People High On Dark Triad Personality Traits Employ Distinct Defense Mechanisms

Passive aggression, denial, and autistic fantasy

The Dark Triad encompasses three personality traits:

1. Narcissism (grandiosity, self-importance, entitlement)
    

2. Psychopathy (callousness, cynicism, impulsivity)
    

3. Machiavellianism (strategically exploitative, duplicitous, manipulative)

The Light Triad is a constellation of three prosocial traits:

1. Humanism (appreciation of the successes and creations of others)

2. Kantianism (tendency toward behaving with integrity and honesty rather than deceit and charm)

3. Faith in humanity (believing that people are generally good and worthy of trust)

To be clear, both the Light and Dark Triad concepts exist on a spectrum. There is a bit of both in all of us. But a person who scores particularly high on one or the other would be someone you’d either trust or avoid.  
 
In a 2019 study titled “The Light vs. Dark Triad of Personality: Contrasting Two Very Different Profiles of Human Nature,” researchers asked people how much they agreed with statements like:

• “I tend to applaud the successes of other people” and “I enjoy listening to people from all walks of life” (Humanism)

• “I prefer honesty over charm” and “When I talk to people, I am rarely thinking about what I want from them” (Kantianism)

• “I tend to see the best in people” and “I tend to trust that other people will deal fairly with me” (Faith in humanity)

Here, I’ll discuss how each personality constellation (Dark Triad and Light Triad) relates to relationship styles, the Big Five personality traits, defense mechanisms, earnings, and other interesting variables.

Relationship styles differ between people high on the Dark vs. Light Triad.

People high on the Dark Triad experience more insecurity in their relationships. They agree more with statements such as, “In relationships, I often worry that my partner does not really love me” and “I am nervous when anyone gets too close.”

When you think about it, there are good reasons for Dark Triad types to be more insecure.