What if it turns out that we’re more in control of our personality traits than we think we are — even the dark ones?
A study published recently in the Journal of Personality by Nathan Hudson, an assistant professor of psychology at SMU, found that behavioral exercises geared toward accentuating kindness and empathy also reduced levels of three personality traits collectively known as the “dark triad.”
His findings may lay the groundwork for critical future research as well as therapeutic treatments.
The eerily named trio of personality traits comprises narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism. But before we roll out a montage of horror movie scenes and merciless CEOs, it’s important to note that most of us carry all three of these traits to different extents. In fact, these traits exist in most of us within a range.
“Depression is a spectrum and you can be anywhere from not at all depressed, to severely depressed, or anywhere in between. The same thing can be said for [a trait] like psychopathy,” said Hudson.
And in small doses, some of these traits may even seem a bit desirable. Personality and personality disorders can be understood as “constellations of very basic traits,” said Donald Lynam, professor of psychology at Purdue University. He was not involved in the SMU study.
The problem really comes when these traits are too strong. People who score high in the dark triad traits experience issues in several aspects of their lives, including relationships, career and emotional stability.
Once we begin to demystify aspects of our personality in this way, another surprising reality emerges: Our personalities, which we typically consider to be set in stone, can change. The bigger question then becomes: Do we want to change?
The potential for change — as illuminated by the SMU study — is dependent on our desire to change: a both exciting and daunting idea.
Hudson set out to answer three main questions in his study: 1) Do people want to change their levels of the dark triad? 2) Does a person’s desire to change their levels of the dark triad predict the extent to which they do or do not change? 3) Does an effort to change behaviors related to the “Big Five” personality traits affect the dark triad? (The “Big Five” personality traits emerged in the 1940s and have been used to measure and categorize personality using: agreeableness, conscientiousness, confidence, extraversion, openness to experience, and neuroticism.)
Although further research is needed to replicate and build upon these findings, Hudson’s answers to some of these questions do offer an important step in the right direction: hope.
For up to four months, 467 study participants answered personality trait ratings, provided goals for personality trait changes (“change goals”) and were then assigned a series of “challenges” designed to help them meet their specific goals.
First, the bad news: It turns out that participants generally did not want to change their levels of the dark triad.
The good news? Participants who took on the challenges targeting agreeableness experienced a decrease in all three dark triad traits. Agreeableness entails kindness, empathy and seeing the best in others, as described by the SMU study.
Lynam, the Purdue professor, said he’s interested in the relationship between agreeableness and our darker traits. A lack of agreeableness — or increased antagonism — is at the core of many anti-social behaviors, he said.
“I’d love for us to develop a way of working with agreeableness, because it cuts across a lot of problematic critical conditions,” he said.
Hudson’s findings also suggest that participants’ desire to change did impact their result in doing so. In other words, change is possible, but with an annoying sense of responsibility attached to it: We have to want to change first.
Although findings from Hudson’s study need further research and replication to carry more weight, they offer promising insights. In addition to beginning to answer critical questions, the study also poses key questions.
For example: Beyond better understanding the relationship between agreeableness and levels of the dark triad, is it possible to refine and uncover more change behaviors that may help reduce our darker traits?
Going even a step further: Can we develop tools that guide people toward these change goals to begin with?
Answering these questions may offer us all small steps that, combined with some consistency and determination, lead to big changes in our well-being.
Jessica Rodriguez reports on science for The Dallas Morning News as part of a fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
