警惕“黑暗三合一”特質再流行

Researchers have uncovered a cluster of characteristics called “the dark triad”: psychopathy (cold, callous ruthlessness); Machiavellianism (manipulative game-playing); and narcissism (me-me-me grandiosity). In tests, people who score highly on one of these traits also do so on the other two.

研究人員發現了被稱爲“黑暗三合一”的一系列特徵：精神變態（冷漠，冷酷無情）；馬基雅維利主義（操縱性博弈）；以及自戀（自我誇大）。在測試中，那些在某項特徵上得分高的人，在另外兩項特徵上得分也高。

The triad is more common among senior managers and celebrities than in the general population. A study of 200 American senior managers, for example, found psychopathy was six times more common in them, while a British study revealed significantly more narcissism in senior managers than in mentally ill inmates of a prison hospital for violent offenders. The menagerie of charmers and deceivers who were paraded before Lord Justice Leveson in his inquiry into phone-hacking by the British press also illustrated that the triad is endemic in our ruling elite.

跟普通人相比，黑暗三合一在高管和名流身上更爲常見。例如，針對200名美國高管的一項研究發現，他們發生精神變態的比例是常人的6倍，而英國的一項研究顯示，高管的自戀率顯著高於一家監獄醫院中有精神疾病的暴力罪犯。在大法官萊韋森(Lord Justice Leveson)對英國新聞界從事電話竊聽展開的調查中，一個接一個騙子和魅力十足的人在他面前“表演”，這也表明，黑暗三合一在我們的統治精英當中很常見。

The amount of triadic behaviour has generally increased in developed nations, particularly since the 1980s. Narcissism among Americans has ballooned since the 1960s, their egos inflated by the shift from collectivism to individualism. That change was accelerated in Britain by “greed is good” Thatcherism.

在發達國家，黑暗三合一行爲普遍有所增加，特別是自1980年代以來。自1960年代以來，美國人的自戀發生率大幅升高，從集體主義到個人主義的轉變導致他們的自我膨脹。在英國，秉持“貪婪是個好東西”的撒切爾主義加速了這一變化。

Thatcher’s children, the millennials, have a “me-me-me” self-focus, looking out for number one. They are soaked in her market amorality. Debt-laden, faced with a deposit mountain to climb to afford a flat, why would they not be like this

撒切爾的孩子們——千禧一代——自我關注到了眼裏只有自己的程度，凡事從自身利益出發。他們沉浸在她的市場無道德觀念中。債務纏身，就連買一套公寓也得面對一座首付大山，也難怪他們如此行爲。

Yet history has not ended. A person of my vintage (63) was brought up living in the shadow of potential nuclear mushroom clouds and no one predicted the relatively bloodless collapse of the Soviet Union. Equally, when I left university in 1976, the highest-status jobs were social work and university lectureships. Monty Python’s figures of greatest fun were accountants. Graduates going into the City were regarded as having “sold out”.

然而歷史並未終結。像我這樣年齡的人（63歲）在覈爆炸蘑菇雲隨時可能升起的陰影下長大，當年誰也沒有預料到蘇聯會遭遇不那麼血腥的解體。同樣，當我1976年大學畢業時，地位最高的工作是社會工作和大學講師。《蒙提派森》(Monty Python)中最有趣的人物是會計師。投奔倫敦金融城的畢業生被視爲“出賣了自己”。

If you had told me in 1979 that three years later young people would be using the brilliantly funny ethnographic satire The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook — author Peter York’s witty dissection of a tranche of London society — as a manual for upward mobility, I would have laughed in your face.

如果你在1979年告訴我，三年後，年輕人會把非常好笑的諷刺作品《上流社會青年指南》(The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook)——作者彼得約克(Peter York)對倫敦社會一個階層的風趣剖析——作爲向上流動的指南，我會當面嘲笑你。

If changes as massive as the collapse of the Soviet Union or Thatcherism can occur, so could others, like the implosion of America or China. It has been said before that the US is much more fragile than it might appear. It’s not advisable to tell a population that “anyone can be president” while ensuring there is minimal social mobility and making guns freely available to anyone with a driving licence.

如果蘇聯解體或撒切爾主義這樣的鉅變都會發生，那麼其他變化也可能發生，比如美國或中國的內爆。有人曾說，美國的脆弱程度遠遠超過其可能具有的外表。一邊壓制社會流動性，並讓任何持有駕照的人都可以獲得槍支，一邊告訴美國人“任何人都可能當上總統”——這是沒有意義的。

Very like the US, China is a mix of ethnicities and cultures; a cobbled-together nation state that has entrenched inequalities. While large swathes of its population live in relative affluence, many still scrabble to survive. China could implode if its increasing affluence slows down too quickly.

與美國非常相像的是，中國也是多個民族和多種文化的結合體；一個拼接在一起的民族國家，存在着根深蒂固的不平等。雖然大量人口生活在相對富裕的地區，但仍有不少人爲了生存而掙扎。如果富裕程度提升速度放緩過於劇烈的話，中國可能會內爆。

Both countries have revolutionary traditions; ours is much more conservative. But it cannot be assumed the British population will put up indefinitely with declining living standards and rising inequality.

美中兩國都有革命傳統；我們英國的傳統更爲保守。但也不能想當然地認爲，英國人會無限期地忍受生活水平的下降和不平等的加劇。

Jeremy Corbyn may lack charisma, but under his leadership Labour has become the party with the most members in Europe. His very lack of triadic flash and spin could enable him to become someone who is widely trusted. Few can question his integrity or sincerity, despite concerted media efforts to rubbish him.

傑里米科爾賓(Jeremy Corbyn)也許缺乏領導魅力，但在他的領導下，英國工黨已成爲歐洲成員最多的政黨。恰恰是缺少黑暗三合一式的光鮮和譁衆取寵，可能使他成爲一個被廣泛信任的人。儘管媒體異口同聲把他說得一無是處，但很少有人質疑他的正直或真誠。

When, rather than if, we hit the next economic crash, it is conceivable that the drop in living standards will prove fertile ground.

當（不是如果）我們遭到下一次經濟崩潰，可以想象的是，生活水平下降將被證明是鉅變的肥沃土壤。

If Corbyn were to present the electorate with the option of becoming like Scandinavia — equitable, greater job security, widespread renationalisation of utilities — that could have massive appeal.

如果科爾賓向選民提出仿效北歐的選項——平等，更強大的工作保障，大範圍地把公用事業重新收歸國有——可能會產生巨大的號召力。

If so, the triadic would have to go back into hiding.

如果是這樣，黑暗三合一將不得不重新歸隱。

Oliver James is a chartered psychologist and psychotherapist and author of Affluenza: How to be Successful and Stay Sane

奧利弗詹姆斯是特許心理學家和心理治療師，著有《富貴病：如何既成功又保持理智》(Affluenza: How to be Successful and Stay Sane)一書