Yeah, so I just couldn't help myself and had to google 'dark empath' and read up on it a little. Also couldn't help but paste the highlights here if anyone's interested..
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I wouldn't rely too heavily on AI to explain complicated things like this, as it kinda confused me and seems it got some things wrong. Might as well google it and look for relevant articles instead of wondering if the AI got it wrong. Even pop-psych articles at least consult & quote experts. Anyways, direct quotes are in italics:
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"A dark empath is a person who basically has the cognitive knowledge of empathy—they know how to relate to somebody, they know how to understand if someone's going through something or is feeling something—but they don't know how to follow through with any actions,” says Alyza Berman, L.C.S.W., founder and clinical director at The Berman Center.
Research published in 2021 in the journal Personality and Individual Differences suggests that dark empaths can be aggressive, extroverted, and agreeable, and exhibit dark triad traits at varying degrees.
Dark empaths don’t necessarily lack empathy, however. They just have a “calculated way of experiencing empathy, which is expressed in a cognitive way versus an emotional way,” Adams says. They might use it to manipulate, gaslight, or bully others, instead of genuinely caring for or helping someone.
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People who exhibit the Dark Triad personality type—narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism—are associated with the power to manipulate and use others for personal gain. When you add a high level of empathy, which is the ability to see the world the way others do and know what they’re feeling, you have a person who has been categorized as a Dark Empath (Heym et al., 2021).
The Dark Empath personality has high levels of narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and empathy.
Psychopathy is a trait that removes the barriers or guardrails that most people have that keep them from acting on their more destructive impulses.
Narcissists are often initially attractive to others due to their self-confidence—and we are naturally attracted to self-confident people.
Machiavellian individuals use flattery and deceit to manipulate others into doing what they want them to do—and we like people who flatter us or show signs that they like us (Boothby & Bohns, 2021).
Empathic individuals are able to respond to others in appropriate ways due to their cognitive understanding of what others are feeling—and we like people who engage with us in ways that show they understand us or are like us (Simas & Kirkland, 2020).
Empathy comes in three main types: affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and compassionate empathy. Affective empathy is the ability to feel the feelings that another person is experiencing—like crying at a sad movie. Cognitive empathy is the ability to register the emotions another is experiencing, but there is no reciprocal “feeling” of the feelings. Compassionate empathy goes beyond feeling or understanding as it adds another component: Helping someone in need.
Some people have all three types of empathy, some people have just one or two, and some people have an absence of empathy. The Dark Empath is believed to have a high degree of cognitive empathy, the form of empathy which Dark Triad individuals have been found to possess (Wai & Tiliopoulos, 2012). This allows them to know exactly what to say and what to do in order to expertly manipulate their targets and achieve their aims.
The Dark Empath tends to be higher in extroversion than a Dark Triad individual, so they are going to be more likely to be seen in a greater number of social settings and be more engaged in social interaction. While they don’t tend to experience a wide range of emotions, they are able to cognitively understand what others are feeling...
So, based on all this, it sounds to me like a dark empath is just a dark triad who has a much more effective mask because they actually understand what another feels, i.e. cognitive empathy, but they don't actually
feel it, i.e. affective empathy.
But still appreciate the response from
NewTricks, as I've learned more from what I've read! I'm very convinced now that Guy is a dark empath. Fascinating stuff.