Literature Review on the Dark Triad and its Connection to Personality Sample

Introduction

The Dark Triad as an element comprises three separate dimensions: Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy. Such traits are regarded as antithetical to properly functioning in the society and at workplace. Machiavellianism includes sub-traits like manipulation, immoral attitude, and others include narcissism with subtraits like grandiosity and need for admiration, and lastly includes psychopathy with subtraits like impulsivity, absence of guilt, and other related impulsive aspects.

The Dark Triad idea was introduced at the beginning of the 2000s, What was coherent at that time as the result of the unite of these traits, which had been studied seversalows before. Although, Hare started using the term psychopathy in the 1980s, it was different from Machiavellianism and narcissism. This has in turn focused the research towards how far these traits are linked with the acts such as deception, aggression and manipulation.

As for the reasons for the importance of the Dark Triad in personality theory, it is crucial to note that it covers faulty interpersonal behaviors allowing for understanding the relationships, work environment, and society, in addition to proposing ways for minimizing their effects.

Reference materials and sample papers are provided to clarify assignment structure and key learning outcomes. Through our Assignment Help UK, guidance is offered while ensuring originality and adherence to ethical academic standards. The Literature Review on the Dark Triad and its Connection to Personality Sample demonstrates the analysis of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, and their impact on interpersonal behavior and attraction.

Explanation of Article 1

The first article is easy to read and the title is “How Alluring Are Dark Personalities? The authors of ‘The Dark Triad of Personality as Correlates of Tinder Use” (Jauk, E., Neubauer, A.C., Mairunteregger, T., Pemp, S., Sieber, K.P., Rauthmann, J.F., 2016) discussed gender differences in the aspect of the attractiveness in the online dating. Different from the ‘paper’ approach that uses hypothetical relationships or self-administered questionnaires, this study elaborates the effects of such variables as narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism on actual attraction in brief, live encounters.

Figure 1: Descriptive statistics and differences in the DarkTriad traits

The study adopted a online dating paradigm where participants interacted with several others in quick sequences hence offering a more natural immediate view of attraction. In order to measure the participants’ Dark Triad traits, the researchers used questionnaires and personality tests before the event. The participants involved in the study were 200 students and they were split down the middle equally in terms of gender. Talking with the energetically involved participants, discussions were held about the online dating session and the degree of attractiveness of the partners was noted. Moreover, the ratings attributed to the subjects’ attractiveness were also assessed by the researchers.

Figure 2: Descriptive statistics and interaction results

According to the findings of this study, it was established that self-photographed narcissists did receive higher attractiveness ratings (Jauk et al., 2016). This was so especially because the two main actors were as narcissistic as they could be; they were self-confident, charismatic, and charming. Some of these characteristics, which at first can be viewed as a positive trait, were perceived as a main reason for attraction, particularly, in relation to the casual sexual partner. In contrast, participants with psychopathic and Machiavellianism personality characteristics in general receive lower ratings (Balakrishnan & Ng, 2023). Due to callousness, impulsive recklessness, dishonesty, and generally, parasitic interpersonal behaviours, people with psychopathic or Machiavellian tendencies experienced negative impressions, making them less appealing within the online-dating context.

This article thus fits well into the existing literature on the Dark Triad given that it sheds an empirical light on the role of these personality traits in attraction (Jauk et al., 2016). Prior works analysing these traits had only done so in more artificial milk environment or through questionnaires; this research gives a better picture of how these traits function in real-life interactions. Specifically, online dating appears to be a very useful approach in the study because it considers today’s fast-paced society and contextualizes self-perceived personality and attraction based on the actual face-to-face meeting between two subjects. Thus, it gives an indication of real-time attraction, which indicates that Dark Triad traits affect impressions in the initial stages of romantic interaction, especially if one is considering short-term mating goals.

