The Dark Triad's inverse relations with cognitive and emotional empathy: High-powered tests with multiple measures

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Abstract

Low empathy is a key feature of the Dark Triad traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Nevertheless, prior research, which has used mostly small samples with single measures of each construct, has produced mixed findings. The present study tested associations between Dark Triad traits and empathy using (a) a large sample (N = 1035), (b) multiple measures of each construct, and (c) structural equation modeling. Dark Triad traits, modeled as latent variables using three indicator measures each, were regressed onto two dimensions of empathy—emotional (feeling what others feel) and cognitive (knowing what others think)—which were also modeled as latent variables using three indicator measures each. The model fit the data well. All three Dark Triad traits were associated with low emotional empathy, but the association with narcissism was significantly weaker than associations with psychopathy or Machiavellianism. Psychopathy was unrelated to cognitive empathy, whereas narcissism and Machiavellianism were both positively related to cognitive empathy. The present findings provide a more nuanced and comprehensive theoretical contribution to the links between empathy and the Dark Triad traits.

Introduction

A general consensus, and defining feature of Dark Triad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) relate to a lack of empathy. While the relationship between Dark Triad traits and empathy has been previously explored, there are existing discrepancies in the Dark Triad literature. This study addresses inconsistencies by differentiating between cognitive and emotional empathy, and including multiple measures of each personality trait and empathy dimension.

The Dark Triad consists of three related and interpersonally maladaptive personality traits: subclinical narcissism, Machiavellianism, and subclinical psychopathy (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Narcissism is characterized by a grandiose self-concept, an excessive sense of self-importance and self-worth, and a general lack of caring for others (Vonk, Zeigler-Hill, Mayhew, & Mercer, 2013). Narcissists also crave attention and seek admiration from others (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001). Although narcissists have an over-inflated sense of self, some theories maintain that they hold a vulnerable self-concept that requires constant validation and reinforcement from outside sources (Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001). Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulativeness, cunningness, and use of deception for their own personal gain (Esperger & Bereczkei, 2012). Machiavellianism is also associated with long-term and strategic planning, less prosocial behavior, and can be described as power-seeking (Rauthmann & Kolar, 2012). Major features of psychopathy include cold-heartedness, a tendency toward thrill-seeking behaviors, and impulsivity (Brankley & Rule, 2014). Psychopaths also tend to exhibit impulsive, pleasure-seeking, and antisocial behaviors (Rauthmann & Kolar, 2012), and are generally callous and emotionally cold toward others. Notably, the callous and unemotional nature of psychopaths makes them particularly prone to aggression (Baughman, Dearing, Giammarco, & Vernon, 2012). There is significant overlap among the Dark Triad traits. For example, each trait is associated with an egotistic bias, deceptiveness, self-promoting behaviors, aggressiveness, and emotional distance from others; however, effect sizes vary for each trait (Paulhus & Williams, 2002).

Empathy is a complex, multidimensional concept that reflects understanding the emotions of others (Shamay-Tsoory, Aharon-Peretz, & Perry, 2009). Wispé (1986) defined empathy as the attempt to actively understand the positive and negative experiences of others. Empathy research led to the eventual development and differentiation of two types of empathy: cognitive and emotional. Cognitive empathy is the ability to understand and identify others' emotions, whereas emotional empathy is the ability to be aware of and experience others' emotions (Lockwood, Seara-Cardoso, & Viding, 2014). Empathy is a positive predictor of moral development and prosocial behavior (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006). Multiple studies show that empathy negatively correlates with aggression and antisocial behavior (Butean, Costescu, & Dobrean, 2014; Lockwood et al., 2014).

Relatedly, emotional deficits underlie narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy (Jonason, Lyons, Bethell, & Ross, 2013; Paulhus & Williams, 2002). In particular, the Dark Triad traits negatively correlate with empathy (Jonason et al., 2013). This may explain why people who exhibit the Dark Triad traits engage in one-sided, short-term relationships (Jonason et al., 2013); however, other research presents discrepancies in the literature regarding empathy and the Dark Triad traits.

