How Dark is the Dark Triad (Interview)?.

When recruiting, some recruiters will only use a semi-structured or structured interview technique, while some will also opt for psychometric assessment before the interview itself. I would personally prefer a psychometric assessment, but both decisions are fine if they are informed decisions.

Those who rely on psychometric testing will definitely review the BIG5 assessment results. BIG5, BFI, the Big Five Model is currently the most widely accepted personality theory and psychometric instrument. I wrote more about this in Ocean's 11(5). What will surely catch our attention are the dimensions of conscientiousness and emotional stability.

In principle, it's important for us to have higher values on both dimensions, as this means our employee is less impulsive, goal-oriented, and organized, and more calm, confident, and better able to control negative emotions and stress.

However, what do these results tell us about the dark side of personality, for example, in the context of the Dark Triad? The Dark Triad has always fascinated everyone and will remain an inexhaustible source of analysis in industrial-organizational psychology. Today, it is also pertinent to discuss these dark sides in the context of emotionally intelligent leaders, inclusion, and a healthy corporate climate... The Dark Triad is a concept consisting of three personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), which are not included in most dominant trait models of personality, but represent a useful source of information about individual differences in personality, specifically, and it is particularly important to emphasize this, in a non-clinical population.

The Dark Triad of personality, a relatively new psychological concept, represents a complex idea resulting from the collaboration between psychologist Delroy Paulhus and his then-student Kevin Williams. This concept encompasses three key personality traits that are often found together – Machiavellianism, subclinical narcissism, and subclinical psychopathy (Paulhus and Williams, 2002).

• Machiavellianism: Manipulation and Cynicism

Machiavellianism, one of the key components of the Dark Triad, describes people who are prone to manipulation, deception, and exploiting others to achieve their own interests. Individuals with prominent Machiavellian characteristics often hold a cynical attitude towards moral norms and are solely focused on their self-interest (Furnham, Richards, and Paulhus, 2013). The name originates from the Italian Renaissance diplomat and writer Machiavelli, whose advice to rulers often involved cruel and immoral methods of preserving power, such as eliminating political rivals (Muris, Merckelbach, Otgaar, and Meijer, 2017).

• Narcissism: Grandiosity and Dominance

Narcissism, the second element of the Dark Triad, manifests through a sense of personal grandiosity, superiority, and dominance over others (Furnham, Richards, and Paulhus, 2013). The name comes from the Greek myth of Narcissus, a young hunter who was blinded by his own beauty and greatness, ignoring the love and affection of others (Campbell, Miller, and Buffardi, 2010). Individuals with narcissistic traits often strive to maintain an image of their own exceptionalism, ignoring the needs and feelings of others.

• Psychopathy: Lack of Empathy and Impulsivity

Psychopathy, considered the “darkest” trait of the Dark Triad, encompasses a lack of empathy, shame, guilt, and remorse. Psychopaths are often impulsive, thrill-seeking, and exhibit a lack of moral inhibitions (Furnham, Richards, and Paulhus, 2013). The concept of psychopathy originates from psychiatric practice, where it developed through systematic observation of patients with pronounced psychopathic characteristics (Muris et al., 2017).

When discussing psychopathy, it might be better to talk about specific personality traits rather than simplifying it to high or low emotional stability. However, here's how some aspects are often connected with these disorders:

• Psychopathy:

Psychopaths are often known for low emotional stability, meaning they tend to be impulsive and often show a lack of guilt or remorse for their actions, yet they don't necessarily rank low on the emotional stability dimension.

• Narcissism:

Narcissists are often perceived as emotionally unstable, but in a different sense than psychopaths. They are often very sensitive to loneliness, where their emotional stability is compromised when they are not given enough attention or when their grandiose self-image is challenged.

When it comes to conscientiousness, the situation can also be different.

• Psychopathy:

Psychopaths typically have a low level of conscientiousness. This means it is difficult for them to maintain structure in their lives, even if they desire it, and that they are impulsive and do not show a strong sense of responsibility towards others. Due to attempts to maintain structure in their lives, their conscientiousness might even be high (but towards themselves).

• Narcissism:

There can also be variation here. Some narcissists may show a high level of conscientiousness in the sense that they want to achieve high goals and be successful, while others, given their grandiose self-image, may not pay as much attention to organization and responsibility.