Explanation of Article 2

The first article, “The Dark Triad Personality: Attractiveness to Women” by Gregory, L.C., Campbell, A.C., and Muncer, S. (2014), investigates how the Dark Triad traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—influence women’s perceptions of male attractiveness (Furnham,2013). The study assumed that narcissism is favourable when certain social goals are sought and attained such as short-term mating since narcissists will tend to be more confident or charming (Rauthmann, 2012). However, plain narcissism is more favorable than Machiavellianism and psychopathy for the same reasons of manipulating and aggression.

Figure 3: Descriptive statistics for ratings

The method applied in this study was descriptive research conduct through a survey. Such participants, especially women, were shown hypothetical targets with varying levels of Dark Triad traits and their attractiveness was rated (Carter, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014). The study also incorporated Self-Reports questionnaires that would assess of how vulnerable participants would be to these traits. The survey participants was composed of 250 ASERVIC members. This means that both self-report questionnaires and behavioral measures were used so as to gain insight on how women regard these traits concerning attraction.

Figure 4: Descriptive statistics for Attractiveness and Big 5 ratings

According to the results of the study, narcissism was found most significantly correlated to the attractiveness ratings especially in the condition of short-term mating (Carter, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014). This can be attributed to the projections that narcissistic persons always put on a positive image of themselves which they are in casual sexual flings (Furnham,2013). On the other hand, the Machiavellian and the psychopath were considered less attractive because they brought about negative characteristics such as manipulative nature, act of aggression, and absence of empathy (Rosenman, 2001). Therefore, it can be concluded that although narcissism might make a person more sexually attractive in terms of short-term mating contexts, other Dark Triad traits are likely to have negative effects on perceived physical attractiveness.

Figure 5: Correlations between the Dark Triad and perceptions of the Big 5

This research paper is useful in explaining the ways in mean score of Dark Triad traits impact attraction in humans. This information implies that while the Dark Triad traits have this or that effect in general, their manifestation may differ in accordance to the type of the relationship (Carter, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014). For instance, narcissism can be beneficial during situations that require one to be charming and be confident in the process like short term mating. In contrast, Machiavellianism and psychopathy are perceived negatively as they are associated with unpleasant behaviors in interpersonal interaction. The article is informative in explaining the connection between the traits contained in the Dark Triad and attraction to give some understanding of how it influences interpersonal behavior especially in short-term mating.

Comparison of the Articles and Research

Both Carter, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014 and Jauk et al., 2016, genera as well as the specific links between compiled measures of Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy and rated attractiveness. These studies also vary in method as well as the samples where the connection between these traits and attraction between people is investigated (Hill-Artamonova, 2022). Nevertheless, both articles confirm that narcissism is more desirable, particularly when it comes to short-term mating strategies, while psychopathy and Machiavellianism are considered as less attractive features (Rosenman, 2001). The following sections are as follows to compare these studies in terms of the similarities and differences of the results and the strengths of the methods used in each study.

Key Similarities Between the Articles

The first point of comparison is the fact that both studies concerns short-term mating strategies. Carter, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014, and Jauk et al., 2016: It can be stated that people are willing to accept narcissism in other individuals If one is open to short-term and casual contacts. According to Carter, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014, narcissism is associated with other positive characteristics for example self- assurance and such character is usually considered positive especially for a casual relationship (Konuk & Otterbring, 2024). Also, Jauk et al., 2016, notes that often narcissistic people are considered more attractive because of charm and confidence during the online dating.

Krinski, Leary and Bushman’s article and the Kaufman’s piece concur on the perspective that people with narcissistic characteristics such as grandiosity and the need for admiration are perceived to be more attractive in the short term (Furnham,2013). This motivation is mainly based on the self-esteem of narcissists due to the impression created that these are competent and socially suitable individuals. Thus, these results show that narcissism seems to have maladaptive outcomes when it comes to the couple life because of a tendency of self-orientation, but in the short-term contact it may be beneficial.

