A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology has found that people can accurately infer certain personality traits, known as the “dark triad,” from the faces of women but not men. The dark triad includes Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. Intriguingly, men who possess these traits themselves are better at recognizing them in other men, whereas women with these traits are less accurate in detecting them in men.
The “dark triad” refers to a trio of malevolent personality traits: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulative behavior, cunning, and a focus on self-interest and deception. Psychopathy involves traits such as a lack of empathy, impulsivity, and antisocial behaviors. Narcissism is marked by grandiosity, a sense of entitlement, and a deep need for admiration. Though distinct, these traits share common features like emotional coldness, manipulation, and a lack of ethical concern.
The researchers conducted this study to explore the intriguing possibility that people can infer these dark traits simply by looking at facial photographs. Previous research had suggested that personality traits could often be judged from facial features, but little was known about the ability to detect specifically dark traits and how one’s own personality might affect this ability.
“We conducted this study because we were interested in whether we could correctly identify a person’s dark personality based on his or her external characteristics, such as facial information. At the same time, we conducted a study to determine whether there were individual differences in the accuracy of our determination,” explained study author Keita Masui, a senior lecturer in psychology at Otemon Gakuin University.
To create facial stimuli for the study, the researchers took photographs of 31 young Japanese men and 28 young Japanese women. These subjects had neutral facial expressions and no makeup or jewelry, ensuring a standardized appearance. They also completed a 12-item questionnaire designed to measure the three dark triad traits. The researchers then used software to merge the facial features of the five individuals with the highest and lowest scores for each trait, resulting in composite images that represented high and low levels of Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism for each gender.
The researchers then recruited 170 Japanese participants, consisting of 88 men and 82 women, aged between 20 and 69. These participants then engaged in an online face judgment task. During this task, they were presented with pairs of facial photographs, one high in a particular dark trait and one low. Participants were asked to identify which face better matched the trait description provided alongside each pair.
Definitions for Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism were given to guide their judgments. Participants rated their confidence in their choices using an 11-point Likert scale, where higher scores indicated greater confidence in their judgment.
The presentation order of the facial pairs was randomized, and the placement of the high and low trait faces was counterbalanced to avoid any order effects. After completing the face judgment task, participants filled out the same dark triad questionnaire to assess their own levels of these traits. This dual assessment allowed the researchers to examine the correlation between participants’ own dark triad traits and their accuracy in judging these traits in others.
The researchers that participants were significantly more accurate in identifying dark triad traits in female faces than in male faces. The accuracy of inferences for all three traits was above chance when the targets were women. In contrast, the accuracy was below chance for male targets, indicating that participants struggled to accurately identify these dark traits in men based on facial information alone.
“Our study found that we can identify internal characteristics, such as personality, with some degree of accuracy from the external characteristics of a person,” Masui told PsyPost.
The researchers also uncovered interesting correlations between participants’ own dark triad traits and their ability to judge these traits in others. Among male participants, there was a positive correlation between their own levels of Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism and their accuracy in identifying Machiavellianism in male faces. This suggests that men with higher levels of these dark traits were better at recognizing similar traits in other men.
“It was interesting to us that people with higher dark triad personality traits were more accurate about the relationship between personality and facial information,” Masui said. “In general, people with high levels of dark triad personality traits seeks to manipulate and exploit others. The results of this study suggest the possibility that people with high dark triad correctly judge the type of person who would be a potential target based on their appearance.”
On the other hand, the researchers found a negative correlation between female participants’ levels of psychopathy and narcissism and their accuracy in judging these traits in male faces. Women with higher levels of these traits were less accurate in identifying them in men. This could suggest that women with higher levels of psychopathy and narcissism have a reduced ability to detect these traits in others, possibly due to different social strategies or perceptual biases.
While the study provides valuable insights, it has some limitations. For instance, the sample was limited to Japanese participants, which raises questions about the generalizability of the findings to other cultures. Previous research has shown some consistency in these findings across different cultures, but direct comparisons are necessary to understand cultural influences fully.
Another limitation is the uncertainty about whether the ability to recognize dark traits from facial information is innate or learned. Further research could investigate whether this skill develops through interactions with individuals exhibiting these traits or if it is an evolutionary adaptation.
“We are interested in why dark personalities are able to survive in our society,” Masui said. “Therefore, we would like to conduct research on what kind of individuals that people with dark personalities want to have interpersonal relationships with, and what kind of individuals they are likely to form relationships with.”
“I would like to emphasize that our study is in no way intended to be an endorsement of lookism,” he added.
The study, “Men with high dark triad personality traits can accurately infer dark triad traits from other people’s faces,” was authored by Keita Masui, Ryusei Yoshizumi, and Hina Nakajima.