Category: Dark Personality Psychology

  • The Positives of Psychopathy

    The Positives of Psychopathy

    Psychopathy is a psychological construct that refers to callous and unemotional patterns of attitudes or behaviors. While much of the popular opinion on psychopathy is actually negative, there are some behaviors of psychopaths which are also seen positively. An evidence of the allure of psychopathy can be seen in the fact that Ted Bundy, the…

  • Why Do Pathological Liars Lie?

    Why Do Pathological Liars Lie?

    Lying is a very common behavior per se. There are various reasons one might choose to lie. Perhaps you do not want to cause trouble with your boss, so you might lie that there no problems at work. Perhaps a young adolescent might lie to his parents to cover up the fact that he was…

  • 5 Red Flags of Pathological Lying

    5 Red Flags of Pathological Lying

    In the current digital sphere, communication has diversified. No longer does one have to speak to each other directly. While this has greatly increased the convenience of communication, it has also increased the convenience for pathological lying. Yes, this did just escalate quickly. Pathological lying is a pattern of behavior of distorting or hiding information…

  • An Introduction to Narcissism

    An Introduction to Narcissism

    Imagine a world in which you are the main character. Now imagine a desire of others being responsible for fulfilling your wishes. You understand that you have to work towards them. However, your desire to be ‘great’ is as pervasive as your desire to be told that you are great. Narcissism is a controversial personality…

  • An Introduction to Psychopathy

    An Introduction to Psychopathy

    Psychopathy is a fascinating personality characteristic. It has interested both popular and scientific inquiry. It has also inspired fictional characterizations as in Hannibal Lector and Dexter. On the other hand, psychopathy has been a well-researched area of psychology and psychiatry. Recently, psychopathy has received significant attention as a personality trait of the Dark Tetrad. The…

  • An Introduction to Machiavellianism

    An Introduction to Machiavellianism

    Written by Abdullah Qureshi Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a diplomat from Florence. He traveled to the courts of Europe and saw directly how the leaders he supported arose and then met their demise. He wrote The Prince in an effort to get along with the new king (Machiavelli, 1966). To put it briefly, The Prince…

  • Psychoanalysis: What is the Main Character Syndrome?

    Psychoanalysis: What is the Main Character Syndrome?

    Written by Abdullah Qureshi Have you ever felt that you are the hero/heroine of your story? Do you feel as if everything in your world has an effect on your ‘story’? Or, let me put it this way: have you ever felt that you are completely different from everyone around you? If you have felt…

  • An Introduction to Sadism

    An Introduction to Sadism

    Written by Abdullah Qureshi Sadism is a psychological construct which has a relatively sparse amount of scientific literature. This is odd as sadism as a literary construct has been under study for centuries. According to Meloy (1997), sadism is basically getting pleasure from someone else’s physical or mental pain or from controlling and dominating them.…