Dark personalities have, until now, been classified as people who fall into the following three groups: narcissists (people who have an unreasonably excessive admiration for themselves), Machiavellians (people who are scheming, cheating, and manipulative), and psychopaths (a mentally unstable person with a lack of empathy and remorse). Naturally, these dark personalities are not the kinds of people we hope to be friends with or even encounter; but realistically, we probably have. And just because we don't like them doesn't mean we don't have a deep desire to understand and find out all we can about them. So we're here to tell you some new facts that you didn't know about these unusual personality types.
1. There Are More Than Three
The first shocking finding of dark personalities is that there are actually more than three; that's right, more people to watch out for. Recent research has been pointing towards a fourth dark personality known as 'sadism.' Sadists share a lack of empathy similar to psychopaths, but they have the added feature of experiencing enjoyment from hurting others. These kinds of people enjoy watching fights, enjoy violence in any form, and enjoy inflicting any kind of pain on others, whether it's through online trolling and bullying, or just being plain mean. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem too surprising that these kinds of people exist.
2. Machiavellian Mechanics
A common characteristic of Machiavellian personalities has been their cunning, quick wit, and sharp intellect which has allowed them to be as plotting and manipulative as they are. But recent studies seem to be pointing to the fact that, well, Machiavellians aren't actually as smart as they think they are. Their talent might actually lay in their ability to plan very precisely and carefully, rather than natural intellect. Bit of a shame for them, but slightly reassuring for us.
3. All About The Apps
A shocking finding that will leave many of us unnerved is the fact that dating apps are a hotbed for dark personalities. Unsurprisingly, people with dark personalities might find getting a date in real life pretty difficult so, as a result, they turn to dating apps to hide their unfavorable sides until after the initial meeting. Also unsurprisingly, narcissistic individuals were found to be extremely present on the apps, making sense when you consider all the photos that have to be posted. Overall the studies found that less emotionally stable people were more like to use the apps than anyone else... so maybe time to delete Tinder?
4. Narcissistic Love
Following on the dating theme, narcissists were found to prefer to, in general, stick with dating other narcissists. Well, doesn't that sound like a recipe for disaster? In terms of romantic relationships, this dark personality type liked to partner up with others who were similarly 'self-orientated' rather than looking out for others. Interestingly though, this doesn't often end up being the disaster you might expect. Actually, these kinds of relationships were no more or less happy than normal ones. Guess there really is someone out there for everyone.
5. Not As Clever As They Think They Are
Just like how the Machiavellians weren't as clever as we thought, neither are the narcissists. Or rather, in this case, they aren't as clever as they think they are. Obviously, narcissists think they are the cleverest people around, but new findings that were taken from an experiment, where the high believers had to take a test to measure their ability in relation to their expectations of themselves, show that this isn't the case. In summary, the narcissists could not perform to the standard they had thought they would. Maybe this finally taught them a lesson... or maybe not.