Need for Dark Personality Trait Tests during Hiring Process

The scope of candidate evaluation during the recruitment process has evolved over the years. A decade ago, importance was given only to job-related skills and competencies. Recruiters are now looking at a holistic candidate evaluation rather than an evaluation of job skills alone. Employers are now looking at hiring employees who not only perform well at the job but are also able to fit into the work culture and environment. Assessment of soft skills becomes important for determining whether the candidate is capable of managing challenging work situations. The dark core personality test offers vital insights into the behavioral traits of the candidate when faced with stressful or challenging situations at work.

What are the Traits of a Dark Personality?

Dark personality traits are the characteristics of a person that are triggered by unexpected or undesired situations, leading to counter-productive and destructive behavior. The career of a person is adversely affected by dark personality traits. The actions carried out by a dark personality are socially, morally, and ethically questionable.

What is the cause of a dark personality? Dark or toxic traits often emerge from placing one’s interests above that of others and justifying the actions to avoid guilt or shame. The study of dark personality is useful in clinical, criminology, and workplace settings. The truth is that all of us possess dark or toxic traits in varying degrees. When positive traits override dark traits, a person does not exhibit toxic traits and can control his/her reaction to challenging situations. When the dark traits override the positive traits in a person, toxic or unacceptable reactions occur.

A person with a higher predisposition to dark traits is more likely to display them. These traits are triggered under unobserved and stressful environments. Not only does the display of dark traits create a counterproductive environment at work, but also triggers interpersonal issues for the employee.

Here are some of the incidents caused by a display of dark personality traits:

Compromised safety of co-workers, college/schoolmates, and family members
Harassment of passengers on cab rides
Harassment of customers at the hands of irate shop owners
Compromise of sensitive personal or financial information
Sexual harassment at workplaces
Bullying in workplaces colleges or schools

These instances of dark personality behavior have given rise to the need for employees to assess employees thoroughly to understand their personality, characteristics, dominant dark traits, and motivations. The dominance of dark traits can lead to life-threatening outcomes, especially in jobs concerning children and healthcare. Even in corporate jobs, employees displaying dark traits can disrupt the work environment and cause irreparable damage to project work.

What is the Dark Triad Test?

The dark personality test is a psychological concept recently introduced in hiring circles. The dark triad test was popularized by 2 psychologists Paulhus and Williams in the year 2012. As the name suggests, this focuses on the 3 dominant dark traits that are believed to exist in everybody in varying degrees. The answer to how dark is my personality can be deciphered through the dark core test.

Certain levels of dark traits may indicate a headstrong or ambitious person. Employees who score high on the dark triad test are more likely to be counterproductive in the work environment. The 3 dark traits of personalities that are evaluated in the dark triad are:

Machiavellianism: This trait involves duplicity, manipulation, self-interest, lack of emotion, and morality. This trait has been named after the Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli, who was involved in fraud, deception, and manipulation. A good example of Machiavellianism is when a coworker acts particularly friendly with you and gives you disastrous advice that could potentially get you fired. People who score high in Machiavellianism are known to use flattery, cheating, lying, and exploitation to get their way.
Narcissism: Boastful, arrogant, and selfish individuals who lack empathy are categorized as narcissists. The aptest way to describe narcissists is people with an exaggerated sense of self. They are under the impression that they are superior to others and constantly expect praise, recognition, and attention. Self-centered thinking, lack of consideration for others, expecting social favors and a feeling that the world revolves around them are classic traits of narcissism.
Psychopathy: People who lack empathy and remorse and display antisocial, criminal, or volatile characteristics are categorized as psychopaths. Having very little total lack of empathy is a trademark trait of psychopaths. Lack of guilt or remorse, shallow behavior towards others, involvement in risk work, highly impulsive behavior, and finding it difficult to maintain relationships are classic traits of psychopaths.

The insights derived from the dark traits personality test can be used to make the right hiring decision. Despite scoring high on skill tests, communication tests, and cognitive ability, if a person scores high on the dark personality test, then the recruitment team needs to hold or cancel the recruitment.

Why should you test for Dark personality?

Irrespective of the type of industry, teamwork is required for the execution of projects. Even if a single team member has dominant dark personality traits, it affects the morale of the entire team. Therefore, a dark personality test must be made part of the hiring process. The dark personality core test is also referred to as the toxic personality test or negative traits test or bad personality traits test. The presence of a dark personality in the workplace can create a destructive, negative, and toxic workplace. Organizations where dark personalities occupy positions of power or work as representatives of the business face significant financial losses and lose their market hold.

Not only during the hiring process, but it is also important to assess existing employees for the presence of dark personality traits to ensure that they don’t create a toxic workplace. The core personality test must include the dark triad test to prevent the hiring of individuals that may cause potential harm to the organization. As per research, hiring a new person or replacing a bad hire is a costly affair for the organization. Negative workplace behaviors may have detrimental consequences on the performance, culture, reputation, and profits of the organization.

How to Use the Dark Personality Test?

The dark personality trait can be used to improve the workplace. Negative workplace behaviors can affect the organization’s culture badly. The most important step is to acknowledge the need to measure these traits and their severity both at the time of hiring and within the organization to mitigate the detrimental effects. The recruitment team must adopt proactive measures in identifying these traits to build a productive and positive work culture. The HR manager must look out for specific roles or areas where these traits cause maximum damage and ensure that dark triad tests are in hiring for such positions.

The dark empathy test, dark personality quiz, and dark personality core tests are some of the types of dark personality assessments.

Here are some areas where dark personality tests can be beneficial and effective:

At the time of hiring: candidates with dark personality traits can be categorized as bad hires, owing to the damage they cause to the work environment. People with dark traits need to be observed keenly to make out these traits. More often than not, these traits are overlooked at the time of interviews. Pre-employment tests are effective ways of evaluating the overall personality of the candidate. Including the dark personality trait test in the pre-employment assessment is highly effective in identifying such candidates and filtering them out in the hiring process.
Dark personality assessment as part of the appraisal process: Regular skill assessments within the organization are a must to evaluate the skill level of candidates. Identifying dark personalities within the organization is as important as filtering them out during hiring. Including a dark personality test during the appraisal process is highly beneficial for the organization. Appraisals or 360-degree feedback systems in the organization must include the dark triad test.
For creating strong work teams: knowledge of these traits can help build teams that complement each other. Team members can be paired such that the dark personality trait of one person is nullified or supplemented by the other.
Creating a solid value-based culture: Building a robust value-based culture encourages candidates to work with the values of teamwork and cooperation. For example, a company with zero tolerance for workplace harassment must have a policy that reprimands such instances.

Conclusion

Employers are looking beyond just job-related skills to hire candidates that fit well into the cultural fabric of the organization. Dark personality traits in potential hires or employees can cause irreparable damage to the organization. Including a dark core personality test in the pre-employment hiring process or making it a part of the employee appraisal system helps identify people with dominant dark traits like Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and psychopathy. SkillRobo is an online pre-employment skill assessment software that is specifically designed to evaluate the behavioral and personality traits of candidates, in addition to core competencies and job skills.