Differences in Methodological Approaches

Although both researches try to investigate the relationship between the Dark Triad traits and attractiveness, it is quite evident that there is a stark contrast in the procedures utilized. Carter, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014, adopted a survey method in which crowds ask rating attractiveness of particular images of admiring individuality whom possess different scores of the Dark Triad traits. Opinion This way it is possible to avoid overload of data and other factors have minimal interferences where such factors include appearance and surrounding environment. This is an important criterion often discussed when it comes to research, as it indicates the degree to which the findings can be generalized to real-life situations.

However, Jauk et al., 2016 engage in a online dating process that fosters real life actions between the participants. It gives more real-life data as the behaviors and interactions of the participants are observed in a setting that is as close to their normal day-to-day interactions as possible (Nitschinsk, Tobin, Varley, & Vanman, 2023). As this approach enhances external validity, it must be recognised that various external factors can interfere with the interactions, for instance, physical attraction at first sight or Rather, specific behaviours related to the scenario, for instance, time constraint common in online dating (Rotter, 1966). They may result to variability that increases difficulty in explaining the outcomes of the tests.

Evaluation of Research Methods

This survey-based approach provides a rather deep insight into the article and helps understand how people perceive Dark Triad traits according to (Carter, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014). The participants use hypothetical other in the trait ratings, thus excluding all sorts of difficulties that real-life situations present, where the values of secondary cues may distort the real findings because of the occurrence of situational influence. Accepting this methodological strength contributes to the following benefits of the present study: First, the use of the VIVA model in assessing study quality provides consistent and replicable outcomes (Chegeni et al., 2024). Nevertheless, one possible weakness of the study is that the scenarios used in the research may not reflect realistic attraction that occur in real life encounters.

However, Jauk et al., 2016 offer an example of more realistic interaction since they used online dating as an instrument of study. Mainly, having the focus on real-time interactions, online dating allows observing participants’ reactions in real-time, which significantly differ from the time required for adaptation when using traditional questionnaires (Islam, 2024). However, the specific form of the interactions is more acute meaning that participants are able to only spend a few minutes with each other leading to a less profound relational analysis of the individuals involved (Kumari, Bala, & Chakraborty, 2024). However, it should be noted that online dating may not reflect all actual interaction situations, so on this aspect, the results may be somewhat specific.

In conclusion, both articles share the common explanation of the Dark Triad traits and attraction but from different viewpoints (Furnham, Richards, & Paulhus, 2013). The author Carter, Campbell, & Muncer, 2014 provide a more systematic and real-life approach as they use surveys to determine perceptions of attractiveness, and therefore, give an idea about how the concept is perceived in reality. However, Jauk et al., 2016 present more realistic information about these traits in actual real-life interpersonal communication situations (Rönkä, 2023). Collectively, all these studies provide a clear, all-embracing picture of the Dark Triad with tackling the attraction premise, as well as its practical applications.

Conclusion

The two articles under review were useful in illuminating on the correlation between the Dark Triad and attractiveness in the conditions of short-term mating. According to the works of the authors narcissism is more appealing because of the qualities like self-assertion, and being charismatic. However, as both studies recommend Machiavellianism attractive and psychopathy, they also pointed out the differences between these two traits’ effects on attraction. While the survey presented in the paper by the first author in the first article has a methodologically controlled theoretical background, the second article presents the results of the naturalistic, dynamic data collected through online dating.

These studies have significance for theory of personality. It amplifies the aspects of the subject, indicating that while self-love might be attractive in casual relationships, along with love for excitement, there is love for manipulation for instance, psycho passion is awful. Such findings complement the extant models of personality in as much as they build on how certain traits affect humans, especially in social and mating domains.

However, more-studies could focus on examining the long-term consequences of Dark Triad characteristics on partners’ relationships or look into cultural and environmental aspects of Dark Triad personality traits. The idea is that future studies may examine the neural substrates of the Dark Triad traits and other personality characteristics that define its outlets.

References

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