The Dark Triad Test

Every result, explained

The Dark Triad Test scores Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy on the SD3. The two fixed profiles are below; a single-axis or dual-axis result is named for the axis that lit, unless the axis is one of the cold pair and the other sits within half a standard deviation of it, in which case the result names neither and is called The Cold Calculator.

• The Functional Self

  All three axes in or below the broad middle.

  All three SD3 axes sit in or below the broad middle of the norm sample. The dark-triad construct is not registering as your operating profile. You may have arrived here because the term 'dark triad' surfaced in something you read or in an argument, or because you wanted to know whether your suspicion of yourself was, in fact, accurate.

• The Full Triad

  All three axes high. The construct the SD3 was built to find.

  All three SD3 axes are registering as elevated. This places you in the top band on all three scales, a share these convenience norms cannot put a precise number on. The literature (Paulhus & Williams 2002, Furnham et al. 2013) treats this configuration as functionally distinct from the partial-triad ones; the three together produce patterns that are not predicted by any single axis or pair.

Nothing on these pages is a diagnosis. A result describes a pattern of answers on a self-report instrument; only a clinician can diagnose, and only with a proper assessment.