Dark Triad and prosociality: Toward a prosocial society

Abstract

Prosocial behaviors are based on egoistic and altruistic motives. Focusing on agreeable and egoistic personality traits is necessary to promote and maintain prosocial behaviors in a society. Researchers have focused on the dark triad, which consists of three socially aversive personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), to explore the characteristics of the egoistic personality. The three personality traits of the dark triad are characterized by self-interest and egoism; however, previous studies have shown that high dark triad individuals become prosocial when they feel that it is beneficial. The findings of previous studies suggest that creating systems to evoke incentives is necessary for prosocial behaviors to make our society more prosocial. The details of the incentives related to the dark triad personality traits are discussed.