Wandering in the darkness of personality: Empathy, alexithymia and their relationship to the Dark Tetrad

The Dark Tetrad is a group of four personality traits, namely Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism. Although these traits are conceptually distinct, they also share a number of common characteristics. Previous evidence has suggested that the Dark Tetrad traits could be associated with reduced empathy and difficulty recognising one's own emotions (i.e. alexithymia). The aim of this study was to further investigate the relationship between Dark Tetrad personality traits, alexithymia, and empathy in a large sample of the general population.

Data were collected via an anonymous online survey. A total of 1548 participants met the inclusion criteria and formed the final sample. Participants were asked to provide socio-demographic information and complete questionnaires assessing Dark Tetrad traits, empathy, and alexithymia.

Mediation analyses revealed that Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism had both a direct and an indirect effect on empathy, with alexithymia being a significant mediator in the relationship between these traits and empathy, even after controlling for age and gender. Conversely, narcissism was found to be significantly correlated only with alexithymia, but not with empathy.

Taken together, results show that people with Dark Tetrad traits may have alterations in their socio-emotional abilities, with difficulties in recognising and understanding their own feelings and those of others. Individual differences in the levels of alexithymia and empathy should be taken into account in the treatment of individuals with adverse personality traits in order to prevent socially dangerous behaviours.