The Dark Triad
Just as it is no doubt wrong to write a review of a book one has never read, critique a play or film one has never seen, or air a wrap-up of a sporting event that has yet to even begin, so too should it be considered rather outre - or even unethical - to analyze a psychiatric patient who has neither sat on one’s couch nor undergone a CT scan or neuroimaging. Since long before Donald Trump became POTUS, clinical psychiatrists, psychologists, Freudians, Adlerians and garden-variety political psychologists have all attempted to analyze and hopefully get to the bottom of what makes Trump tick. Is he a sociopath, a psychopath or just plain nuts? In October 2017, more than 2 dozen well-respected psychiatrists published a book entitled The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: 37 Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Access a President. At that point, I wrote an essay entitled “Your Noble Son is Mad,” which agreed with the professors that Donald J. Trump suffers from severe psychological problems, not the least of which are a combination of egotism, narcissism and pathological mendacity. Over the past several years we have learned even more about the president’s sociopathy.
BTW: So that we’re all on the same page, the basic profile of a sociopathic personality includes:
Glibness and superficial charm;
Manipulative and Conning. They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible;
Grandiose Sense of Self;
Pathological Lying;
Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt;
Shallow Emotions;
Incapacity for Love;
Need for Stimulation.
Another analytic term which we will undoubtedly begin hearing and/or reading about more and more the closer we get to the election is the Dark Triad Personality. The term, which was originally coined in a 2002 article by Professor Delroy Paulhus of the University of British Columbia and Kevin Williams, a specialist in psychometrics for Educational Testing Services, refers to three unusually negative personality traits – narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism - all of which stand center-stage in the nation’s 45th president. Again, a few definitions that will hopefully keep us on the same page:
Narcissism is characterized by the pursuit of ego gratification, vanity, a sense of superiority, grandiosity, dominance, and entitlement.
Machiavellianism is marked by manipulation – a calculating, duplicitous, and amoral personality, focused on self-interest and personal gain.
Psychopathy is distinguished by callousness, impulsivity, and enduring antisocial and bold behavior.
Sound like anyone we know? Because so many of us are not foundering within this dark triad, it is terribly difficult to cope with - let alone understand - those - like the POTUS - who are. Many, I am sure, ask themselves after the latest inane shocker - like Trump’s press secretary of the week Kayleigh McEnany likening her boss’s trek across Lafayette Square to stand outside St. John’s Episcopal Church so he could be photographed holding a Bible, to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was photographed inspecting damage to buildings from German bombs - ask themselves “He can’t for one nanosecond believe this twaddle.” Or, wondering aloud how anyone can lie about virtually everything and claim ultimate expertise in every field from astrophysics to zeugmatography (spin imaging) - even while standing next to the world’s acknowledged experts in these fields. Most hauntingly, the answer is “No, he really doesn’t believe any of the things he says, but that’s not important. What is important is that by saying them, he is casting a malevolent magic spell over a large minority of the public . . . that minority he desperately needs to dominate.”
In her eminently readable book The Sociopath Next Door, psychology professor Martha Stout sums up the effect of being trapped in the Dark Triad in the most effective way possible:
“Imagine — if you can — not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame, not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken … You can do anything at all, and still your strange advantage over the majority of people, who are kept in line by their consciences, will most likely remain undiscovered. How will you live your life? What will you do with your huge and secret advantage?”
In order to be elected president - even if that victory is an asterisk-appended one gift wrapped by the Electoral College - requires a combination of skill sets which few people possess. No two presidents have had the same number or magnitude of skills. For Washington, Lincoln and the 2 Roosevelts, it was charisma, empathy, and the ability to communicate - to name but 3. For Eisenhower it was humility, the ability to organize, lead and inspire confidence. For Kennedy it was charm and youthfulness. For Obama it was class, empathy, and the ability to communicate everyday qualities. What about Donald Trump? What special skill set did he bring to office? Audacity? Rule breaking? An almost total lack of sympathy, empathy or humility? A filthy mouth? Never having been one of his supporters or fans, I simply do not know.
What I do know is that he is likely the most psychologically insensitive, insecure and fragile of all 45 presidents. His greatest need is not to be loved, cherished, respected or become number one in the history books. Rather, it is to dominate through manipulation . . . that’s the Machiavellian leg of the triad. It is to prove to one and all his vast superiority and entitlement . . . that’s the narcissistic component. Lastly is his utter impulsivity, bold behavior and antisocial demeanor . . . this is, of course, the psychopathic side of the triad. All-in-all, a malignant med not only for him, but for all those he supposedly leads.
In the world of medical research (clinical trials) each subject or participant must be made aware of the potential adverse events (bad side effects) which might obtain through being exposed to experimental meds). Then will come a long list of potential effects ranging from the expected to the common, and from the rare to the extremely rare. Each “risk section” begins by informing potential participants that in many cases the side effect(s) will lessen and even disappear once the treatment phase concludes . . . or it can last for a long time or even be fatal. (This litany is replicated in all those pharmaceutical commercials we watch on television. It is mandated by law.)
In the same way, the “dosage” of Dark Triad we have been subjected to these past 4 years may dissipate after the election. Then too, they may linger, never go away, or even be fatal. No one knows for sure. But do remember this: the course we are currently on - politically, economically, medically and psychologically - is not all due to Donald J. Trump. Merely voting him out of office. . . and putting Congress, the various state houses and state legislatures back in the hands of the Democrats won’t utterly rid us of each and every SAE (serious adverse event) or UAE (unanticipated problems). Regardless of how successful we are come November, the Dark Triad will remain trapping and warping a significant minority of the country we dearly love.
Keep ‘a going . . .
149 days until the election.
Copyright©2020 Kurt F. Stone