Individual Differences Research

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Individual Differences Research > Volume 12, Issue 4-A (2014) > 131-141

Agreeableness at the Core of the Dark Triad of Personality

Rebecca Stead, G. Cynthia Fekken

Abstract

The authors propose that the Dark Triad traits (Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, Narcissism) share at their core a tendency to lack compassion, to react to social stimuli in a short-term fashion, to be aggressive, to experience few negative emotions, and to have difficulty inferring other's emotions. This study (N = 548) indicates that Agreeableness has the strongest relationship with, and loads the same latent construct as, the Dark Triad. The interpersonal facets of Agreeableness (trust, altruism, straightforwardness, compliance, modesty, tendermindedness) were examined in relation to the Dark Triad. Results indicate that interpersonally agreeable beliefs were negatively correlated with the Dark Triad. Specifically, lacking trust, altruism, compliance, straightforwardness, and tendermindedness in interpersonal situations were related to Machiavellianism, whereas lacking modesty and straightforwardness were related to Psychopathy and Narcissism. Therefore, Disagreeable interpersonal beliefs differentially explained Machiavellianism as opposed to the Dark Triad; we argue that these beliefs represent potential mechanisms that drive interpersonally manipulative behavior.