Understanding the Dark Triad
The purpose of this post is about about understanding, recognizing and developing more coping skills to deal with dark triad people. Right now on our planet, our future is threatened by them. We have extracted from many sources and posted about them in other posts on this website. Several people have asked for a blog post to sum up all the parts. We need to move forward in dealing with these people. I need to move forward into other areas of my 12 week year plans. Moreover, please share these posts with your friends, Understanding and education is how you defeat dark triad authoritarian type rulers. In this post, knowledge on how to deal with them and your own feels are critical. Please share with those you feel may benefit from this knowledge. This posts has links to previous posts and to valid websites for some definitions. Please feel free to explore and learn more these websites have been validated.
A quick recap what is a Dark Triad person
The Dark Triad comes from the world of psychology. It refers to three distinct but related personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. They are defined as follows:
- Narcissism: narcissism comes from the Greek myth of Narcissus, a hunter who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, and drowned. Narcissistic people tend to be selfish, boastful, arrogant, lack empathy, and are hypersensitive to criticism.
- Machiavellianism: the word comes from the renowned 16th-century Italian politician and diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli. He earned notoriety when his 1513 book, “The Prince,” was interpreted as an endorsement of the dark arts of cunning and deceit in diplomacy. Traits associated with Machiavellianism include duplicity, manipulation, self-interest, and a lack of both emotion and morality.
- Psychopathy: personality traits associated with psychopathy include a lack of empathy or remorse, antisocial behavior, and being manipulative and volatile. It’s important to note that there is a distinction between psychopathic traits and being a psychopath, with its commonly held association with criminal violence.
A Test was developed to spot them
First, lets look at the Sixteen major traits they use:
- Manipulate others to get their way.
- Use deceit or untruths to get their way. Gaslighting and rewriting history
- Use flattery to get their way.
- Exploit others towards their own end.
- Lack remorse for their actions.
- Not be too concerned with morality or the morality of their actions.
- Tend to be callous or insensitive.
- Tend to be cynical.
- Want others to admire them. Narcissistic supply
- Want others to pay attention to Them. Narcissistic supply
- Seek prestige or status. Use show and bluster to show how strong or rich they are.
- Expect special favors from others.
- Often have cofactors of using sex and punishment (S&M, torture and prison)
- They use ritual humiliation against everyone
- Dislike those more skilled than them
- Work to get rid of opponents – they fear them!
Dr Peter Jonason, then assistant professor of psychology at the University of Western Florida, and his co-author, Gregory Webster, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida, developed the “Dirty Dozen” rating scale, or a 12-item methodology, to measure Dark Triad traits in a test. However, they missed four main items in their behavior. These are highlighted above. They developed a dark triad test.
Spotting the behaviors in the real world
Next, if someone has more Machiavellian tendencies, they could try to influence others by selfishly manipulating them through coercion or deception. Manipulative people are often good at hiding their behavior or actions, but there are signs you can look out for, such as someone who won’t take no for an answer, who always excuses their hurtful behavior, or presents a different “face” to different people to serve their purposes. They will often use gaslighting, gunny sacking or deflection to protect themselves. You can find a lot more useful information in this article, dealing With manipulative people.
If you challenge a manipulative person, be specific about what actions you have spotted and how they are harming you. Make it clear that their behavior needs to change. If they are in a position of power, they will cut you off and often sabotage you. You know their game, expect a knife in the back! Often the dark triad person will surround themselves with minions. One sign to look for concerns their use of minions.
Your coping skills are important!
Coping skills are a complex area and there are no easy answers. Experienced psychologists and counselors stress that there are many subtleties and gradations of personality types, and the behaviors associated with them can change from day to day. So it is best to look at what dark triad rulers use on others.
Dark triad Anger
One psychopathic trait they use is anger and aggression. Often, the signs of normal anger are easy to spot, for example, a raised voice, a flushed face and sweating. But some people try to suppress their anger, which can then show itself in “passive-aggressive” behavior. This will manifest in ways such as sulking or ignoring people. They will also cut you off and use isolation. An example, the trump administration had a record 68% turnover of high-level positions. This was one of the factors rating him as the worst president in US history. This is seen in other rulers like him see the other posts where this is documented. There are a number of strategies you can use when dealing with angry people. It’s important you stay safe if you feel threatened – leave the room immediately if necessary. If you’re dealing with someone’s ongoing anger issues, distance yourself emotionally from them. When you see examples of this in government, vote the elected officials out, this means the person does not have good emotional intelligence. If the elected leaders ignore you in public meetings, this is a sign of dark triad anger!
Dark triad Bullying
A dark triad’s anger spills over into bullying. At a simple level, this can include verbal abuse or threatening behavior, but it can often be more subtle and include unnecessary criticism, belittling someone, or spreading malicious rumors . If you spot bullying, distance yourself emotionally and physical from them. An example, people around trump did not figure out his divide and rule strategy. This is a sign of bullying. If you see this in a public leader. Work to remove them, vote! Note – Trump continues to divide American citizens into “US and them“. When they rant about far left liberal ruining our country and refer to others as vermin. Typical bullying terminology.
Dark triad Narcissism
The selfishness of narcissists can be a headache and a threat. A narcissist may have a big ego and do whatever they can to grab the spotlight. They may demand credit for ideas, use “I” and “me” instead of “we,” and can often dominate discussions or meetings. An example was how Trump jumped in and took over the COVID briefings. However, a dark triad will often use “we” and place him or herself as the victim. They love playing the victim.
People with big egos often don’t expect to be challenged. Therefore standing your ground on a dark triad ruler is dangerous. You have become a threat they need to remove. Often their minions will attack you.
Building the Skills You Need to Cope
In summary, it can be difficult to deal with all these negative behaviors. Most people do not feel confident in dealing with conflict. However, there are a number of ways you can improve your skills in this area. For example, you can learn to be more assertive. Education about the dark triad helps. Continue, learning about your own emotional states and perspectives. Often after dealing with a dark triad types you experience emotion depression and confusion. This is normal!
Thus, get help from skilled counselors and learn more about emotional intelligence . Study and become aware of people’s body language. You can better manage your own emotions with these skills, and having a greater understanding of other people can help you spot patterns of unwanted behavior before they become a threat. Lastly, knowing yourself is a much needed skill. Reflect often on your own feelings. I use the Bullet Journal myself.
References for Understanding the Dark Triad types
- Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman (There are several books now)
- Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present
- About Minions – This is a quick read about the worst minions of the last century
Dedications
This post is dedicated to those who want to understand the reasons people are drawn to dark triad authoritarian type rulers.