Dark triad

The dark triad is a subject in psychology that focuses on three personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Use of the term "dark" implies that people possessing these traits have malevolent qualities:

All three dark triad traits are conceptually distinct although empirical evidence shows them to be overlapping. They are associated with a callous-manipulative interpersonal style. Additionally, psychopathy sometimes includes narcissism and Machiavellianism as possible traits. A factor analysis carried out at the Glasgow Caledonian University found that among the big five personality traits, low agreeableness is the strongest correlate of the dark triad, while neuroticism and a lack of conscientiousness were associated with some of the dark triad members.