Light triad explained
In psychology the light triad scale quantifies empathy, compassion and altruism. The idea was first suggested by Laura Johnson in her 2018 masters thesis.[1] The light triad comprises Kantianism, Humanism, and Faith In Humanity.[2]
The light triad scale assesses people by their responses to statements like:
- I think people are mostly good.
- I enjoy listening to people from all walks of life.
- When I talk to people, I am rarely thinking about what I want from them.
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]
Further reading
Notes and References
- 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, P., & Živanović, M. (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.
- Scott Barry Kaufman, David Bryce Yaden, Elizabeth Hyde, Eli Tsukayama, "The light vs. dark triad of personality: Contrasting two very different profiles of human nature", Frontiers in Psychology, 12 March 2019.