Prior research suggests that The Dark Triad traits are correlated with decreased levels of cognitive empathy. Relatedly, Machiavellianism and psychopathy were correlated with lower levels of emotional empathy; however, narcissism was the only trait that did not have a significant correlation with emotional empathy (Jonason & Krause, 2013). The same study also found that psychopathy was the only trait of the three to predict both cognitive and affective empathy. This finding suggests that, although narcissists may understand the emotions of others, they may have trouble experiencing others' emotions. Consequently, they detach themselves from feeling others' emotions to pursue personal goals by exploitation, or perhaps they lack motivation to experience others' emotions. Similar research found no associations linking empathy with narcissism (Watson, Grisham, Trotter, & Biderman, 1984). Nevertheless, people with higher pathological grandiosity scores showed more emotional intelligence and empathy (Vonk, Zeigler-Hill, Mayhew, & Mercer, 2013). Vonk et al. (2013) also found that the Grandiose Exhibitionism subscale of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) was negatively correlated with empathetic concern and empathizing, but positively correlated with personal distress. These findings may suggest that narcissists are uncomfortable with other people's negative emotions.

In other work, Machiavellianism correlated with externally-focused thinking style (associated with having limited access to inner feelings) and narcissism related to difficulty describing and identifying feelings; however, psychopathy possessed the strongest associations with emotional deficiencies (Jonason & Krause, 2013). Higher Machiavellianism scores associated with lower empathy levels and high affective perspective-taking in children, where affective perspective-taking reflected one's ability to recognize and make conclusions about others' emotional states (Barnett & Thompson, 1985).

Psychopathy also negatively relates to empathy scores, including a decreased level of cognitive empathy (Jonason & Krause, 2013). Psychopathy appears to be the only Dark Triad trait that relates to (a) lower rates of cognitive and emotional empathy and (b) having trouble with externally-focused thinking and describing feelings (Jonason & Krause, 2013).

Inevitable discrepancies in the Dark Triad literature exist regarding empathy. The abovementioned studies used multiple empathy and Dark Triad measures. Although aspects of the present study are a replication, our aims were to resolve discrepancies in prior research while better understanding the links between empathy and Dark Triad traits. Previous studies that have explored this realm of research focus on global traits rather than the individual dimensions of each trait. The current research also focuses on global Dark Triad traits. The purpose of the present work was to use multiple measures of empathy and the Dark Triad in conjunction with structural equation modeling (SEM) to reduce measurement error, and consequently address or resolve some inconsistencies in the literature (which may be rooted in measurement error or variability). We hypothesized that the Dark Triad traits would correlate negatively with cognitive and emotional empathy because negative (vs. positive) links have been more common in the research literature. We made no specific predictions regarding possible differences in the strengths of those correlations among the three traits.

Section snippets

Participants and procedure

Participants were 1396 introductory psychology students from a large public university in the southeast United States. They completed online measures of Dark Triad traits and emotional/cognitive empathy (see next section for descriptions of measures) in exchange for class credit. Participants with missing responses were excluded, resulting in a final sample size of 1035 participants (684 women, 351 men). Participants ranged in age from 18 to 53 (M = 19.66, SD = 3.36).

Short Dark Triad

The Short Dark Triad (SD3;

Results

Table 1 shows the correlations and descriptive statistics for all 15 measures. Personality measures were positively and significantly intercorrelated. Corresponding trait measures showed the strongest relationships. Empathy measures were also positively and significantly intercorrelated. Corresponding empathy subscales had the strongest relationships.

Fig. 1 shows the SEM we assessed using Mplus 8 (Muthén and Muthén, 1998–2017). Specifically, we modeled the Dark Triad traits and affective and

Discussion

To our knowledge, this is the first study to date to investigate links among empathetic abilities and the Dark Triad traits using a large sample and latent variable modeling. The results indicate that all three Dark Triad traits inversely relate to emotional empathy. People with high levels of psychopathy showed the strongest deficits in emotional empathy, followed by Machiavellianism and narcissism. In contrast, the results suggest that narcissism and Machiavellianism are linked to higher than

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