This book provides a taxonomy of personality traits that are dark, or have maladaptive characteristics, and are connected to destructive behaviors and interpersonal problems. Adaptive features are also reviewed, as are clinical applications and future directions for research.

Dark personality traits are connected to a host of behavioral and interpersonal problems. To better understand and address these problems, this book unites personality psychology and clinical psychology to provide an interdisciplinary taxonomy of dark personality traits.

The Dark Side of Personality expands upon the "Dark Triad"—narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism—to encompass traits that have largely been ignored or not characterized as dark (e.g., spite, authoritarianism, and perfectionism). Drawing from recent research on the Big Five personality dimensions, each trait is presented as a complex spectrum of adaptive and maladaptive features with unique clinical implications.