Week 6 - Dark Personality traits .docx

**Week 6 - Dark Personality Traits** 1. These traits mentioned above are measured as a dimension or on a spectrum rather than categories, so when we use terms such as psychopath or narcissist we are referring to people who are high in those traits rather than someone who ticks all the criteria f...

**Week 6 - Dark Personality Traits** 1. These traits mentioned above are measured as a dimension or on a spectrum rather than categories, so when we use terms such as psychopath or narcissist we are referring to people who are high in those traits rather than someone who ticks all the criteria for being or not being a psychopath or a narcissist, for the most part people tend to express low to moderate level of these traits. While we measure these traits on a spectrum the DSM proposes a categorical classification by endorsing specific criteria, with some grey areas due to semantics and language. **The Dark Core or the Dark Triad - (triad meaning 3)** Originally, a 'dark triad' of traits was proposed and included psychopathy, narcissism and machiavellianism. Over time these dark traits were expanded onto a dark tetrad with the addition of sadism as a distinct trait from narcissism and psychopathy despite them having conceptual overlap. Researchers began to notice that people who were high in one of these traits were also high in other traits. For example, those high in narcissism were also high in psychopathy. This suggested that these traits may be part of a larger network of dark traits sharing a common dark core. [Dark core] is defined as: the tendency or disposition to infringe upon the rights of others, be uncaring or maximising one's utility at the expense of others. Other traits that are not within the dark core but share common features include: egoism, psychological entitlement and spitefulness. Because research in this area continues to evolve we may later end up with a pentard or a hexard. One of the main instruments being used to assess these personality traits is the short dark tetrad (SD4). The SD4 has 7 items per trait and assesses sadism, psychopathy, narcissism and machiavellianism. To understand these traits we can look at the specific items assessing each trait Items with high loading give the best flavour of the dimension, for example strategically avoiding conflict has the highest loading for machiavellianism. Important to note that some items are cross-loading like hurt for fun, it supposedly related to sadism but it also related to psychopathy.  Circling back to the idea that these traits are connected, this plot shows exactly that. The little squares represent items used to calculate a latent trait such as Machiavellianism, however each of these traits are seen to be correlated. For example someone high in machiavellianism is also likely to show psychopath, sadist or narcissistic traits. While some correlations are higher than others, for example psychopathy and sadism have a stronger correlation than narcissism and sadism, it\'s important to note that the strength of these correlations may differ depending on the studies, however most studies will show that correlations exist between each dimension. We can also observe these dark traits in relation to big-five personality traits 2. We can also observe these dark traits in relation to big-five personality traits \*personal adjustment measures whether an individuals has a good relationship with family, friends, others Firstly, we see a positive relationship between narcissism, extraversion, openness and personal adjustment. This is because a narcissist is usually described as charming, outgoing, confident and in control. We also see negative correlations between agreeableness, machiavellianism, psychopathy and sadism, suggesting these individuals are low on agreeableness. This is because these dark trait individuals don't try to hide their dislike for other people\'s opinion or ways of being. We can also relate the dark tetrad to the HEXACO model of personality. The HEXACO model adds a 'H' factor to the FFM defined as honesty/humility. They added this sixth dimension because honesty/humility can loosely be captured by agreeableness and researchers felt a sixth factor was needed to represent this further. Moreover, research indicated that the dark core overlaps strongly with low H, meaning they found a very strong negative correlation between honesty and the four dark traits. Evidence indicated that the dark core has incremental validity for predicting variance in relational aggression beyond HEXACO   While both sadist and psychopaths enjoy inflicting pain or suffering on others, psychopathy involves direct contact with their victims whereas sadism typically involve a vicarious element of suffering eg. watching violent videos 3. **Psychopathy** Items within the SD4 that assess psychopathy include: - - - - - - -  Essential Lidner refers to the fact that psychopaths may look like your everyday person but behave under a different set of rules. Individual high psychopathic traits can be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. ← Predominantly defined by The DSM 5 specifically talks about the antisocial personality disorder as related to difficulties in things like empathy, intimacy, manipulation, hostility, impulsivity and responsibility among others.  They have added a specificer for individuals who fall under the antisocial personality diagnosis but also possess psychopathic features. These include: Lack of anxiety or fear, high detachment and high levels of attention seeking. The two sub factors of interpersonal/affective and social deviance can be divided further into two subsequent facets.  As mentioned the DSM-5 does not talk about psychopathy per-say but it mentions that psychopathy is related to antisocial personality disorder which is predominately marked by callousness, lack of empathy, deceitfulness etc. The DSM situats this diagnosis within the chapter of interpersonality disorders where we have type A,B and C classes. Type A - odd thinking Type B - unpredictable or intense emotional response Type C - anxious thoughts or behaviours Antisocial personality disorder sits within cluster B. According to the DSM - A personality disorder is an enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that deviates markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment.  While this provides some explanation it is not clear cut. Despite having a genetic predisposition to certain genetic presentations the environment will every likely play a role in the expression or repression of these heritable traits.  **Narcissism** The origin of the term narcissism comes from the Greek mythology character Narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection. In the SD4 items that assess narcissism include: - - - - - - - Therefore, narcissism involves feeling of grandiosity, entitled to special treatment, a strong need for admiration, a reduced sense of empathy and sometimes a narcissist antagonises others if they don't give the narcissist the praise he/she demands. Just like psychopathy, very high levels of these traits can indicate a disorder, such as a narcissist personality disorder. Research suggests that there are two separate presentations of narcissistic behaviour, overt and covert narcissists.  Grandiose personalities are usually really outgoing, love to show off and think they are better than everyone else. Covert narcissists are not your typical image of a narcissist. While grandiose narcissists are unaware of their feelings of inadequacy, covert narcissists are aware and therefore engage in more protective and avoided behaviours that lead to a passive aggressive nature such as gaslighting. Evidence suggests that the level of narcissism has risen approximately 30% since the early 1980s possible causes for this include: - - -  If parents or influential people in the child\'s life model arrogant or chauvinistic behaviours the child is likely to pick up those behaviours as well.  **Machiavellianism** The term machiavellianism was named after Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote *The Prince* where the general theme of the book delves on the idea that the end justifies the means even if that includes deliberate manipulation. In the SDA 4 items used to assess machiavellianism includes: - - - - - - - Essentially, Machiavelliansm involves manipulating other people to achieve your aims through manipulation, callousness, indifference to morality and through a drive to gain power. Contrasting to psychopathy and narcissism, high levels of machiavellianism does not equate to a psychological personality disorder in the DSM and is therefore classed as a non-clinical personality style. People with a cynical world view have a tendency to think that other people will prioritise their needs over the needs of others. The belief that you must do whatever it takes to achieve your goals even if that includes sacrificing the wellbeing of others. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that focuses on the outcomes and doing good for most people even if that means some must suffer. Whereas the opposing view of the deontological approach suggests that harm is unacceptable irrespective of its consequences.   **Sadism** Sadism involves gaining pleasure from watching or inflicting pain and having an appetite for cruelty. Items used to assess Sadism in the SD4 include: - - - - - - - Sadism also has a sexual element with sexual sadism involving being sexually aroused from others\' pain. Moreover, sadists feel others\' pain more strongly but enjoy this and very high levels of sadism do not equate to a particular diagnosis. It was once a classification but was removed from the DSM-IV due to its use as a legal excuse for sadistic acts, instead the DSM 5 now talks about sexual sadism disorder within the paraphilic disorders section.     4. - - - -