The Luminous Triad Of Personality
Have you ever heard of the “dark triad of personality”? It is a concept that is used in psychology to measure the more sinister aspects of the personality: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Recently a research team developed a test that defines traits on the other side of the spectrum: the bright triad of personality.
This test, developed by Scott Barry Kaufman, David Yaden, Elizabeth Hyde and Eli Tsukayama, was created with the aim of investigating in what aspects a person stands out in reference to three positive traits: Kantianism, humanism and belief in humanity.
All human beings have a dark and a bright side. What differentiates them from each other are the dark and bright patterns of thoughts, behaviors and emotions. It is as if there are two different profiles of human nature.
This new means of measurement seeks to analyze the daily antagonistic orientation of those who exhibit high scores on dark traits. In this way, it is possible to explore the contrasts present in the dark and bright side of the personality.
Dark triad vs bright triad
The dark triad, composed of narcissism (absolute primacy of personal interests), Machiavellianism (exploitation of others for personal gain) and psychopathy (contempt for the feelings of others) has been studied in detail. The three dimensions that measure the scale of the dark triad show the tendency to resent and exploit others.
Conversely, those who display the predominant traits of the luminous triad of personality, and who show a higher score in the area of Kantism, have a tendency to see a person as a person and not as a means to be exploited to achieve a end.
Study participants who scored high in humanism are very likely to appreciate the dignity and true worth of other people. Finally, those who have achieved the highest scores in faith in humanity are those who tend to think that people are essentially good.
The luminous triad of personality
Drawing on the scientific literature on the Dark Personality Triad, Scott and his team set out to reverse the perspective. The Dark Triad proved to be a useful model for predicting behavior. For this reason, Scott and his team looked for a number of traits and attributes that can predict prosocial behaviors and tendencies. Although a priori the concept may seem complex, the best way to study the luminous triad of the personality is through these three simple statements:
- I think most people are good.
- I love listening to people from all walks of life.
- When I talk to people, I rarely think about what I want from them.
The scale of the luminous triad of personality is made up of 12 different questions. Responses are presented on a scale of “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”.
Psychological traits
The result of the work of Scott and his team points out that there are some psychological traits associated with people who score high on the luminous personality triad scale. These people are:
- Intellectually curious.
- They show confidence in attachment to others.
- They are tolerant in many ways.
- They don’t need to impose themselves on others.
- They are humble.
- They have a pleasant nature.
Description of the profiles
The results of the research led to the definition of the profiles of the luminous triad in contrast to the profiles of the dark triad. The profile of the luminous triad of personality appears to be associated with older people, especially women.
They are people who experienced a low level of unpredictability during their childhood, with a higher level of spirituality, life satisfaction, acceptance of others, compassion, empathy, and mental and openness to experience.
Through this scale, psychology has collected the positive traits around a useful dimension for predicting behaviors or establishing directions for intervention with a single goal: to improve the quality of life of people and those who use them.
However, the study authors indicated that the conclusion also comes from the understanding that the absence of darkness does not necessarily indicate the presence of light. They claim that there appears to be some degree of independence between the Dark Triad and the Luminous Triad of the personality. Hence, it coincides with the idea that each person is characterized by a unique blend of light and dark.
