The results showed that that 51 per cent of the participants reported having ghosted someone to end a past relationship. The 'dark triad' is the name given to the three malevolent personality traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy.įor their study, the team recruited 341 US adults - 23 per cent of whom were men - and asked them whether they felt that ghosting was an acceptable way to end either short- or long-term relationships, as well as if they had ever ghosted someone in the past.Īlongside this, each participant was asked to complete a personality survey in which dark triad traits were assessed.įor example, subjects were asked to express how much they agreed with the statements 'It's not wise to tell your secrets' (relating to Machiavellianism), 'People see me as a natural leader' (narcissism) and 'Payback needs to be quick and nasty' (psychopathy).
