are then no longer questioned. As a result, the self-image is distorted into the overly positive, as realistic or honest feedback becomes increasingly rare the higher you have worked your way up the hierarchy (Jiménez 2015).
Those who are within the subclinical range of the dark triad are able to lead a far more inconspicuous and adapted life. That is precisely the dangerous thing. For one thing, adaptability makes it so difficult to identify the triad. Due to the manipulative behavior and the pleasant charm that these people exude, the true character only appears over a certain period of time. Usually when it is already too late and you have already "fallen for" them. Narcissists initially upgrade their counterpart and thus convey a benevolent feeling. Psychopaths, on the other hand, initially seem refreshing, attractive, problem-free and uncomplicated. These are all qualities that help to eliminate the warning mechanisms of the other person and to pursue their actual intention – to ruthlessly exploit people for their advantage. On the other hand, these are personality traits that each person carries in different forms. There is therefore no absolute zero. Narcissistic tendencies as well as a positive self-image or a "psychopathic" risk awareness can be beneficial in some situations (May 2015).
2.3 Gender differences
Since the previous examples were men, it is interesting to question whether these character traits can also be found in women. Is one of the sexes more often affected in relation to the dark triad or ex aequo? In recent years, the interest in dark personalities has increased enormously. Although countless reports have been written about the Dark Triad, there are few well-founded scientific studies on the subject.
Basically, it can be said that results at the subclinical level are missing. However, one can rely on clinical practice to get a first overview. It is important to take a closer look at findings on characteristics and associated behaviors of the sexes. With regard to this approach, sooner or later one is confronted with the question of "typically male" and "typically female" character traits (Externbrink and Kai 2018, p. 20). In recent years, it has been found, largely independent of the test instrument used, that men have significantly higher narcissistic, Machiavellian and psychopathic manifestations than women (O'Boyle et al. 2012; Jonason et al. 2009; Jonason and Tost 2010). The study "A gender role view of the dark triad traits" (Jonason and Davis 2018) confirms exactly this thesis.
With regard to the biosocial approach and the social distribution of roles, women still face prejudices. In the professional context, these are aspects such as quarrelsomeness, lack of crisis resistance, weakness in negotiations and difficulties in separating ratio from Emotio. However, if they behave "typically male", i.e. assertively, self-confidently and dominantly, they have to struggle with the so-called backlash effect. This phenomenon states that women who behave more masculine face social rejection. For example, women who highlight their skills in job interviews are less likely to be hired because this does not meet the role-compliant expectations and they seem artificial and not authentic (Externbrink and Keil 2018, pp. 22-23).
Of course, this is about tendentious results. There are certainly so-called alpha women who are represented in management positions. In such cases, they have the same high characteristics in all dimensions of the dark triad as their male counterparts. If one contrasts the results of the study "Think-Manager-Consider Female" (Mai et al. 2016) on female executives with those of average women from the general population, it becomes clear that female top managers act uncharacteristically female. Women in management positions are therefore more extroverted, emotionally stable, less tolerated, more conscientious, more creative, and much more narcissistic. However, these women are still in the minority (Büttgen and May 2016). In Austria, the proportion of women in management was 7.2% in 2017 (Statista GmbH o.J.) Especially with this aspect, it was challenging to obtain information, as there is almost no basic literature on it yet. I have gained clarity with English studies on this topic. In general, it can be said that working with the dark triad is a delicate matter. According to business psychologists Kai Externbrink and Moritz Keil, it is challenging for the following four reasons: First, the theme is spectacular. Second, much is published on this, which at the same time brings the challenge of distinguishing between evidence-based and non-evidence-based results. Thirdly, we must not tend towards simplification. There are opposing findings and conceptual inconsistencies that need to be explored and not simplified. Fourth, the dark power of the Triad is relevant to practice (Externbrink and Keil 2018, p. VII). The social predators can be encountered in daily life and it may well be that you have to deal with one in the immediate vicinity (for example, with a superior or partner of a family member). For this reason, findings must be carefully checked before they are generalized. It is a deeply complex construct that still offers a broad field of research.
3 Individual fault patterns
"A Narcissist, a Psychopath and a Machiavellian walk into a Bar. The bartender asks, who has the darkest personality out of you three? The Narcissist says 'me', the Psychopath says: 'I don't care', and the Mach says 'It's whoever I want it to be.'"
Raj Chopra (2013)
In addition to these three manifestations of the dark power of the triad, there is another differentiation in psychology, namely the term dark tetrad, which also includes sadism. Together, the four components correlate highly with each other, which can lead to the formation of a destructive and exploitative personality strategy (emvio GmbH 2017).
In the following chapter, I will now discuss the individual manifestations and shed light on aspects of disease. This should contribute to a holistic understanding and facilitate the demarcation to the subclinical area.
3.1 Narcissism
3.1.1 Greek Mythology – Legend of Narcissy
The term narcissism goes back to ancient Greek mythology, the legend of Narcissus. Narcissus is the son of the river god Kephissos and the water nymph Leiriope. After the birth of her beautiful son, his mother visited the fortune teller Teiresias to find out if Narcissus was granted a long, happy life. He replied: "Until he meets himself." Leiriope could do little with this statement and paid no further attention to it. Due to his beauty and incredible appeal, Narcissism was often courted by girls as well as by young people, which he always rudely rejected due to his arrogance. One day he came to a spring and wanted to quench his thirst. When he leaned over it and saw his own reflection in the reflection, he was so attracted to it that he did not realize that it was himself. While trying to approach the reflection in the water, with which Narcissus immediately fell in love, he rushed in and drowned (Lengersdorf 2017).
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Figure The Legend of narcissistics
The narcissistic unconsciously separates his self from the self. This means that he builds up an ideal image of himself for which he lives. More precisely, the body is just an object that should help it to create a perfect image. The ideal image is not coupled with the true, inner impulses and only serves to cultivate and enlarge the ego (Grüttefien 2016). This metaphor illustrates the term narcissism.
3.1.2 The love for oneself
"Other people exist to admire me." This is how narcissists can be described in one sentence. They leave a very positive first impression, as they can impress with charisma, attractiveness, charm, humor and eloquence. They long to be noticed, admired and respected. However, they are often vain, exhibitionist and arrogant. Narcissism means much more than simple self-love, because it is rather about the inner relation to the self (Lengersdorf 2017). They yearn for recognition and attention and are primarily looking for fans. One could also describe them as self-centered people with a thirst for recognition. Narcissists have the following characteristics: exaggerated self-confidence, striving for attention and dominance, lack of will to include the feelings of others in their decisions, as well as a certain restlessness (May 2014). One's own person is excessively overrated, while all other persons are devalued. However, if you look behind the façade, you notice that the superficial self-love overplays deep-seated insecurity. The apparently too big ego turns out to be a lack of self-esteem. Narcissists feel very quickly rejected and offended (Paradisi editorial team 2011). Out of this fear, they avoid situations that could shake the image of their own person.
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