Today, let’s think together about the “Dark Tetrad.”
It’s not an exaggeration to say this represents the personality of villains.
When you hear “villain,” you might think of ruthless scoundrels from stories.
However, there are many people with “evil” personalities in the real world too.
Recently, psychologists have been focusing on four personality traits called the “Dark Tetrad.”
These are Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism.
The paper “Unpacking more “evil”: What is at the core of the dark tetrad?” explores the common characteristics of these “villain personalities.”
*The three traits excluding sadism are called the “Dark Triad.”
Research results show that the HEXACO six-dimensional personality model captures the essence of evil very well.
But you think it doesn’t relate to you? If that’s what you thought.
Actually, everyone’s heart has “dark” aspects to a greater or lesser extent.
Dark personality is a universal characteristic that we all possess, albeit to varying degrees.
Now, let’s embark on an adventure to explore the world of “evil” that you don’t know about yourself!
Once again, personality researcher and author of Villain Encyclopedia, Tokiwa (@etokiwa999), will provide the explanation.
※We have developed the HEXACO-JP Personality Assessment! It has more scientific basis than MBTI. Tap below for details.
目次
What is the Dark Tetrad that Forms Villain Personalities
Dark Tetrad “Machiavellianism” – Strategic and Cold Manipulation
Machiavellianism is a personality trait that strategically manipulates others and behaves coldly to achieve one’s own goals. It is characterized by rationally calculating benefits and costs and acting without being swayed by emotions.
Main characteristics of Machiavellianism:
- Skilled in the art of cleverly manipulating others
- Poor empathy and cold interpersonal attitude
- Selfish and prioritizing one’s own interests above all
- The ends justify the means
Furthermore, people high in Machiavellianism tend not to engage in prosocial behavior when not being watched by others.
This can be seen as evidence that they act based on cost-benefit calculations rather than conscience.
In the HEXACO model, Machiavellianism is characterized by significantly low “Honesty-Humility.”
In other words, it can be said to be a personality that exploits others while disliking being exploited themselves.
This egoistic and calculating personality is considered the essence of Machiavellianism.
Dark Tetrad “Psychopathy” – Impulsivity Lacking Remorse
Psychopathy refers to personality traits that lack remorse and empathy, and are prone to impulsive and antisocial behavior. It is characterized by difficulty feeling guilt and showing cold attitudes toward others’ suffering.
Main characteristics of psychopathy:
- Lack of conscience and moral sense
- Poor empathy and emotional coldness
- High impulsivity and risk-taking tendencies
- Affinity for antisocial and criminal behavior
Also, psychopathy is associated with moderate lows in “Honesty-Humility,” “Emotional Stability,” “Agreeableness,” and “Conscientiousness” in the HEXACO model.
They disregard being honest and sincere, and feel no hesitation in deceiving others.
Additionally, they also possess lazy and poorly planned aspects. Thus, psychopathy can be said to be a dangerous personality that is cold-hearted and lacks self-control.
The tendency to ignore social norms and prioritize one’s own desires is prominent.
Dark Tetrad “Narcissism” – Grandiose and Self-Centered Self-Love
Narcissism refers to personality traits with extremely strong self-love that are grandiose and self-centered.
It is characterized by believing oneself to be special and important, and constantly seeking admiration and praise from others.
Main characteristics of narcissism:
- Very high self-esteem
- Tendency to overestimate one’s abilities
- Poor empathy and compassion for others
- Constantly craving praise and attention
Furthermore, narcissism is also associated with significantly high extroversion, preferring to be sociable and attract attention. On the other hand, low “Honesty-Humility” and “Agreeableness” are also characteristic, possessing self-centered and selfish aspects.
There is a tendency to prioritize one’s own interests and not consider others’ feelings.
In essence, narcissism can be said to be a personality where self-love has become inflated and interest in others is thin.
A grandiose self-image that views oneself as special and constantly seeks admiration from others becomes problematic.
Dark Tetrad “Sadism”: Cruelty That Takes Joy in Others’ Suffering
Sadism is a personality trait that takes pleasure in others’ suffering and misfortune, which can also be rephrased as cruelty or abusiveness.
It is characterized by finding pleasure in hurting people and seeking to satisfy desires for dominance.
