The Dark Triad and Interpersonal Perception: Similarities and Differences in the Social Consequences of Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy

Abstract

The subclinical Dark Triad traits narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy ( Paulhus & Williams, 2002 ) are related to antagonistic behaviors in interpersonal situations. The current study addresses whether these three traits entail different social consequences by investigating self-ratings, ratings of others, and ratings by others for the Dark Triad. In a naturalistic setting, 93 informal, minimally acquainted student dyads worked briefly on a cooperative task and subsequently provided self- and other- ratings on the Big Five and intelligence, self-ratings on the Dark Triad, and ratings on properties of the interaction. Overall, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy manifested differently: profile analyses indicated that Machiavellians diverged from narcissists and psychopaths in self-ratings, ratings of others, and ratings by others, while narcissists and psychopaths converged to a moderate degree. Findings are discussed regarding the distinction of the Dark Triad traits.