Climbing the Dark Ladder: How Status and Inclusion Aspirations, Perceived Attainment, and Behaviors Relate to the Dark Triad

Individual differences in the Dark Triad may partially reflect differences in interper-sonal motivational patterns such as a strong desire for status. These studies examine how desires for status and inclusion, perceived attainment of status and inclusion, and status-seeking and inclusion-seeking behavior relate to the Dark Triad (grandiose nar-cissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy). Two studies (N = 591) find that indi-viduals high in Dark Triad traits generally desire status, feel they have attained high status, and report behaving in status-seeking ways (once desires for inclusion, per-ceived attainment of inclusion, and inclusion-seeking behavior are controlled, respec-tively). They generally do not desire inclusion, do not feel they have attained inclusion, and do not report behaving in inclusion-seeking ways (once desires for status, per-ceived attainment of status, and status-seeking behavior are controlled, respectively). These associations are largely observed for the dimensions of the Dark Triad involving agentic extraversion and antagonism, but not for those involving impulsivity. This re-search delineates the motivational, social, and behavioral profile of the Dark Triad and its dimensions with implications for understanding the “core” of the Dark Triad.