If you are in a relationship and you have ever felt unsafe or insecure, chances are that you might be with someone that has a dark triad personality. This can be a family member, friend or even a lover. This kind of personality can bring down any kind of good relationship because they are often narcissists or even psychopaths.
A dark triad personality is one that is manipulative, one that has no empathy for others and one that thinks that they have to have all of the attention. We all fall into this in some way but those that have higher levels of this personality trait are destructive in any kind of relationship that they get in. They are often liars, cheaters, jealous and out to seek revenge on those that they feel hurt them.
Most people have been in one or more relationships that they wish that they had never been in but sometimes we go too far because we don’t want to be alone or are afraid of facing change. You might have been with someone that you felt attracted to and that you felt had a chemistry that you couldn’t break but something caused the relationship not to work. These kinds of relationship breakups happen and even though they can hurt for a moment, there is not much harm that was done. The worse is that you wasted some time with them.
Relationships that are dark though are different. You might have loved this person with everything in you but one day you wake up feeling scared, insecure or unsafe. This can mean that your partner might have a dark triad personality.
What is a Dark Triad Personality?
This is the kind of personality that can be dangerous for any relationship. This is often a person that is a narcissist, someone that is a psychopath or even Machiavellianism. These three personality traits often come together in one and this was a term that was made by psychologists in 2002, Paulhus and Williams.
What is Machiavellianism
This kind of personality was named after Niccolò Machiavelli who was an Italian political person that would deceive people to have power. His name works with this personality trait because it shows a person that is manipulative.
These people will often gather information about a person to use it against them later, they will flatter people so that they love them, and they will do whatever it takes to get someone on their side.
What is Psychopathy?
A psychopath isn’t just someone that kills people, but they are people that are impulsive, and they often go out and seek to have some kind of thrill in their life. They are revenge getters, and they like to pay people back when they are mistreated.
This personality will often be out of control, and they enjoy destructive behavior such as having sex with multiple people. Not everyone that has sex with strangers is a psychopath but when someone takes high risks and engages in risks then chances are that they are on the personality trait of a psychopath.
Narcissism
A person that is a narcissist is someone that wants to have all of the attention and someone that wants to be high class and important. When they aren’t, they are mean to others. This term was coined after a Greek mythological hunter, Narcissus who loved himself so much that he fell in love with his reflection.
When a narcissist doesn’t get what they want, they will think that you don’t like them because they are too important, that they are talented, they are the reason that people come around.
Having these things in a personality can cause that person to be dominant and to try to control things. They do things that make them be attractive. Most of the time, these personality traits can come together, and this can be where the dark triad personality comes from. When it goes high though, it can be hurtful to those around them.
Patterns of This Personality Type
There are patterns that you can see with someone that has a dark triad personality such as:
Lying
A person with this type of personality is often deceptive. They will say whatever they want to say and will never tell the truth. They will be good at what they say, and people will believe them. When they are narcissistic too, they lie about how popular they are, and a psychopath will lie for no reason.
It is hard to trust someone that has this personality trait and when you catch them in their lies, you will start to lose trust with them. No matter how small or big the lies are, the security seems to diminish.
Being Cheaters
Most of these personality people will cheat. They will have different partners because they have no care about hurting you. They will cheat more if they are a psychopath, but they will do what they can to keep their current relationship working, too.
When they are caught, they will manipulate their partner to make them think that it is their fault and that they cheated because of them.
Seeking Revenge or Overly Jealous
Even though this person is probably cheating, they will be jealous of anyone that talks to you. They will want to have revenge on anyone that talks about them. They would want revenge no matter what happens, but they don’t want to end the relationship even if their partner cheated on them. They just want to be in control.
Fake Relationships
These people have a hard time really devoting to their partner. They commit to the relationship but only because it serves them. They will have needs that aren’t being met and they will go with others that are meeting those needs even if their partner is doing things right.
People with this personality will often have shallow relationships and will go out with people just to have sex with them. When you are friends with a Machiavellian, you will need to be high in the social status and they will believe that you are only important if you are important to others. They will never feel that an average person is good enough for them.
Short-Term Relationships
When you look at the relationships of a dark triad personality, you will see that these relationships don’t last very long. They will be short term because they are hard to get along with. They are people that never seem to agree with you but if they do agree with you then chances are they are just trying to get something.
This personality is often uncaring, will do things to hurt you like call you names or accuse you of things. They will do things that stress you out quickly in the relationship and you will know exactly who they are.
