“The Perceived Attractiveness and Traits of the Dark Triad: Narcissists Are Perceived As Hot, Machiavellians and Psychopaths Not”, John F. Rauthmann, Gerald P. Kolar2013-04 (narcissism, psychopathy)⁠:

• Perceptions of a bogus opposite-sex narcissist, Machiavellian, and psychopath were investigated.

• Personality (Big Five, Agency/Communion) and attraction/liking were judged.

• The narcissist was judged “brighter” than the Machiavellian and psychopath.

• The Machiavellian and psychopath were judged similarly.

The current work investigated how a fictitious opposite-sex narcissist, Machiavellian, and psychopath are perceived in an experimental between subjects-design with 3 groups (total n = 184). Participants rated personality traits (Big Five and Agency/Communion) and different domains of interpersonal attraction (likeability, attractiveness, friend value, short-term mate value, long-term mate value) of the target persons.

While all 3 target persons were not perceived particularly favorably by participants, the narcissist was consistently perceived more favorably than the Machiavellian and the psychopath who were perceived quite similarly to each other.

It is discussed why narcissists may be judged more favorably and Machiavellians and psychopaths converge in people’s lay perceptions.

[Keywords: Dark Triad, Narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, social perception, personality judgment, attractiveness, attraction]

See Also:

• The dark side of the rainbow: Homosexuals and bisexuals have higher Dark Triad traits than heterosexuals

• Signaling virtuous victimhood as indicators of Dark Triad personalities

• Understanding left-wing authoritarianism: Relations to the dark personality traits, altruism, and social justice commitment

• Looking under the tinfoil hat: Clarifying the personological and psychopathological correlates of conspiracy beliefs

• Shall we serve the dark lords? A meta-analytic review of psychopathy and leadership

• Social economic decision-making and psychopathy: A systematic review and meta-analysis