Dark Tetrad and Empathy: The Interrelationship of Narcissism, Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and Sadism With Affective and Cognitive Empathy

Abstract

The Dark Triad, coined by Paulhus and Williams in 2002, consists of nonclinical psychopathy (violent tendencies and a lack of remorse), nonclinical narcissism (entitlement and need for admiration), and Machiavellianism (ruthlessness and exploitation) and others expanded it to include a fourth construct of sadism (pleasure in other’s suffering). Although the common unpinning of the Dark Tetrad is a lack of empathy, little empirical research has investigated the interrelationship among the components of the Dark Tetrad once empathy is delineated into affective (feeling another’s emotions) and cognitive (understanding another’s emotions) aspects. The purpose of this study was to determine the interrelationship of the Dark Tetrad and affective and cognitive empathy. Over 250 participants completed measures used to assess these constructs. We hypothesized that the Dark Tetrad would be inversely related to affective empathy, but Machiavellianism and narcissism would be positively related to cognitive empathy. The hypotheses were partially supported. Sequential (hierarchical) multiple regression yielded psychopathy, β = –.29, t(259) = –3.97, p = .001, narcissism, β = .20, t(260) = 3.26, p = .001, and Machiavellianism, β = –.17, t(259) = –2.46, p = .02, were significant negative predictors of affective empathy. Multiple linear regression yielded psychopathy, β = –.31, t(260) = 4.01, p < .001, was a negative predictor whereas narcissism, β=. 13, t(260) = 2.10, p = .04, was a positive predictor of cognitive empathy. Theoretical explanations to account for both negative and positive associations of the Dark Tetrad include empathic inducement or the ability to manipulate others by overwhelming them with emotions to solicit a sympathetic response. Future research should seek to examine the differing relationships among these traits, specifically narcissism as it manifests both negative and positive attributes of empathy simultaneously.