The Dark Triad: Prejudice, Narcissism, And P

Psychopathy as a mental disorder or construct, although not included in the presently valid classification systems, is gradually fascinating the experts and investigators involved in the field of mental health. Curiosity in psychopathy has mainly grown after the declaration of the new classification system DSM V in which psychopathy is mentioned as a clear diagnosis in the context of six new personality illnesses.

Research into the darker side of human nature has increased exponentially, drawing particular interest into the Dark Triad of personality (Aghababaei & Błachnio, 2015). The Dark Triad consists of the three similar, but distinct constructs: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and subclinical psychopathy (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Narcissism is a personality trait related with elevated levels of self interest, grandiosity and sense of entitlement (Campbell, Rudich, & Sedikides, 2002). Psychopathy, on the other hand is characterised by high impulsivity, lack of empathy and irresponsibility (Poythress & Hall, 2011). Machiavellianism is marked by duplicity and manipulation (Jones & Paulhus, 2011). All three constructs are associated with a socially aversive style of interaction, correlated with negative emotional, social and legal implications for both the individual and others (Furnham, Richards, & Paulhus, 2013). Due to the phenotypical similarity in their anti-social style of interaction; the three constructs appear to be deceptively equivalent, when they are in fact distinct. Some theorists support unificationist approach, which presents the constructs as equivalent by drawing evidence from evolutionary theory and the Big Five personality model. On the other hand, multiple theorists cite research from behaviour and genetics studies, to highlight the distinct nature of the three constructs. This essay will argue that the three constructs are distinct by presenting and critically

According to studies led by King’s College researchers, it has been confirmed that “psychopathy is a distinct subgroup of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)” (Gregory et. al n.p) and similarly to psychopathy, the more severe ASPD behavioral patterns are, the symptoms can be referred to as sociopathic or psychopathic. Furthermore, according to Nigel Blackwood, Ma, MD.MRCPsych, “MRI scans...found that psychopaths had structural brain abnormalities in key areas of their ‘social brains’” (Gregory et. al n.p). The areas of the brain, in which are deficient in psychopaths, are important when comprehending an individual emotions’, intentions, and moral

The fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual describes personality disorders as being a pattern of enduring behavior and internal experiences that tends to digress a significant amount from the individual’s cultural and societal standards (Sadock, Kaplan & Sadock, 2015). This personality disorder is diagnosed in the presence of grandiosity and the need to be admired and appreciated. There is a chronic lack of empathy as well as inflated self-esteem and the belief that one is entitled to the adoration of others. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is classified under Cluster B, showcasing more erratic and emotional behavior which can be seen in the film American Psycho.

Psychopathy, in both the mental health and criminal justice systems, has emerged as one of the most important clinical constructs of the 21st century (Hare, Clark, Grann, & Thornton, 2000, p. 623). Where clinically, psychopathy is traditionally described as a combination of inferred socially deviant behaviors and personality traits. Some traits and behaviors a psychopath is seen to possess are commonly known, for example, to being impulsive, selfish, aggressive, lacking remorse, shame, feeling for others, pathologically lying, and having asocial or antisocial behaviors (Hare, & Neumann, 2006, p. 59-60). One of the reasons as to why psychopathy has come to see an increase in the development of its theoretical and applied interest is the

His theory is based on three traits affecting behaviour, holding that extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism in conjunction with social experiences produce personality (Center and Kemp 2002). The first dimension, extraversion, describes individuals as sociable and needs people around. Extraverts thrive off of excitement, will take risks, are impulsive and unreliable. Meanwhile, introverts are the opposite, have control of emotions, and are rarely aggressive. Extraverts will usually have less well-developed consciences because of their poor conditionability, which is associated with their low arousal (Farrell 1984). The next dimension, neuroticism, describes individuals who are anxious and display other emotional responses. Essentially, high levels of emotionality make integration difficult because neurotic individuals will give way to the temptation of acting on their emotions (Center and Kemp 2002). The third dimension in his theory is psychoticism and relates to a lack of sympathy and empathy, antisocial, and cold. They also may be sensation seeking and have bizarre tastes, are unconventional, and do not fit socially. Psychoticism is related physiologically to the level of aggression, which is associated with certain crimes, such as murder. Many criminals are male, and a person’s level of androgen (male hormone) appears to be correlated

