The Dark Triad and compassion: Psychopathy and narcissism's unique connections to observed suffering

Abstract

Past studies have linked the Dark Triad (DT) traits to dispositional empathy, but not to compassionate feelings in response to observed suffering. To fill this void in the literature, we examined the influence of the DT traits on state compassion using validated film methodology. One hundred and fifty-six college students viewed a movie scene of a distraught child watching his father die. The results revealed that while psychopathy was a negative predictor of compassion for the child, narcissism was a positive predictor. These DT traits explained compassion beyond the contribution of demographics, grief symptoms, and trait compassion. Furthermore, empathic and emotion processes uniquely mediated each of the DT and compassion connections. We discuss our results in terms of the callousness theory of DT and narcissism's positive correlation with compassion and empathy.