People with Dark Triad traits gain others’ trust through facial attractiveness

Despite being associated with manipulation and self-interest, individuals who score high on the so-called Dark Triad personality traits may have a surprising social advantage: people tend to trust them more, based solely on their facial appearance. A new study published in Personality and Individual Differences suggests that in short-term interactions, individuals high in these traits are perceived as more trustworthy and are more likely to be trusted with resources, even by complete strangers.

The Dark Triad refers to a group of three personality traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—that share a common core of manipulation, callousness, and self-centeredness. Narcissism is characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance and a strong desire for admiration. Machiavellianism involves a strategic, manipulative approach to interpersonal relationships, often with a focus on self-interest and deception. Psychopathy includes traits such as impulsivity, a lack of empathy or remorse, and antisocial behavior.

While much previous research has focused on the harmful consequences of these traits—such as dishonesty, aggression, or emotional manipulation—some studies have suggested that individuals high in Dark Triad traits may also possess social advantages, particularly in competitive or high-stakes environments. These individuals often excel at impression management, exhibit high levels of confidence, and can be highly persuasive. This has led some researchers to explore whether these traits could be adaptive in certain social situations, helping individuals gain influence or trust, at least temporarily.

“Our research was inspired by numerous stories and real-life figures who seem to possess an uncanny ability to gain others’ trust despite having questionable intentions,” said Qi Wu, an associate professor in the Department of Psychology, School of Educational Science at Hunan Normal University and the corresponding author of the study.

“Contemporary examples, such as the current U.S. President Donald Trump, illustrate how individuals with certain personality characteristics can effectively navigate social dynamics to their advantage. This paradox between negative personality traits and social success in competitive environments prompted us to investigate the underlying mechanisms scientifically.”

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The researchers conducted four separate studies to investigate whether individuals with high levels of Dark Triad traits are perceived as more trustworthy based solely on their facial appearance—and whether that perception translates into actual trusting behavior.

In the first study, the researchers aimed to test whether people perceive individuals with high Dark Triad traits as more trustworthy based on facial appearance alone. To begin, they recruited 577 adult Chinese volunteers, who completed a standardized personality assessment measuring the Dark Triad traits. Based on these scores, the researchers selected 40 individuals—20 with the highest and 20 with the lowest Dark Triad scores (balanced across gender)—to serve as facial stimuli. Each individual had a neutral facial photo taken under controlled conditions, with no makeup, accessories, or facial expressions. These images were edited to remove background elements and converted to grayscale to ensure consistency.

The study’s main sample consisted of 156 adult Chinese participants, who completed a trustworthiness rating task online. Each participant viewed the 40 facial images—only once—and rated how trustworthy each person appeared on a scale from 1 (not at all trustworthy) to 7 (extremely trustworthy). The images were presented in a random order, and participants were unaware of the individuals’ actual personality scores.

The results showed that participants rated individuals with high Dark Triad traits as more trustworthy than those with low traits. This was surprising, given that Dark Triad traits are generally linked to manipulation and deceit. The finding suggested that people might be misled by facial cues in short-term interactions, forming inaccurate judgments about a person’s character.

While Study 1 measured trustworthiness perceptions, the second study investigated whether those perceptions translated into actual behavior. The researchers used a classic trust game to simulate short-term cooperation. In this game, participants were given a hypothetical amount of money (100 CNY) and had to decide how much to invest in a partner, based solely on that partner’s facial photograph. Whatever amount they chose to invest would be tripled, and then the partner (in reality, hypothetical) could return any portion of it—or keep it all. The amount participants chose to invest served as a measure of their trust.

The study involved 149 adult Chinese participants. As in Study 1, each participant viewed the same 40 faces (20 high Dark Triad, 20 low Dark Triad) and made an investment decision for each one, with faces presented in random order. Participants received no feedback after each round and were told that one interaction would be randomly selected to determine their final payout, increasing the stakes of each decision.

The results mirrored those of Study 1. Participants invested more money in individuals with high Dark Triad traits, despite knowing nothing about them other than their face. This suggested that the influence of facial features extended beyond perception and into actual trusting behavior.

In the third study, the researchers sought to understand why faces associated with high Dark Triad traits were perceived as more trustworthy. They focused on three possible mediating traits: facial attractiveness, perceived dominance, and perceived extraversion. The sample included 204 adult Chinese participants, none of whom had taken part in the previous studies.

Participants completed two tasks. First, they repeated the trustworthiness rating task from Study 1. Then, in a separate session, they rated the same 40 facial images on three dimensions—attractiveness, dominance, and extraversion—on a 7-point scale. Each face was rated once for each trait, with the order randomized. The researchers then used mediation analysis to test whether these perceived traits explained the relationship between the targets’ actual Dark Triad scores and how trustworthy their faces were judged to be.

They found that people with high Dark Triad traits were perceived as more attractive and more dominant, but not more extraverted. However, only perceived attractiveness mediated the link between Dark Triad traits and trustworthiness ratings. In other words, people were more likely to see high Dark Triad individuals as trustworthy largely because they also saw them as more attractive. Even after accounting for attractiveness, dominance, and extraversion, the facial features of high Dark Triad individuals still had a direct effect on how trustworthy they were perceived to be.

The final study combined the approaches of Studies 2 and 3 to see whether facial attractiveness, dominance, or extraversion mediated the relationship between Dark Triad traits and trust behavior in the trust game. This study involved 158 adult Chinese participants, who completed both the trust game and the facial evaluation task.

First, participants played the trust game, just as in Study 2. Then, they rated the same 40 faces on the three dimensions of attractiveness, dominance, and extraversion. The researchers performed another mediation analysis to see whether these perceived traits explained the investment behavior observed in the game.

Again, the results supported the role of attractiveness. Participants invested more in individuals with high Dark Triad traits, and this was partly due to higher ratings of facial attractiveness. Dominance and extraversion did not significantly affect investment behavior. Importantly, the researchers found that even when controlling for these traits, high Dark Triad individuals still received more trust, suggesting a direct influence of facial cues related to the Dark Triad.

“What surprised us most was that perceived dominance and extraversion did not mediate the relationship between Dark Triad traits and trust, while facial attractiveness did play a mediating role,” Wu told PsyPost. “Even more intriguing was our discovery of a direct pathway from Dark Triad facial features to trust judgments, independent of these other perceived traits. This suggests that Dark Triad personality characteristics and trustworthy-appearing facial features may have co-evolved as complementary strategies for social manipulation and resource acquisition.”

Taken together, the four studies suggest that individuals with high levels of socially exploitative personality traits may possess a distinct social advantage — particularly in short-term settings where trust must be established quickly. Their facial features are not only perceived as more attractive but also elicit greater levels of trust, which could help explain their success in gaining resources or influence, despite their tendency toward manipulative behavior.

The researchers interpret these findings through an evolutionary lens. In short-term cooperative interactions, such as one-time exchanges, individuals who appear trustworthy and attractive can benefit quickly before any deceit or selfishness is discovered. This could mean that individuals with Dark Triad traits have evolved — or learned — to present themselves in ways that maximize short-term gain. In contrast, in long-term relationships, where trust is built over time and deception is harder to maintain, the disadvantages of these traits may become more apparent.

“The most important takeaway is that people can be deceived by facial appearance alone, even in brief encounters,” Wu explained. “Our research reveals that individuals with high Dark Triad traits are perceived as more trustworthy based solely on their facial features, and this perception translates into actual trusting behaviors. This suggests that our intuitive judgments about trustworthiness from faces may not always be accurate, particularly in short-term interactions where these individuals may have evolutionary advantages.”

But as with all research, there are limitations. “We conducted this research mainly within a Chinese cultural context,” Wu noted. “If this trust effect is indeed a result of Dark Triad evolutionary adaptation, it should be observable across broader cross-cultural settings to confirm its universality. Additionally, we used static facial photographs, whereas real-world interactions involve dynamic expressions, gestures, and behaviors that might produce different effects. Future research should examine these phenomena in more naturalistic settings with dynamic stimuli.”

“We aim to extend this research cross-culturally to test the universality of these effects and explore how they manifest in long-term versus short-term cooperative contexts. We’re particularly interested in investigating the specific facial features that contribute to this phenomenon and examining how each component of the Dark Triad individually influences trust perception and behavior.”

Despite these caveats, the study reveals how certain personality traits — even those commonly viewed as antisocial — can be socially advantageous under the right conditions.

“This research highlights the sophisticated nature of human social perception and the potential evolutionary arms race between deception and detection mechanisms,” Wu said. “While these findings may seem concerning, understanding these dynamics can help people make more informed judgments about trust and cooperation in both personal and professional contexts.”

The study, “Trust in Darkness: Individuals with high dark triad traits gain others’ trust through facial attractiveness and other associated facial features,” was authored by Siwei Zhang, Qi Wu, Jia Liu, Kejian Peng, Yu Liang, and Huiying Li.