Main characteristics of sadism:
- Strong tendency to enjoy others’ pain
- Extremely high desire for dominance and superiority
- Poor empathy and lack of conscience
- Inherent aggression and violence
In the HEXACO model, sadism is associated with significantly low “Emotional Stability” (being mentally stable) and moderately low “Honesty-Humility,” “Agreeableness,” and “Conscientiousness,” and possesses self-centered, aggressive, and impulsive personality tendencies.
In other words, sadism can be said to be the most “cold-blooded” personality trait. It has an inhuman aspect that disregards others’ pain and even takes joy in it.
※Other patterns of darkness are introduced in the following article.
Various Models Explaining the Core of the Dark Tetrad
HEXACO Model: Low Honesty-Humility as the Key
The HEXACO model is a relatively new personality model that explains personality through six major personality traits.
In relation to the Dark Tetrad, which represents villainous personalities, low honesty-humility is considered particularly important.
The six dimensions of HEXACO:
- Honesty-Humility
- Emotionality
- Extraversion
- Agreeableness
- Conscientiousness
- Openness to Experience
Among these, honesty-humility represents being honest, sincere, and humble. What the Dark Tetrad has in common is remarkably low honesty-humility.
It can be said that dishonest, arrogant, and selfish personality traits are characteristic. The HEXACO model is considered to accurately capture the essence of dark personalities.
It may be a model more suitable for deeply understanding the “darkness” of personality than the Big Five model.
The HEXACO model is becoming an indispensable presence in exploring the core of the Dark Tetrad.
“Lack of Empathy Model”: Lack of Compassion as the Essence
The lack of empathy model is a theory that explains the core of the Dark Tetrad as a lack of empathy toward others.
It is considered characteristic to be remarkably poor at imagining others’ feelings or showing compassion.
Main elements of empathy:
- Emotional empathy: Sensing others’ emotions
- Perspective-taking: Thinking from others’ standpoint
- Compassion: Having a caring heart for others
People with Dark Tetrad traits can be said to have extremely low abilities in these areas. Particularly in psychopathy, “callous affect” is prominent, showing an indifferent attitude even toward others’ suffering.
Indeed, lack of empathy is considered to be the core of “evil.”
However, dark personalities have other characteristic aspects as well, and lack of empathy alone may not be sufficient to explain them fully.
The darkness of personality may involve even more complex factors.
Life History Strategy Model: Short-term and Exploitative Interpersonal Relationship Orientation
The life history strategy model is a theory that explains the core of the Dark Tetrad through short-term and exploitative interpersonal relationship orientation.
It is considered characteristic to prioritize immediate benefits and not hesitate to exploit others.
Main elements of the life history strategy model:
- Short-term orientation: Lacking long-term perspective
- Exploitative attitude: Using and outsmarting others
- Sexually promiscuous: Seeking short-term sexual relationships
This model considers that people with Dark Tetrad traits adopt a “fast” life history strategy. That is, they pursue immediate benefits and exploit others while being passive about building long-term human relationships.
In fact, the Dark Tetrad is also associated with short-term mating orientation.
However, it can be said that being exploitative in interpersonal relationships in general, beyond sexual aspects, is an important point.
Understanding dark personality requires focusing on interpersonal relationship patterns.
Genetic Factors of the Dark Triad
It is clear that genetic factors are greatly involved in Dark Triad traits.
Below, we organize the genetic factors for each trait in bullet points.
- Narcissism
- Heritability: 59%
- Non-shared environment: 41%
- Machiavellianism
- Heritability: 31%
- Shared environment: 39%
- Non-shared environment: 30%
- Psychopathy
- Heritability: 64%
- Shared environment: 4%
- Non-shared environment: 32%
Dark Triad traits involve both genetic and environmental factors.
Psychopathy in particular shows strong genetic influence. Environmental factors also affect each trait.
Understanding the Dark Tetrad through the HEXACO Model
Low Honesty-Humility: Dishonest and Conceited
In the HEXACO model, low honesty-humility is the characteristic most strongly associated with the Dark Tetrad.
They are characterized by disregarding honesty and humility, and believing without doubt that they are great.
Aspects where low honesty-humility manifests:
- Dishonesty: Willing to lie and deceive
- Conceit: Overestimating oneself
- Greed: Greedily pursuing financial gain
- Pretentiousness: Putting on airs to make oneself look good
In other words, people with Dark Tetrad traits can be said to lack honesty and humility, and will do anything for their own benefit. Excessive confidence and self-intoxication are also characteristic, with a tendency to look down on others.
