Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and neurotypical peers exhibit opposing patterns in empathy and Dark Triad traits, situated 180 degrees apart within a shared psychological space, according to a study published in the Journal of Individual Differences.
Empathy—the ability to understand and share others’ feelings is often studied alongside contrasting personality traits, such as the Dark Triad (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy). Past research highlights how the Dark Triad traits are negatively associated with empathy, especially affective empathy, which involves emotional resonance.
In this work, Efrat Weisman Openhaim and colleagues explored this relationship using a novel approach to clarify whether empathy and the Dark Triad are diametrically opposed within a multidimensional personality framework.
The study also investigated these traits in adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD), whose cognitive empathy (i.e., understanding others’ thoughts) is often impaired but affective empathy remains intact. By comparing this group to neurotypical adolescents, the researchers hoped to enhance understanding of empathy and personality constructs in distinct populations.
The study involved 120 participants: 60 adolescents (29 with ASD and 31 neurotypical) and one of their parents each. Adolescents provided self-reports using the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) to measure cognitive and affective empathy, and the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD) to assess Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Parents completed the Adolescent Empathy Quotient and a parent-report version of the DTDD, offering an external perspective on their child’s traits.
The BES evaluated empathy on two subscales: cognitive (the ability to understand another’s perspective) and affective (emotional resonance with others). The DTDD assessed the three components of the Dark Triad through a set of 12 items. The questionnaires were translated into Hebrew and back-translated for accuracy and cultural relevance.
Data were collected and structured for analysis using Smallest Space Analysis, a technique that visualizes correlations between variables in a two-dimensional space. This method enabled the researchers to identify spatial relationships among empathy and Dark Triad traits, focusing on whether these constructs were oppositely aligned within a shared psychological framework.
The study revealed that empathy and Dark Triad traits occupied opposing regions in a shared two-dimensional psychological space, separated by an angle of 180 degrees. This pattern was consistent across both adolescents with ASD and neurotypical adolescents, indicating a fundamental divergence between these constructs.
Key findings included a significant negative correlation between psychopathy and affective empathy, suggesting that emotional deficits in psychopathy are particularly pronounced. In the neurotypical group, there was a stronger alignment between parent-reported empathy and self-reported cognitive empathy, reflecting the ability of neurotypical adolescents to accurately self-assess their cognitive understanding of others.
In contrast, adolescents with ASD showed a closer alignment between parent-reported empathy and their self-reported affective empathy, consistent with the preservation of emotional resonance often observed in ASD.
Despite these broad patterns, parent-reported empathy measures did not differentiate between cognitive and affective components, highlighting differences in how empathy manifests and is perceived across the two groups.
Overall, the results supported the hypothesis that empathy and Dark Triad traits are psychologically opposed constructs.
The study’s small sample size limited the statistical power to detect smaller correlations and generalizability of findings.
The research, “Empathy and the Dark Triad: A Difference of 180 Degrees,” was authored by Efrat Weisman Openhaim, Yaarit Amram, and Joseph Glicksohn.