{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T11:24:23Z","timestamp":1787397863430,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,26]],"date-time":"2024-12-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735171200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    The dark triad encompasses socially aversive personality traits\u2014narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism\u2014and has been shown to be associated with expression recognition difficulties. Alexithymia has been shown to be associated with the dark triad, and recent evidence has suggested that co-occurring alexithymia may explain facial expression recognition difficulties found in the autism spectrum. Here, I tested this alexithymia hypothesis for individuals on the\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">dark triad spectrum<\/jats:italic>\n                    . Using an individual difference approach, I assessed whether trait alexithymia was able to predict unique variance in facial expression discrimination ability and facial expression labelling ability above and beyond an individual\u2019s level of dark triad traits. Results showed that autistic traits, alexithymic traits, and dark triad traits all correlated with expression recognition ability. However, linear regression models showed that an individual\u2019s level of dark triad traits, their level of autistic traits, and a brief measure of general cognitive ability each predicted unique variance in facial expression discrimination and facial expression labelling ability, but an individual\u2019s level of alexithymic traits predicted no additional unique variance. Results suggest that dark triad and autistic traits each contribute to expression recognition ability in unique ways alongside general cognitive ability.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/17470218241307763","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,5]],"date-time":"2024-12-05T06:58:27Z","timestamp":1733381907000},"page":"2299-2307","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Alexithymia does not explain facial expression recognition difficulties across the dark triad spectrum"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"78","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5132-1969","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"John R.","family":"Towler","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_2_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Aluja A. Garcia L. F. Rossier J. Ostendorf F. Glicksohn J. Oumar B. .\u2004.\u2004. Hansenne M. (2022). Dark triad traits social position and personality: A cross-cultural study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 53(3-4) 380\u2013402. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/00220221211072816","DOI":"10.1177\/00220221211072816"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1176\/appi.books.9780890425596","DOI":"10.1176\/appi.books.9780890425596"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Arthur W.Jr. Day D. V. (1994). Development of a short form for the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices test. Educational and Psychological Measurement 54 394\u2013403. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/0013164494054002013","DOI":"10.1177\/0013164494054002013"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bagby R. M. Parker J. D. Taylor G. J. (1994). The twenty-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale\u2014I. Item selection and cross-validation of the factor structure. Journal of Psychosomatic Research 38(1) 23\u201332. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/0022-3999(94)90005-1","DOI":"10.1016\/0022-3999(94)90005-1"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Baron-Cohen S. Wheelwright S. Skinner R. Martin J. Clubley E. (2001). The autism-spectrum quotient (AQ): Evidence from asperger syndrome\/high-functioning autism malesand females scientists and mathematicians. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 31 5\u201317. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1023\/A:1005653411471","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1005653411471"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_7_1","unstructured":"Besel L. D. S. (2006). Empathy: The role of facial expression recognition (Doctoral dissertation The University of British Columbia). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.14288\/1.0100322"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bird G. Cook R. (2013). Mixed emotions: the contribution of alexithymia to the emotional symptoms of autism. