Got A Thing For Bad Boys? Read This

Have a thing for bad boys? They might fall into these categories.

- Karen Fong

Ever dated a guy you knew was bad for you but couldn’t help falling for his charms anyway? You might call him a bad boy, but there’s a more technical name for the characteristics of guys like that: the Dark Triad.

The Dark Triad refers to three personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. While the names are enough to make you instinctively want to steer clear of them, we tend to be drawn to such people. Here’s why...

Machiavellianism

The mouthful of a term is derived from the 16th century writer Niccolo Machiavelli. His book The Prince was a treatise on how to acquire and maintain political power by any means necessary. Someone described as Machiavellian uses others – whether by manipulating their emotions or telling them what they want to hear – to get what they want.

Narcissism