Dark Ladies: Maladaptive Personality Domains, Alexithymia, and the Dark Triad in Women

Objective: The Dark Triad (DT) traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) have been linked with both alexithymia and maladaptive personality domains (negative aff ectivity, detachment, disinhibition, antagonism, psychoticism) comprised in the alternative model of personality disorder (AMPD) of the DSM 5. However, the diff erential associations of DT with the AMPD personality domains need to be further examined in research with homogeneous samples, in order to improve our understanding of malevolent personality traits. Method: We examined the associations between maladaptive personality domains, DT traits and alexithymia factors in 420 women aged between 18 and 66 years old. Results: Despite uniform bivariate associations, distinct profi les emerged from multiple regression analyses, in line with conceptual expectations. Antagonism was the only common positive predictor of all DT traits. Negative aff ectivity was positively associated with narcissism, but negatively with psychopathy and Machiavellianism. Psychopathy was related to high detachment and disinhibition. Alexithymia exerted a mediating eff ect in the association between AMPD domains and both psychopathy (positively) and Machiavellianism (negatively). Conclusions: Findings showed diff erential personality profi les associated with the DT traits in women based on maladaptive traits that characterize personality pathology, with specifi c emotional mechanisms that may link maladaptive personality domains and the three DT components among women.