Light triad
The light triad scale represents an important concept in positive psychology, complementary to the better-known dark triad of personality. The idea was first suggested by Laura Johnson in her 2018 masters thesis.[1] It comprises three personality traits that tend to manifest together and promote both individual and collective well-being:[2]
- Kantianism, named after the philosopher Immanuel Kant. This personality trait manifests itself in the tendency to treat people as ends in themselves and not as means to achieve their goals. People with a high level of Kantianism show a deep respect for human dignity and make decisions based on universal ethical principles. For example, they might reject personal advantage if it would result in the exploitation of others.
- Humanism, which is expressed as a fundamental belief in human nature and human potential. People with a high level of this trait believe in the capacity of human beings for growth and improvement and tend to see the best in others. This translates into supportive behaviors, empathy and the propensity to make meaningful connections with others.
- Faith in Humanity, which differs from Humanism in its focus on trusting people in the present, rather than their future potential. Those who exhibit this trait tend to believe in the fundamental honesty and goodness of people, maintaining an optimistic attitude even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
Interestingly, these three traits are mutually reinforcing: the Kantian view of human dignity supports trust in people, which in turn fuels belief in human potential. Together, they create a prosocial orientation that leads to constructive and cooperative behavior. Research has shown that people with high levels in the light triad traits tend to:
- Develop more satisfying and lasting relationships
- Exhibit greater levels of psychological well-being
- Contribute more actively to the common good
- Manifest greater psychological resilience in the face of adversity
- Demonstrate greater success in ethical leadership
The light triad was inspired by the more established dark triad which assesses negative personality and thoughts. It was expected that the light triad would be highly anticorrelated with the dark triad. That is, a high score on the light triad would correspond to a low score on the dark triad and vice versa. However researchers found that the two were only moderately anticorrelated at −0.48, showing that they are not merely opposites.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Laura K.D. Johnson, "The light triad scale: Developing and validating a preliminary measure of prosocial orientation", Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository, Western Ontario University, 2018.
- ^ Lukić, Petar; Živanović, Marko (2021). "Shedding light on the Light Triad: Further evidence on structural, construct, and predictive validity of the Light Triad". Personality and Individual Differences. 178: 110876. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.110876.
- ^ Kaufman, Scott Barry; Yaden, David Bryce; Hyde, Elizabeth; Tsukayama, Eli (2019). "The Light vs. Dark Triad of Personality: Contrasting Two Very Different Profiles of Human Nature". Frontiers in Psychology. 10. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00467. PMC 6423069.
Further reading
[edit]- Glenn Geher, "The light triad of personality", Psychology Today, 12 March 2019.
- Gerymski, Rafał (2024). "Light Triad". Encyclopedia of Religious Psychology and Behavior. Springer, Cham. pp. 1–4. ISBN 978-3-031-38971-9.