Dark triad of ‘pathocracy’ leaders

• Author: Steve Taylor
• Published date: 10 April 2021
• Date: 10 April 2021
• Publication title: Saturday Star

In the past, this was mostly because of hereditary systems which assigned power to kings and lords and others, who often did not have the intellectual or moral capacity to use their power well. But in more recent times, it seems as though power attracts ruthless and narcissistic people with a severe lack of empathy and conscience.

In psychology, there is a concept of a “dark triad” of malevolent personality traits: psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism. The traits are studied together because they almost always overlap and combine. If a person has psychopathic traits, they tend to have narcissistic and Machiavellian traits, too.

People with these personalities can’t sense other people’s feelings or see the world from any perspective apart from their own. They don’t have a sense of conscience or guilt to stop them behaving immorally. They feel superior and enjoy manipulating and controlling other people. At the same time, they need to feel respected and admired and like to be the centre of attention.

There’s a great deal of evidence that people with dark triad personalities are attracted to the corporate and political worlds. Research, for example, shows that people with narcissistic and psychopathic traits have a strong desire for dominance and are disproportionately common in leadership positions.

As psychologists Niklas Steffens and Alexander Haslam put it: “Like moths to a flame, narcissists may be drawn naturally to positions of power and influence.” Or, as the psychologist Robert Hare writes of psychopaths: “They are social predators, and like all predators, they are looking for feeding grounds. Wherever you get power, prestige and money, you will find them.”

The most evil leaders of the 20th century, such as Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, clearly had severe dark triad traits. They did not become leaders because of their ability or intelligence, but simply because they had a tremendous desire for power and were incredibly ruthless and cruel in their pursuit of it.

Many present-day politicians appear to have...