The Trait Theory
The Dark Personality Triad (Jones & Paulhus, 2011) is comprised of three distinctive but related socially aversive sub-clinical personality traits: narcissism, psychopathy and machiavellianism (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). All three dark triad personalities score low on agreeableness (Egan, 2009; Jakobwitz & Egan, 2006; Paulhus, 2001; Paulhus & Williams, 2002; Vernon et al., 2008; Widiger & Lynam, 1998). However, of the three dark personalities, psychopathy is associated with the least remorse and is most associated with callousness, impulsivity, thrill-seeking and criminal behavior, while narcissism is characterized by grandiosity, egocentrism and a sense of personal entitlement, and machiavellianism through strategic manipulation of others (Jones & Paulhus, 2011).
The Dark Triad is considered to be a descriptive, rather than functional and process-based personality model (Collins et al., 2017; Mischel & Shoda, 1995). It does not explain the mental processes that underpin the personalities or the causal factors underlying sub-clinical manifestations of psychopathy or narcissism; the role of social context in fluctuations in behavior and emotions (Mischel & Shoda, 1995); or how mental processes and the social context interact to affect the display of behavior and emotion (i.e., individual processes-based constructs) and their variability over time (Collins et al., 2017).
The notion of a unified and trait-based dark triad personality can also be challenged. For instance, psychopathy and machiavellianism have been found to be negatively related to openness and conscientiousness whereas narcissism is not (Jakobwitz & Egan, 2006; Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Moreover, psychopathy is much more associated with deviant behavior and predicts delinquency and criminality, while machiavellianism and narcissism do not (e.g., Buckels et al., 2014; Williams & Paulhus, 2004). Therefore, the three dark personalities may actually be less unified than previously thought.
In light of studies that suggest that machiavellianism is conceptually separate from narcissism and is a sub-dimension of psychopathy (Giammarco & Vernon, 2014; LeBreton et al., 2006; Persson et al., 2019) and in contrast to trait perspectives, we argue that machiavellianism is best conceptualized not as a distinct personality but as a selfish and manipulative strategy employed mainly by psychopaths to manipulate others (see Clempner, 2017) but that it can also be used to a lesser degree by narcissists (Malesza, 2020).
Furthermore, trait-based personality theories often postulate that personality is fixed and immutable. However, some research suggests that there are culturally specific aspects of these traits, and that they may vary across time, context and culture (e.g., Youli & Chang, 2015).
The Cognitive Model of Personality Disorders
In their cognitive model of personality, Beck et al. (2015a) suggest that personality traits can be conceptualized as an overt expression of the schemata that organize, select and synthesize incoming information. Thus, the activation of a specific schema will impact on the evaluation of the stimulus, the affective and motivation arousal, and on the selection and implementation of specific strategies. The authors suggest that the dysfunctional schemata found in personality disorders are the product of an interaction between the individualās genetic predisposition and exposure to (adverse) life events. Accordingly, they argue that āpersonality disorders represent an exaggeration of adaptive personality strategiesā (p. 19) which become inflexible and overgeneralized as a consequence of challenging experiences. Although these strategies may be considered adaptive in evolutionary terms, their rigid nature renders them maladaptive in most contexts. The model suggests that personality disorders can also be understood as cognitive profilesāeach personality disorder is characterized by a composite of beliefs, attitudes, affect, and behavior. Nevertheless, this model does not descr...
