The Dark Tetrad Personality Transcript

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As a quick disclaimer, this video is meant for informative purposes only. Do not use the information in this video to diagnose yourself or others. Now let’s continue!

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We can all think of people throughout our lives that have done bad things. Have you or someone you know been manipulated, or acted selfishly and disregard the wants and needs of others? Or perhaps you’ve been exposed to someone who takes pleasure in other people’s suffering? These are all toxic behaviors that hurt others. They are shocking tendencies that are not just isolated instances, but personality traits. Specifically, dark personality traits. Over the years, psychologists have noticed patterns and have narrowed down tendencies to four categories, known as the “dark tetrad.”

What Is the Dark Tetrad?
The dark tetrad is an evolution of the dark triad: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. Now added to this list, is sadism. These four traits are believed to serve as the core of humanity’s dark side. Each trait is believed to be tied with one another, meaning that someone who shows one part of the tetrad, is likely to showcase another. Each of the four traits is defined as follows:

Narcissism: Egocentrism and need for admiration.
Psychopathy: Lacking empathy and regard to ethics.
Machiavellianism: Manipulative and feelings of entitlement.
Sadism: Desire to hurt others mentally, emotionally, and/or physically.

With that said, here are seven signs of a dark tetrad personality.

ONE. They have extremely selfish behaviors.
When you're highly narcissistic, you put your own self-interest before others. You don’t take how others feel into any type of consideration, and you want for anything that you feel will benefit yourself first and foremost. Whether it’s fame, prestige, or wealth, you don’t want to share it with anyone else but yourself.

TWO. They lack empathy.
Lacking empathy is a huge factor in the dark tetrad. When you lack empathy, you tend to hold little regard for the feelings of others. You see no problem in taking advantage of people and care very little for other’s hardships. With low empathy and self-centeredness, you feel that the rest of the world doesn’t matter and your selfishness always puts your own feelings ahead of others, no matter the situation.

THREE. They try to spite you.
When someone with the dark tetrad doesn’t get their way, they can resort to nasty tactics to get back at you. They are willing to go out of their way to harm others for their revenge. Their selfishness, entitlement, and lack of ethics allows them to get back at others without an ounce of guilt.

FOUR. They feel entitled.
Despite how horrible their actions and behaviors are, the dark tetrad feels that they are justified. With their selfish nature and lack of empathy, they feel that it’s alright to use and abuse others for their own gain. They cannot accept responsibility or feel remorse for their actions, because deep down they feel that they’re truly in the right.

FIVE. They are manipulative.
When a dark tetrad personality type uses manipulation, they are using you as a means to an end. They don’t care about what you want or feel, they just want to reach their own goals and will exploit you and deceive you to do so. They tend to act more calculated and show no remorse for their actions and may resort to actions that cause you extreme psychological, emotional, or physical strain in order to get what they want from you.

SIX. They take pleasure in causing pain.
Sadistic people, unfortunately, get pleasure out of hurting others. They may act physically, verbally, or emotionally violent in direct or indirect ways. More indirectly, they want to humiliate others. But more directly, they will intentionally inflict physical, sexual, or psychological pain or suffering on you in order to assert power and dominance or for pleasure and enjoyment. They typically have a longstanding pattern of cruel or demeaning behavior towards others.

SEVEN. They are unethical.
If someone has such little regard for others, they put themselves first in any situation, and they use people to their advantage, it is also likely that they don’t care for the principles of right and wrong. They don’t care much for their own morality or the morality of their actions. This is what allows them to manipulate, hurt, and belittle you without any guilt or remorse.

OUTRO: People with these traits may be unaware that they are different or are aware and they take pride in their awful behaviors. They might refuse to accept help or even acknowledge their bad behavior and continue to hurt people.

So, what do you think about the dark tetrad? Have you experienced anyone like this? Can you think of any other signs we might have missed? Please like and share this video if it helped you and you think it can help someone else, too! The studies and references used are listed in the description below. Don’t forget to hit the subscribe button for more Psych2Go videos. Thank you for watching! We’ll see you next time!


References:

Dodgson, Lindsay. “The 9 Dark Personality Traits of Narcissists, Psychopaths, and Sociopaths – and What They Mean.” Insider, Insider, 8 Oct. 2018, www.insider.com/dark-tetrad-personality-traits-what-they-are-and-what-they-mean-2018-10#machiavellianism-2.
Emamzadeh, Arash. “Should the Dark Triad Become the Dark Tetrad?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 11 Oct. 2019, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-new-home/201910/should-the-dark-triad-become-the-dark-tetrad.
Hammond, Christine. “The Dark Tetrad: Possibly THE Scariest Boss.” The Exhausted Woman, 29 June 2019, pro.psychcentral.com/exhausted-woman/2015/11/the-dark-tetrad-possibly-the-scariest-boss/.
Mind Tools Content Team. “Understanding the Dark Triad: Managing ‘Dark’ Personality Traits.” MindTools.com, 2020, www.mindtools.com/pages/article/understanding-dark-triad.htm.
University of Copenhagen. “Psychologists define the ‘dark core of personality’.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 September 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180926110841.htm>.
Emamzadeh, A. (2019, October 11). Should the Dark Triad Become the Dark Tetrad?. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-new-home/201910/should-the-dark-triad-become-the-dark-tetrad