Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism are the three traits that make up the so-called “dark triad of personality.” Recently, a team of researchers explored how people with high levels of such traits conceive of happiness, its nature, value, causes, and consequences; and found that people high in Machiavellian and psychopathic traits endorse conceptions of happiness that undermine well-being. And, on the other hand, they found that people with narcissistic personality traits support conceptions of happiness that promote well-being (Joshanloo, 2021).
Basically, psychopathy encompasses characteristics such as being selfish, callous, lacking remorse, and antisocial. For its part, Machiavellianism refers to being manipulative, having low morals and exploiting others. Finally, being excessively proud of oneself, vain and with a big ego, in addition to demonstrating little empathy, are narcissistic traits.
What methodology did they use?
To examine the relationship between the dark triad, experienced well-being, and a large set of conceptions of happiness, and how they determine levels of well-being, the team of researchers conducted a study involving 1,177 Koreans, who completed well-being assessments. psychological and dark triad personality traits. They also completed: the Fear of Happiness Scale, the Externality of Happiness Scale, the Fragility of Happiness Scale, the Transformative Suffering Scale, the Inflexibility of Happiness Scale, the Happiness Assessment Scale, the Inclusive Happiness Scale and the Eudemonism and Hedonism Scale.
What did you find
The researchers found that dark triad traits influence well-being in part by promoting certain ideas about it; In other words, people with high levels of dark triad traits tend to endorse or not endorse certain beliefs about well-being that, in and of themselves, enhance or undermine well-being.
Specifically, they found that Machiavellianism and psychopathy were negatively associated with well-being, meaning that individuals with more Machiavellian and/or psychopathic traits tended to report lower life satisfaction, more negative affect, and fewer positive relationships. This association is partly explained by the fact that Machiavellianism and psychopathy were associated with endorsement of conceptions of happiness that tend to undermine well-being, such as the belief that happiness is fleeting or that it can lead to bad things.
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The authors explain that such people value and seek happiness, but have doubts about its consequences and how much control they will have over it. These people may take a competitive approach to achieving happiness, and achieving happiness may even cause problems (for example, happiness may induce a sense of rivalry or envy in others). These notions of well-being are compatible with the selfish, nihilistic and cynical aspects of Machiavellianism and psychopathy, accompanied by the perception that the world is a hostile and competitive place.
On the other hand, scoring high on narcissism was associated with greater well-being. In part it can be explained by the fact that narcissism was associated with conceptions of happiness that tend to promote well-being. The authors point out that previous research has also shown positive links between narcissism and well-being. Furthermore, the narcissism scale used in this study predominantly measures the relatively adaptive characteristics of narcissism (e.g., grandiosity and positive self-esteem), leaving aside the more maladaptive characteristics (e.g., exploitation and narcissistic fragility), which may inflate associations with well-being. Second, narcissists show a tendency toward socially desirable responding and self-enhancement biases (see John and Robins, 1994; Kowalski et al., 2018), which may affect their responses to well-being questions.
This is a cross-sectional study, so inferences of causality cannot be made. Furthermore, it is necessary to replicate their results in samples from other countries.
Bibliographic reference: Joshanloo, M. (2021). Conceptions of Happiness Mediate the Relationship Between the Dark Triad and Well-Being. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 643351. https://doi.org/
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