Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T02:41:02.488Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Where the psychological adaptations hit the ecological road

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2017

Peter K. Jonason
Affiliation:
School of School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, [email protected]
David P. Schmitt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625. [email protected]://www.bradley.edu/academic/departments/psychology/faculty/profile.dot?id=132756

Abstract

We argue that the target authors focus too much on adaptive behavioral responses and not enough on actual psychological adaptations. We suggest the Dark Triad traits may represent facultative, psychological adaptations sensitive to seasonal variance and food shortages. We document that shorter distances from the equator are linked to higher national narcissism levels, whereas longer distances are associated with higher national-level machiavellianism. Dark Triad traits may serve as critical survival mechanisms when prioritizing oneself over and/or at the cost of others.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Christie, R. & Geis, F. L. (1970) Studies in Machiavellianism. Academic Press.Google Scholar
Crawford, C. B. & Anderson, J. L. (1989) Sociobiology: An environmentalist discipline. American Psychologist 44:1449–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hare, R. D. (1985) Comparison of procedures for the assessment of psychopathy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 53:716.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jonason, P. K., Duineveld, J. J. & Middleton, J. P. (2015a) Pathology, pseudopathology, and the Dark Triad of personality. Personality and Individual Differences 78:4347.Google Scholar
Jonason, P. K. & Ferrell, J. D. (2016) Looking under the hood: The psychogenic motivational foundations of the Dark Triad. Personality and Individual Differences 94:324–33.Google Scholar
Jonason, P. K., Li, N. P., Webster, G. W. & Schmitt, D. P. (2009) The Dark Triad: Facilitating short-term mating in men. European Journal of Personality 23:518.Google Scholar
Jonason, P. K. & Tost, J. (2010) I just cannot control myself: The Dark Triad and self-control. Personality and Individual Differences 49:611–15.Google Scholar
Jonason, P. K. & Webster, G. D. (2010) The Dirty Dozen: A concise measure of the Dark Triad. Psychological Assessment 22:420–32.Google Scholar
Jonason, P. K. & Webster, G. D. (2012) A protean approach to social influence: Dark Triad personalities and social influence tactics. Personality and Individual Differences 52:521–26.Google Scholar
Jonason, P. K., Webster, G. W., Schmitt, D. P., Li, N. P. & Crysel, L. (2012) The antihero in popular culture: A Life History Theory of the Dark Triad. Review of General Psychology 16:192–99.Google Scholar
Jonason, P. K., Wee, S. & Li, N. P. (2015b) Competition, autonomy, and prestige: Mechanisms through which the Dark Triad predict job satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences 72:112–16.Google Scholar
Paulhus, D. L., Hemphill, J. D. & Hare, R. D. (2009) Manual for the self-report psychopathy scale. Multi-Health Systems.Google Scholar
Paulhus, D. L. & Williams, K. M. (2002) The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality 36:556–63.Google Scholar
Raskin, R. & Terry, H. (1988) A principal components analysis of the narcissistic personality inventory and further evidence of its construct validity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54:890902.Google Scholar
Schmitt, D. P. (2015) The evolution of culturally-variable sex differences: Men and women are not always different, but when they are … it appears not to result from patriarchy or sex role socialization. In: The evolution of sexuality, ed.Weekes-Shackelford, V. A. & Shackelford, T. K., pp. 221–56. Springer.Google Scholar
Wai, M. & Tiliopoulos, N. (2012) The affective and cognitive empathic nature of the Dark Triad of personality. Personality and Individual Differences 52:794–99.Google Scholar