In the HEXACO model, honesty-humility is positioned as a particularly important element among dark personality traits.
However, the Dark Tetrad has other characteristic aspects that shape each personality trait. While low honesty-humility is certainly fundamental, it is not the only factor.
Low Agreeableness: Irritable and Uncooperative
Agreeableness in the HEXACO model represents a cooperative and gentle personality.
On the other hand, people with Dark Tetrad traits generally have low agreeableness and are considered irritable and uncooperative.
Aspects where low agreeableness manifests:
- Hostility: Prone to harboring hostility toward others
- Quick temper: Unable to emotionally control anger
- Intolerance: Unable to tolerate others’ faults or mistakes
- Uncooperative: Dislike teamwork and cooperation
In other words, people with dark personalities tend to take aggressive and rebellious attitudes toward others. It can be said that they are characterized by explosive anger over trivial matters and easily creating friction with their surroundings.
In the HEXACO model, low agreeableness is considered a characteristic common to the Dark Tetrad in general.
However, the manifestation of non-cooperativeness may differ somewhat depending on each personality trait. For example, in narcissism, there is a tendency to become irritable when self-love is threatened.
On the other hand, in psychopathy, anger control may be ineffective due to callousness.
Low Conscientiousness: Lazy and Impulsive
Conscientiousness in the HEXACO model represents a serious and self-disciplined personality.
In contrast, people with Dark Tetrad traits are considered to have low conscientiousness and be lazy and impulsive.
Aspects where low conscientiousness manifests:
- Laziness: Neglects effort and tends to be idle
- Impulsive: Cannot control impulses and lacks thoughtfulness
- Unplanned: Lacks planning ability and steadiness
- Irresponsible: Has weak sense of responsibility and is unreliable
In other words, people with dark personality traits can be said to lack persistence and self-control, and tend to act on spur-of-the-moment thoughts.
In the HEXACO model, this characteristic is thought to be particularly prominent in psychopathy and sadism.
Weak impulse control is one of the important factors related to criminal risk.
However, Machiavellianism, for example, also has strategic and planning aspects, so it may not be accurate to say that conscientiousness is categorically low.
The relationship between dark personality traits and conscientiousness can be said to be an area that requires more detailed examination.
Individual Differences in Dark Tetrad
Psychopathy and Machiavellianism: Common Ground in Manipulation and Callousness
Psychopathy and Machiavellianism are noted to have particularly strong correlations among the Dark Tetrad. What they have in common is the skill of manipulating others and a callous lack of emotion.
Common points between psychopathy and Machiavellianism:
- Interpersonal manipulation: Skillfully controlling others
- Coldness: Shallow emotions, hard to be moved
- Lack of conscience: Doesn’t feel guilt or remorse
- Selfishness: Prioritizes own interests above all else
In other words, psychopathy and Machiavellianism can be said to have large overlapping areas in terms of cold manipulativeness.
They share the ability to manipulate people skillfully and the ruthlessness of not feeling moral pain.
In the HEXACO model as well, both share low honesty-humility and conscientiousness, which is theoretically supported.
However, there are also differences in detailed characteristics such as the level of impulsivity.
Psychopathy and Machiavellianism should be considered as independent personality concepts that are closely related but not identical.
Narcissism: Characterized by High Need for Attention
Narcissism is a personality trait with extremely strong self-love and particularly prominent high need for attention.
Among the Dark Tetrad, it gives a somewhat different impression in terms of lack of interest in others.
Characteristic aspects of narcissism:
- Need for attention: Constantly wants to attract attention
- Need for admiration: Excessively seeks praise and admiration
- Exhibitionism: Tries to make oneself look good
- Sense of superiority: Believes they are superior to others
In other words, narcissists believe themselves to be special and important beings, constantly seeking attention from others.
In the HEXACO model, narcissism is also related to high extroversion, supporting the characteristic of being sociable and attention-seeking.
On the other hand, low honesty-humility is also characteristic, and it can be said that they have self-centered and arrogant aspects.
However, the relationship between narcissism and other dark traits is relatively weak, and it is also considered to be somewhat different among the Dark Tetrad.
The “evil” of narcissism may stem from excessive self-love.
