Shining light on the dark side of personality: Measurement properties and theoretical advances by Peter K.Jonason (Ed.). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe Publishing. 2023. 320 pages, $75 paperback
本书系统梳理了黑暗人格（如自恋、马基雅维利主义、精神病态、施虐）的主要测量工具及其理论背景，旨在帮助研究者选择适合的量表，适合已有基础知识的读者。
“In the beginning, there was darkness.” Peter Jonason begins the introduction to this “short” (for academics) but dense book in dramatic fashion, well suited for a discussion of personality constructs that is often sensationalized in popular media. And what is not there to sensationalize about a “psychopathic” criminal, a “narcissistic” spouse, or a “sadistic” boss? As later chapters touch on, this sensationalism of the “dark side” of personality brings along its own pros and cons, but that is not the focus of this book. In the beginning there was darkness, and then scientists decided they wanted to measure that darkness. That is the focus of this book: a toolbook and guide to the plethora of instruments in the dark personal space that have been created and honed over the past several decades. Note, however, that this book is not an exhaustive coverage of every scale that has ever been created in the dark personality space. Nor is it merely an encyclopedia of measurement options. It is a thoughtful curation of the current major theoretical perspectives on dark personalities and how those perspectives have been adapted across recent measurements. Do not expect this to be the type of book you sit down and read with clear throughlines from one chapter to the next. I would classify this much more as a collection of related articles than I would a cohesive book. Although you can sit down and read it cover to cover (as I have), many readers will find more use through a more practical, piecemeal approach. Jonason's work as an editor in organizing and curating this book cannot be understated, as the quality of each chapter is strong enough for each to stand alone, if a single chapter is all a reader is looking to read. As suggested by the tagline, this book waivers between a focus on measurement and a focus on theory, of course recognizing their inextricable intertwinement. At its core, this book attends more to the “measurement properties” side of its tagline than the “theoretical advances,” and it is primarily intended to be read by people who want to actively measure one or several of these constructs in their own research or practice. People who pick up this book are expected to already have a basic understanding of the dark personality space, if not some of the history of research. If you do not, it may take some synthesis of your own across these chapters, many of which have overlapping introductions contextualizing their own scales within the larger dark personality space. The Introduction chapter is an introduction of the book more than it is an introduction of the topic, and people with little to no prior knowledge of the study of dark personalities may find themselves looking elsewhere for more information on the history and boundaries of dark personality research. Many of the included chapters were written by the developers of the scales themselves, providing rich information as to their development process and psychometric properties of the scales. So, if you have a general understanding of dark personality traits, are hoping to measure at least one or more of them, but do not know which scale to choose, this is the book for you. However, although the general purpose seems to be aimed at assisting readers in “picking the right scale,” there are a couple of barriers to that intended purpose. You will not find a nicely summarized table anywhere in these pages, for example, that lists all the scales presented in the book. Such a table would have been incredibly helpful for more direct comparison, such as questionnaire length (which can range from 6 to 178 items!), dimensionality, and accessibility. Whereas some of the scales included in this book are free to use (e.g., FFNI, FFMI, EPA), others must be purchased (e.g., SRP 4), and these distinctions are not always made clear. In general, each section provides thorough coverage on its relevant construct through its choice of scales to highlight the theoretical advances that have been made. The first construct, Narcissism, has a rich history of foundational research with researchers largely agreeing on the multidimensional framework, and so these chapters provide a variety of different scale options that may be more useful depending on the researchers’ focus. Overall, these chapters showcase the multidimensional nature of Narcissism, but focus on different aspects of that multidimensionality, be it grandiose versus vulnerable (Chapters 2–5), state versus trait (Chapter 4), self-promoting versus self-protecting (Chapter 6), or agentic versus communal (Chapter 7). In contrast, each of the chapters focused on Machiavellianism underscore the need for more conceptual and theoretical work on the construct itself. As each of Chapters 8–11 will tell you, the predominant Machiavellianism measure, the Mach-IV, dates back to 1970 and is anachronistic, and the scales introduced in Chapters 9, 10, and 11 all want to replace it as the dominant measure in the field. Chapters 12–16, which focus on psychopathy, all provide different perspectives through which to conceptualize the construct. Like with Narcissism, there is a rich history of foundational research in the area. Unlike with Narcissism, researchers have not agreed on the multidimensional framework, suggesting two, three, and four factor models, arguing over the inclusion of boldness/dominance, and arguing over the role of antisociality, to name a few of the controversies. The scales presented in these chapters reflect those theoretical disagreements. The section on the newest addition to the dark personality space, sadism, focuses on the definition and assessment of the construct itself as a relatively new area of research, and the scales included in the chapters reflect this through considerations of scope across situations (e.g., everyday vs. sexual sadism) and the dimensionality of the construct. The three chapters thus focus on slightly different aspects: distinction from psychopathy (Chapter 17), use in forensic settings (Chapter 18), and multidimensionality (Chapter 19). For those interested in measuring all of the above personality constructs, Chapters 20 and 21 present succinct measures across the “Dark Triad” and “Dark Tetrad” of personality. Chapters 22 and 23 each present alternative perspectives as to the conceptualization of the dark personality space in general. In Chapter 22, the Hogan Development Survey offers a different interpretation to bright/dark traits through comparisons to onstage/offstage personality. In Chapter 23, spitefulness is presented as another dark trait for consideration, differentiating itself from the more “selfish” Dark Tetrad traits. In addition, any reader with a focus on organizational contexts might find particular interest in the scales presented in Chapters 6, 11, 16, and 22. If this book were intended advance theoretical arguments in the dark personality space, it should and would have been organized very differently. However, that does not at all mean that there is a lack of information about those theoretical perspectives, which are sprinkled throughout every chapter. In general, these theoretical considerations are in respect to the overlap and differentiation of these dark personality constructs, with a lot of reference to jingling and jangling throughout. This “carol of the bells” is exemplified in the final few chapters, where discussions come to a head about current controversies in measuring the dark personality space. Experts on the topic area should find these particularly interesting. While this information might be overwhelming for readers not already in the conversation, those interested in the big picture view should still find Miller and colleagues’ Call to Action and Paulhus’ rebutting Call to Reason fascinating commentaries and food for thought to close out a small, but densely rich book showcasing the complexities of measuring the darker side of personality.