Does the Dark Triad predict self-perceived attractiveness, mate value, and number of sexual partners both in men and women?

Does the Dark Triad predict self-perceived attractiveness, mate value, and number of sexual partners both in men and women? Javier I. Borráz-León, Markus J. Rantala. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 168, January 1 2021, 110341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110341

Highlights
• Narcissism and psychopathy were positively correlated to number of sexual partners.
• Narcissism was positively correlated to self-perceived attractiveness and mate value.
• Higher self-perceived attractiveness and mate value were predicted by narcissism.

Abstract: Previous literature has shown associations between the Dark Triad (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy), other-perceived attractiveness, and personality. Nevertheless, the study of the Dark Triad as predictor of traits related to sociosexual dynamics (i.e., self-perceived attractiveness, mate value, and number of sexual partners) still remain unknown. Hence, we aimed to fill this gap by assessing the relationship between these variables in a mixed-sex sample of young-adults. The results showed that: 1) narcissism and psychopathy, but not Machiavellianism, were positively correlated to number of sexual partners for the group of men and the group of women separately. 2) only narcissism was positively correlated to self-perceived attractiveness and mate value in both sexes. 3) narcissism successfully predicted higher self-perceived attractiveness and mate value both in men and women; whereas narcissism, psychopathy, and sex significantly contributed to the prediction of number of sexual partners. We discuss our results in the light of the interaction between evolutionary thinking and socioenvironmental factors.

Keywords: The dark triadAttractivenessMate valueSexual partnersNarcissismMachiavellianismPsychopathy

4. Discussion

During the last decade, the study about the evolutionary meaning of the relationships between the DT of personality and traits associated with human mate choice has increased (e.g., Carter et al., 2014; Lyons et al., 2015; Lyons & Simeonov, 2016; Marcinkowska et al., 2015). However, very little is known about the predictive power of the DT and sex on these traits. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between each component of the DT of personality, self-perceptions of attractiveness, mate value, and number of sexual partners in a sample of young men and women. The results of this study are in line with previous literature and with our predictions (with the exception of sex as a strong predictor).

First, as expected, we found that number of sexual partners was positively related to every component of the DT (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) for the whole sample, whereas only narcissism and psychopathy were positively correlated to every DT trait when men and women were analyzed separately. These results support previous literature about the exploitative nature of the DT; for example, Visser et al. (2010) observed that men with higher scores of psychopathy reported higher number of sexual partners; similar results have been also found for men with higher scores of Machiavellianism (McHoskey, 2001). Even though it has not been previously reported, there is evidence that suggests that narcissists also could have higher number of sexual partners (e.g., McNulty & Widman, 2014). To our knowledge, the present study is the first one in reporting positive associations between the number of sexual partners and each component of the DT in a sample of men and women.

Secondly, we found that narcissism, but not Machiavellianism or psychopathy, was positively related to self-perceived attractiveness, mate value, and number of sexual partners in both sexes. This result supports previous studies where it has been stated that narcissistic people are characterized by inflated self-concepts associated with grandiosity, intelligence, social power, and physical attractiveness (Brown & Zeigler-Hill, 2004; Campbell et al., 2002) which probably increases the mating success of narcissists. Even though these relationships have been mainly reported for men, our study suggests that this could be also true for women. In this context, the socioecological environment of our population might explain this result. For example, the literature has proposed that narcissism is positively associated with preferences for exploitative short-term relationships and that this effect is stronger for men than for women (Jonason et al., 2012) due to the lower fitness costs paid by men (Buss & Schmitt, 1993). However, Finnish society is characterized by having a high educational level, high life quality, and very high equality between men and women (Borchorst et al., 2012; Miettinen et al., 2011; Salmi, 2006). Thus, it could be possible that the sex-differences previously reported in other studies regarding the number of sexual partners, could be less strong in societies where women do not have to pay very high costs related to short-term relationships. In support of this hypothesis, there is evidence showing variability in personality traits and mate preferences according to several indicators of the condition of a society (e.g., Borras-Guevara et al., 2017; DeBruine et al., 2010; Marcinkowska et al., 2019). For example, in the study of Marcinkowska et al. (2019), the authors found that women's preferences for masculine looking men (a trait associated with some components of the DT, Lyons et al., 2015), are stronger in countries with higher sociosexuality –Finland included– and where national health indices and development indices are higher. Thus, since masculinity is associated with promiscuousness and a preference for short-term relationships, this could explain the similar pattern regarding the positive relationships between narcissism, psychopathy, and number of sexual partners in our sample of Finnish men and women.

Regarding the predictive power of the DT traits, we found that narcissism predicted self-perceived attractiveness and mate value in both sexes; whereas narcissism, psychopathy and sex had significant effects on the prediction of number sexual partners. In this sense, it has been suggested that narcissism (more than Machiavellianism or psychopathy) can be successfully explained in terms of evolutionary adaptations. For example, Holtzman & Strube (2010) suggested that narcissism could have emerged to solve problems related to sexual selection processes, allowing men to adopt short-term mating strategies. However, our results suggest that narcissism might work in a similar way for women as well, but it may depend on several socioenvironmental factors. Further studies are needed in order to give ecological validity to this hypothesis.

But why narcissism more than Machiavellianism or psychopathy? according to Holtzman & Donnellan (2015), narcissism can be distinguished from Machiavellianism because Machiavellians are less extroverted and prefer to act “behind the scenes” whereas narcissists prefer to be histrionic and get social attention. Likewise, psychopathy differs from narcissism because psychopaths tend to be violent and antisocial whereas narcissists tend to be assertive and to use non-violent dominance. Thus, it is possible that individuals do not like manipulative, cynical, manipulative, aggressive, remorseless, and duplicitous people such as Machiavellians and psychopaths (Rauthmann & Kolar, 2013). However, it is important to notice that whereas narcissism is positively correlated to the number of sexual partners both in men and women, narcissism, psychopathy, and sex play a significant role in the prediction of higher number of sexual partners. In this case, based on the differences in the average number of sexual partners and psychopathy scores between men and women, the effect would be stronger for men than for women. As it has been previously suggested, it is possible that this sex difference might be still associated with the social costs imposed to women (e.g., bad reputation, lower attractiveness as a long-term mate) (Buss & Schmitt, 1993). Nevertheless, in the vast majority of our results, sex did not play a significant role.

Overall, the literature regarding narcissism have agreed on the possible benefits associated with this personality trait. For example, narcissists tend to increase their social status by displaying wealth and material goods (Piff, 2014), and pursuing leadership positions (Grijalva et al., 2015). Moreover, it has been observed that narcissists from both sexes have lower facial fluctuating asymmetry -an honest indicator of developmental stability and genetic quality- probably making them more desirable sexual partners by increasing their mate value (Borráz-León et al., 2019). Therefore, it is feasible to suggest that from the three components of the DT of personality, narcissism, more than Machiavellianism or psychopathy, is strongly associated with self-perceived attractiveness, mate value, and the acquisition of sexual partners both in men and women, which probably is regulating social and sexual selection processes. Further studies will have to take into account socioenvironmental factors related to the condition of the society where the study is being done, in order to investigate how the condition of a society could affect perceptions of mate value, mating success, and personality dynamics both in men and women.

4.1. Limitation of the study

A limitation emerged from this study since the high homogeneity of our sample limits generalizability. Therefore, the results of this research might not be representative of other populations. This limitation will be taken into account for future research.