Different types of narcissism relate to mood; agreeableness and positive mood lower in Dark Dyad

What is it about?

The Dark Triad has three components, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Narcissism. In this study we examined the degree to which personality traits (agreeableness, neuroticism, extroversion, openness, and conscientiousness), happiness, and subjective well-being interact. We found that narcissism was the lightest "Dark Triad" trait, and the two types of grandiose and vulnerable narcissism could be shown through differences in mood or personality. High agreeableness and positive mood are negative predictors of psychopathy and Machiavellianism known as the "Dark Dyad".

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Why is it important?

We used two techniques to explore the relationships between the "Dark Triad" traits, personality, and mood. The first, structural equation modelling revealed there were two latent variables to explain relationships, one of positive mood, and one of a "dark dyad" of only Machiavellianism and psychopathy, which correlated with a separate construct of narcissism. We also used latent profile analysis to characterise people into groups which maximise the similarity across personality, dark triad traits, and wellbeing within a group, but maximise the difference between groups. There were four groups called "unhappy but not narcissistic", "vulnerable narcissism", "happy non-narcissism", and "grandiose narcisissm". More problematic narcissism groups can be identified through mood states and personality traits.