Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

http://www.science20.com/news_articles/n...son-168299

EXCERPT: Psychologists overuse terms like narcissist and sociopath as much as they do declaring everyone they dislike has Asperger's, but they get one thing right - if you have to deal with such people, you are better off online than in person. A team pf psychologists says that traditionally successful manipulators who are classified as what they like to try and deem the Dark Triad (DT)--people with narcissistic, psychopathic or Machiavellian tendencies--don't send very compelling online messages. The study, titled "The Dark Side of Negotiation" [...] involved more than 200 Canadian university psychology students [...] some of whom were rather casually identified as having various qualities on the DT spectrum - by the people doing the analysis, which raises all kinds of flags in science but is rather typical of psychology studies....

I would think that "The Dark Triad" would come across online as rather self-indulgent and trollish. Removing the persuasive elements of vocal tone and facial expression, everything would have to be made up in the style of one's rhetoric and the ability of words to cloak agenda and intent. A large part of the sociopathic veneer relies on the power of physical presence and charm to lull their victim into a sense of complacency and trust for them. The barren abstract domain of mere written words lacks that powerful effect.