Beware of the Dark Triad

Think of the Dark Triad of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism as the Bermuda Triangle — it’s perilous to come near it! The traits of all three often overlap and create personality profiles that are damaging and toxic, especially when it comes to intimate relationships, where we let our guard down. One woman was the subject of identity fraud at a time when she was very in love with her boyfriend who lived with her in her apartment. Her bank accounts and credit cards had been compromised. She was speaking regularly with the FBI and suffered extreme anxiety and emotionally stress. The authorities were unsuccessful in finding the culprit. Her fiancé was very supportive in doing research to try to find him. He comforted her, occasionally bought her gifts, and paid her monthly rent out of money she gave him. When the landlord confronted her about months of delinquency, she realized that the criminal was in fact her own boyfriend, who had been pocketing her rent money, using some of it to buy her gifts. Her denial made it difficult to accept the truth about his ruthless gaslighting. What is the Dark Triad? This is a popular term was coined in 2002 by Paulhus and Williams. Dark Triad refers to three unusually negative personality traits — narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. The latter two share more traits with each other than with narcissists. Generally, the term refers to individuals with “subclinical” symptoms, meaning that they may not n...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Abuse Narcissism Personality Dark Triad Machiavellianism Manipulation Source Type: news