Sadism: Extremely Strong Callousness
Everyday sadism is a personality trait that finds joy in making others suffer, and may be the most “cruel” among the Dark Tetrad.
It is characterized by particularly extreme emotional callousness.
Manifestations of callousness in sadism:
- Ruthlessness: Calmly watching others suffer
- Mercilessness: Lacks compassion for those who suffer
- Indifference: Extremely lacking in capacity for emotion
- Indifference: Remarkably little interest in others
In other words, for sadists, the pain of others does not move their hearts at all, but rather brings them pleasure. In the HEXACO model, low honesty-humility is most strongly associated with sadism, supporting the lack of empathy.
Similarities with psychopathy have also been pointed out, and they are thought to share cold characteristics.
However, sadism has an active desire to make others suffer, which distinguishes it from passive indifference.
Rather, it might be said to be a typical example of active and aggressive “evil.”
Significance and Prospects of Dark Tetrad Research
Dark Tetrad research plays an important role in understanding the mechanisms of antisocial behavior.
In particular, the relationship with criminal behavior, delinquency, and aggression has attracted attention.
Relationships between the Dark Tetrad and antisocial behavior:
- Criminal risk: Prone to engaging in criminal acts
- Delinquent tendencies: Tend to disregard rules and norms
- Aggression: Prone to attacking others with words or actions
- Exploitativeness: Strong tendency to use and outwit others
People with dark personalities have a high risk of engaging in antisocial behavior because they ignore social rules and prioritize their own desires.
This is thought to involve factors such as lack of empathy, absence of remorse, and weak impulse control.
Dark Tetrad research provides clues to understanding the psychological mechanisms behind such antisocial behavior.
In the future, it is expected to be applied to crime prevention and rehabilitation programs. Understanding dark personalities should also contribute to building a better society.
Potential for Clinical Application: As a Dark Tetrad Assessment Tool
Dark Tetrad research holds potential for application in personality assessment in clinical settings.
In particular, using the HEXACO model might allow for more detailed measurement and evaluation of dark personality traits.
Advantages of the HEXACO model:
- Comprehensive: Covers a wide range of personality traits
- Simple: Can be easily measured with questionnaires
- Applicable to non-clinical populations: Can target general people
- Specialized for dark traits: Can accurately capture the core of evil
The HEXACO model can be said to be suitable for assessing dark traits because it can accurately measure low honesty-humility, which is the core of the Dark Tetrad.
It can also be used to discover the Light Triad, which is the opposite of darkness.
In the future, it is expected to be utilized for screening dark personality disorders and measuring treatment effects.
However, this will require the accumulation of research data on clinical populations.
The clinical application of the Dark Tetrad can be said to still be a developing field.
Finally
So, has your understanding of the Dark Tetrad and HEXACO model deepened?
The coldness of Machiavellianism, the impulsivity of psychopathy, the self-love of narcissism, the cruelty of sadism.
These are all terrifying traits lurking in the darkness of the human heart.
However, dark personalities are not simply “evil.”
As the HEXACO model shows, they are shaped by the balance of various personality traits such as honesty-humility, conscientiousness, and agreeableness.
Furthermore, research on dark personalities also helps in understanding and preventing antisocial behavior.
The characteristics of the Dark Tetrad often lurk behind crime and delinquency.
If you still don’t know your dark side, please try taking the HEXACO psychological test (here).
You might discover a new aspect of your personality.
Dark Tetrad research is a grand adventure that approaches the mysteries of the human mind.
May each and every one of us confront the darkness within ourselves and walk toward a better life.
Writer & Supervisor: Eisuke Tokiwa
Personality Psychology Researcher / CEO, SUNBLAZE Inc.
As a child he experienced poverty, domestic abuse, bullying, truancy and dropping out of school — first-hand exposure to a range of social problems. He spent 10 years researching these issues and published Encyclopedia of Villains through Jiyukokuminsha. Since then he has independently researched the determinants of social problems and antisocial behavior (work, education, health, personality, genetics, region, etc.) and has published 2 peer-reviewed journal articles (Frontiers in Psychology, IEEE Access). His goal is to predict the occurrence of social problems. Spiky profile (WAIS-IV).
Expertise: Personality Psychology / Big Five / HEXACO / MBTI / Prediction of Social Problems
Researcher profiles: ORCID / Google Scholar / ResearchGate
Social & Books: X (@etokiwa999) / note / Amazon Author Page