The Dark Empath: Characterising dark traits in the presence of empathy (2023)

Dissociating the Dark Empath from the traditional dark triad (with empathy deficits), one would expect some general trait differences in terms of the five-factor model (FFM) of personality. Firstly, meta-analyses (O'Boyle, Forsyth, Banks, Story, & White, 2015; see also Vize, Lynam, Collison, & Miller, 2018 for similar results) support strong links between low Agreeableness (A) and DT traits, particularly Machiavellianism. Accordingly, Antagonism is proposed as a “Dark Core” (Vize, Collison, Miller, & Lynam, 2019). Machiavellianism and psychopathy appear most similar in their FFM profile, with reliable negative associations with Conscientiousness (C), whilst Narcissism is related more to Extraversion and Openness (only weakly with C). Weaker associations are seen with Neuroticism (N; positive for Psychopathy and Machiavellianism, negative for Narcissism). However, large credibility intervals indicate N as a moderator – at least for psychopathy and Machiavellianism (O'Boyle et al., 2015). In other words, in some subpopulations, dark traits may present with exceedingly high levels of N, in others with very low N (Czibor et al., 2017; Miller et al., 2010). Indeed, primary and secondary psychopathy are distinguished by opposite relations to N and anxiety (e.g., Falkenbach, Reinhard, & Zappala, 2019; Skeem, Poythress, Edens, Lilienfeld, & Cale, 2003). Whilst affective empathy is most strongly associated with A, it has also been linked to increased N, whereas cognitive empathy has been negatively associated with N (Melchers et al., 2016). Thus, whether the presence of empathy in conjunction with the dark triad is reflected in different FFM profiles (e.g., higher levels of A and N) needs to be determined.

The DT are implicated in several aggressive behaviours. Psychopathy is the strongest predictor of physical and premeditated aggression (Jones & Neria, 2015; Lämmle, Oedl, & Ziegler, 2014; Muris, Merckelbach, Otgaar, & Meijer, 2017; Paulhus, Curtis, & Jones, 2018) and bullying behaviours in adults (Baughman, Dearing, Giammarco, & Vernon, 2012). Narcissism may mediate aggression in response to ego-threat (Jones & Paulhus, 2010) and, along with Machiavellianism, promote indirect methods of intimidation (Baughman et al., 2012). Both psychopathy and Machiavellianism have been associated with increased relational aggression (damaging relationships and social status, such as peer group exclusion, rumour spreading, gossiping) in, adults (Abell & Brewer, 2014; Heym, Firth, et al., 2019) and children (Kerig & Stellwagen, 2010).

Empathy has been traditionally viewed as a key trait in mitigating aggression (e.g., Heym, Firth, et al., 2019; Miller & Eisenberg, 1988). According to the Violence Inhibition Mechanism model (VIM; Blair, 1995), impairment in the recognition and affective empathic response to distress cues (e.g., fearful or sad facial expressions) are thought to underpin physical aggression in psychopathy (Blair, 2005; Blair et al., 2004). However, whether VIM is relevant outside the context of psychopathy and physical aggression is unclear. Moreover, cognitive (rather than affective) empathy deficits have been shown to partially mediate the relationship between indirect interpersonal aggression and dark traits – at least for psychopathy and Machiavellianism (Heym, Firth, et al., 2019). However, a recent meta-analysis (86 studies) revealed only a weak (mean effect size of −0.11, though still statistically significant) association between (multiple types of) empathy and aggression, which was generalised across age, race and sex (Vachon, Lynam, & Johnson, 2014). Thus, whether the presence of empathy in conjunction with the dark triad is reflected in reduced aggression in the Dark Empath needs to be determined.

Investigation of the Dark Empath may have implications for understanding increased risk for vulnerable dark traits (Miller et al., 2010), which include aspects of secondary psychopathy (impulsivity, emotional dysregulation), vulnerable/covert (in contrast to grandiose) narcissism and borderline personality traits. Vulnerable dark traits manifest significant positive relations to Neuroticism and several aspects of wellbeing (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress, self-compassion; Barry, Loflin, & Doucette, 2015; Miller et al., 2010; Miller, Gentile, Wilson, & Campbell, 2013), which in turn have been associated with increased affective empathy (Heym et al., 2019; Melchers et al., 2016). Nevertheless, empathy did not strongly differentiate grandiose from vulnerable narcissism, though they did load slightly more on the former (0.35) than the latter (0.29; Miller et al., 2013). Thus, it is not clear whether the capacity to empathise may put the Dark Empath at increased risk of vulnerability.

Recent models highlight the interplay between empathy and self-compassion in the development of mood disorders, including depression, whereby greater capacity for affective empathy might underpin greater risk of depression (Schreiter, Pijnenborg, & Aan Het Rot, 2013). However, the literature on the role of empathy in wellbeing is mixed with reports of some facets, particularly cognitive empathy, reducing risk. For example, harsher self-judgment and over-identification with one's own thoughts (as indicators of low self-compassion) were linked to affective empathy, whilst only self-judgment together with reduced cognitive empathy predicted increased cognitive depression (Heym, Heasman, et al., 2019). Moreover, impoverished affect may manifest as poor empathy and negative symptoms in depression, such as social anhedonia (Wang, Neumann, Shum, et al., 2013) and poor affiliative reward, which has been proposed to underpin CU traits (Waller & Wagner, 2019). In this case, the lack of empathy in conjunction with dark traits might be predicted to be associated with poorer wellbeing. Indeed, the traditional DT constructs Machiavellianism and psychopathy (but not narcissism) have shown significant positive associations with internalising in a recent meta-analysis (Vize et al., 2018) and large cohort (n=791; Gómez-Leal et al., 2019) studies. In any case, whether the presence/absence of empathy in conjunction with the dark traits reflects a predisposition to vulnerable traits and wellbeing remains to be determined.

A series of studies are presented that investigate conjoined trait empathy and the dark triad. Latent profile analysis is applied to a large dataset to identify latent groups based on scores for empathy and the dark traits (study 1). Subsequent studies investigate differences across latent classes in (i) the big five personality traits and indirect relational aggression (study 2); (ii) sub-facets of dark traits (i.e. vulnerable vs grandiose narcissism, primary vs secondary psychopathy, Machiavellian tactics, morality and views; study 3); and (iii) related aspects of wellbeing (depression, anxiety, stress, anhedonia, self-judgment, over-identification; study 4).

Methods

Data were compiled across 4 cross-sectional online psychometrics studies. For all studies, ethical approvals were obtained from the University Ethics Committees.

Discussion

The current study is the first to identify and characterise the Dark Empath, a novel psychological construct that describes a subpopulation who demonstrate a cluster of dark personality traits (psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism) combined with elevated levels of empathy. This contrasts the traditional conceptualisation of the Dark Triad (DT) with reduced levels of empathy – a group also identified in the latent class analysis; alongside Empaths (high in empathy, low in dark traits)

Summary and conclusion

This is the first study to identify and characterise the Dark Empath, a novel psychological construct with elevated levels of psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism in the presence of empathy. The Dark Empath differs from the traditional Dark Triad with respect to general personality profile (higher E, lower A), lower levels of interpersonal aggression and better wellbeing (e.g., lower anxiety and anhedonia), suggesting a more adaptive level in psychosocial functioning. However, the

Credit authorship contribution statement

Nadja Heym: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Fraenze Kibowski: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Claire A.J. Bloxsom: Data curation. Alyson Blanchard: Data curation, Formal Analysis, Writing - original draft. Alexandra Harper: Data curation, Writing - original draft. Louise Wallace: Writing - original draft. Jennifer