Narcissism is defined as the love of ones self. Sigmund Freud was the first to use the word to characterize certain character traits. He got the word from the Greek mythological legend Narcissus who saw his reflection in water and fell in love with himself. Freud suggests that all of us have a bit of self love, but when self love goes extreme it can be a problem and is considered a pathological problem. Nora from “The Doll House,” only exuded narcissistic behavior because she was treated like a doll. She was spoiled and only thought that that was how she was supposed to behave in order to get what she wanted or to please the men in her

Narcissism personality disorder according to DSM-V is (and now also in Section II of DSM-5) describe “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy . . .,” indicated by five or more of the following: (a) a grandiose sense of self-importance; (b) preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love; (c) beliefs of being special and unique; (d) requirements of excessive admiration; (e) a sense of entitlement; (f) interpersonal exploitativeness; (g) lack of empathy; (h) envy of others; and (i) arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes. Narcissism has been around or studied for thirty years. Rosenfeld thought that that his client had invented an alter ego at first. In the article what part do narcissism play in the narcissistic disorder? It talk about narcissistic disorder arise when an ego-destructive super ego has arisen in the course of development. The article talks about that trauma as a child or infant may also play a big part of narcissism. A large part of narcissistic disorder comes from a wide range of symptoms like self-enhancing and self-serving incentives. (Elsa Ronningstam) described a 21 none year old client that she treated, his parents brought him in to see her and they described him as selfish, inconsiderate, demanding, and demeaning, with threatening and verbally aggressive behavior, and involved in poly substance abuse (pp 434-438). Bob his self-admitted that some

The most common traits associated with antisocial personality disorder are general cognitive and emotional dysfunction, especially in regards to callousness, manipulation and shallow affect. This study examined specific brain functioning tendencies of both mentally healthy participants and patients diagnosed with psychopathy by comparatively analyzing their facial emotion processing. The comparison allowed researchers to determine the relationship between psychopathological tendencies in relevance to patterns of responses. Generally, people diagnosed with psychopathy demonstrate reduced autonomic responses to expressions of distress or sadness, which in turn leads

In this article the authors have conjectured up some features of the psychopathic condition (e.g., fearlessness, interpersonal dominance) which are adaptive in

Narcissism: is a term that originated with Narcissus in Greek mythology who fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water. Currently it is used to describe the pursuit of gratification from vanity, or egotistic admiration of one's own physical or mental attributes, that derive from arrogant pride.

The concept of psychopathy originated in the 1800s to describe individuals that consistently failed to conform to societal norms and exhibited antisocial behavior that did not fit the concept of mental illness of the time period. While, psychopathy was a common term used to describe individuals suffering from this disorder other descriptions were coined such as “Pinel’s term “manie sans delvie” meaning mania without delirium in the 1700s, to describe patents whose ‘affective faculties were disordered’” or Pritchard’s term “moral insanity” (Ogloff 520). In the 1930’s Partridge argued that psychopathy was a social rather than a mental disorder and proposed that the concept of sociopathy be introduced as a more accurate description. The American Psychological Association adopted Partridge’s term for their Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel in 1952. However, in 1968 the American Psychological Association changed the diagnostic label from sociopath to “personality disorder, antisocial” for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel – II that continued through to the DSM - III in 1980 and the DSM - III-R in 1987 and the DSM - IV in 1994. Today the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel categorizes antisocial personality disorder as a personality disorder and it is named as such. Unfortunately, not much research has been conducted

“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an inability to form human attachment, aggressive narcissism, and antisocial behavior defined by a constellation of affective, interpersonal and behavioral characteristics, most of which society views as pejorative” [1]. Some of these characteristics include irresponsibility, grandiosity, cunning, deceitfulness, selective impulsivity, sexual promiscuity, lack of empathy, etc. People who are psychopathic display not only antisocial behavior but also emotional impairment such as the lack of guilt. They are able to prey on others using their charm, deceit, violence or any other methods that allow them to get what they want. A strong feature of most of the behavior

Narcissists are observed to be having high self esteem though narcissism is not the same thing as self-esteem, this is seen in the attitude behind the self-esteem. Normal people with high self-esteem are seen

To help distinguish between personality types, Cleckley (1982) defined "psychopathy" as "a personality disorder evidenced by a distinctive cluster of behaviors and inferred personality traits defined by the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised" (p. 449). By contrast, Cleckley defined "psychopath" as "a social predator (diagnosed with psychopathy) who often