Psychopathy, Narcissism, & Machiavellianism Are Lower-Order Traits to an Unidentified Higher-Order Personality Dimension

The Dark Triad (psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism) is a cluster of traits that are marked by the malevolence of a cold-hearted and scheming interpersonal lifestyle. Using a sample of 18,192 participants, an exploratory factor analysis reveals that the Dark Triad may be lower-order traits of an unidentified higher-order personality dimension.