Understanding Relationships Among the Dark Triad Personality Profile and Romantic Partners’ Conflict Communication

Abstract

Consistent with calls from prior research, the aim of this study was to understand how reports of the Dark Triad (e.g., subclinical narcissism, subclinical psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) related to conflict communication in romantic relationships. Results indicated that individuals reporting higher levels of the Dark Triad personality structure also reported more frequent disagreement that was also intense and hostile. Moreover, Dark Triad personality reports were directly related to the use of contempt, criticism, stonewalling, and defensiveness, messages collectively known as the Four Horsemen as they predict relational termination (e.g., Gottman, 1993 Gottman, J. M. (1993). A theory of marital dissolution and stability. Journal of Family Psychology, 7, 51–75. doi:10.1037/08933200.7.1.57[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Gottman & Levenson, 1992 Gottman, J. M., & Levenson, R. W. (1992). Martial processes predictive of later dissolution: Behavior, physiology, and health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 221–233. doi:10.1037/0022–3514.63.2.221[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Machiavellianism and subclinical psychopathy were better predictors of conflict communication compared to subclinical narcissism. Findings reinforce that personality is important in understanding conflict communication. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

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