And of course, all this applies to one single condition: that they answered the self-assessment questions within the BIG5 accurately :)

Research by Paulhus and Williams (2002) analyzed the presence of Dark Triad personality traits in relation to the dimensions of the BIG5 personality model. Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy showed moderate to high intercorrelations (0.25 to 0.50), while the only significant correlation with the BIG5 personality model was a negative correlation between the agreeableness trait and the Dark Triad traits (from -0.25 to -0.47).

Furthermore, research by Muris et al. (2017) replicated the original results, revealing average intercorrelations of the Dark Triad traits ranging from moderate to high. Narcissism and Machiavellianism correlated on average 0.34, narcissism and psychopathy 0.38, and Machiavellianism and psychopathy 0.58. Correlations with agreeableness ranged from -0.21 to -0.46. Regarding the BIG5 personality model, narcissism positively correlated with extraversion, while there was a smaller negative association of Machiavellianism and psychopathy with conscientiousness. Individuals with Dark Triad features are on average less agreeable and conscientious than the rest of the population.

Some newer works use the HEXACO personality model with an additional dimension of honesty/humility. The average correlations of Dark Triad traits with this dimension range from -0.41 to -0.61, indicating that individuals with pronounced Dark Triad traits are less honest, fair, and modest, and more prone to greed compared to the population average.

Interview

Either way, BIG5 alone cannot be an indicator of how high or low a person is on the Dark Triad personality spectrum, but it can signal caution during an interview.

Before I go further, I will focus on the word anxiety. Namely, individuals with lower emotional stability scores, or a tendency towards neuroticism, may more often experience anxiety or feelings of unease.

The word “anxiety” is often used as a synonym for “unease” or “apprehension”. Both terms describe a psychological state encompassing feelings of worry, fear, nervousness, or tension. Anxiety can have varying levels of severity, from milder feelings of unease to more serious anxiety disorders. In general speech, these terms are often used interchangeably to describe similar emotional reactions or states related to future potentially stressful situations.

The absence of anxiety during a job interview can indicate a dark personality.

Candidates with dark personality traits, specifically narcissism and psychopathy, are highly unlikely to show signs of anxiety during a job interview; in fact, they typically present as very comfortable in high-stress situations where they are the center of attention.

Situations like job interviews should not be perceived as not carrying a certain amount of stress, and describing such a candidate as someone with “excellent emotional management skills” or “good stress management” can be quite misleading.

When interviewing for managerial positions, excessive confidence and a calm demeanor are often mistaken for good leadership skills, and this doesn't necessarily lead to a good leader.

While managing one's emotions can be presented as a good people management skill, the absence of emotions is not a sign of good leadership.

Good leaders need emotions to connect with employees.

Showing signs of stress and anxiety during a job interview is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of a normal human reaction to a high-stress situation.

People with dark personality traits cannot experience many human emotions.

Unfortunately, research has shown a strong positive bias towards candidates who do not show signs of stress or anxiety during interviews.

A combination of charisma, grandiose promises, self-promotion skills, and very low anxiety during an interview, followed by a lack of empathy, modesty, and honesty, should not indicate something super cool.

Such candidates should not be perceived as more successful or attributed with a higher likelihood of success.

Preferring candidates who remain strictly calm and strictly controlled during job interviews increases the risk of hiring someone with a dark personality trait.

Therefore, structured interviews using questions based on past behaviors and assessing position-related competencies will help us reduce biases introduced by candidates with dark personality traits, because… let's not forget about manipulativeness.

Structured Interview

• “Can you describe a situation where you had to adapt your approach to work to achieve team goals? How did you identify the need for change and how did your contribution help the project succeed?”

This question aims to assess the candidate's adaptability, initiative, and contribution to team goals. The candidate should convey a specific experience and describe their ability to adapt to changes and work effectively in a team.

• “Tell us about a situation where you had to manage a conflict among team members. How did you identify the source of the conflict, and what steps did you take to resolve it and maintain team engagement and productivity?”

This question explores conflict resolution, communication, and team leadership skills. The candidate should provide an example of a situation where they faced conflict and describe their approach to problem-solving and building a positive work environment.

Through such questions, a structured interview allows for the assessment of actual achievements, behaviors, and competencies of candidates, helping recruiters make informed hiring decisions regardless of potential biases (which we have).