Dark Personality Traits and Manipulation

Social Interaction

• Manipulation involves intentionally altering, changing, or exploiting others.
• Harmful manipulation uses malevolent intent to exploit or harm others.
• Dark personality traits often involve manipulative behaviours.
• Subclinical tendencies are not criminal but demonstrate personality traits associated with harmful manipulation.
• The Dark Triad (D3) consists of Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy.
• Callosities in the Dark Triad are characterized by a lack of empathy.
• Subclinical psychopathy has characteristics including impulsiveness, erratical behaviours, lacking self-control, and reckless thrill-seeking, antisocial behaviour, and hard tactics (comparable to Machiavellianism).
• Dark triad characteristics involve self-deception, self-enhancement, and an imperviousness (tend to be liked). Machiavellianism aims to achieve goals without regard for means.
• Machiavellianism involves mastering manipulation and having a clinical worldview with calculating, amoral strategic tactics (compliments).
• Narcissistic personality traits include grandiosity, selfishness, and entitlement.
• Narcissism shows a tendency to have a high sense of self-importance and entitlement.
• Psychopathy is associated with both soft/hard manipulation tactics.
• Self-report psychopathy questionnaire examples include admitting to often "mouthing off", and having tricked others for personal gain. There is a negative correlation with impression management, meaning the individuals might not respond or report their bad behaviour.
• Empirical research shows psychopaths lie, cheat, and aggress, and report a wider range of misdemeanors. Narcissistic individuals self-enhance and react aggressively to ego threats. Machivellians tend to plagiarize essays and avoid risky situations.
• Dark Tetrad includes Machiavellianism, Narcissism, Everyday Sadism, and Psychopathy, with calousness.
• Sadism exists in normal people, is both non-sexual and sexual, and is described as callous enjoyment in others' suffering. This is a chronically exhibited personality trait; physical and/or emotional pain is a noted cause for such behaviour.
• Direct and Vicarious Sadism are two different forms. Direct means enjoyment of physically hurting others, while Vicarious Sadism means watching MMA or similar entertainment where there is no escape.
• Behavioural genetic research shows that substantial genetic components are involved in D3 (dark triad) traits.
• These traits might also have possible linkages reflected in facial features..
• Big 5 associations show that high levels or narcissistic personality traits involve self-deceptive enhancement (think they have all good characteristics), extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, low degrees of agreeableness and neuroticism.
• Dark traits often involve suffering, bad or limited interactions with others.
• Dark traits are interpersonal behaviours in which individuals are cold, hard-hearted, and high in agency but low in communion.
• High in agency and low in communion individuals are considered callous, and self-reports show average agency and higher cold-heartedness scores.
• Narcissism, Social Interaction: selection involves people who admire them, and they reflect positive views. Evocation includes exhibitionism in which they appear brilliant and entertaining, but others see them as selfish or boorish. Manipulation involves highly exploitative behaviours.
• Machiavellianism and social interactions: selection involves preferring loosely structured situations; evoking anger and retaliation for exploitation, and manipulations are considered exploitative.
• Psychopathy and social interactions: selection often comprises cheap thrills and dangerous, non-safe situations that others avoid; highly evocative of fear when crossed; manipulation involves highly exploitative behaviours which are short-term focused.
• Sadism and social interactions: selection involves anonymous interaction, preferring violent gaming/sports, and career choices that involve accessing weapons. Evoking hostile and aggressive responses and manipulative deceptive behaviours are evident.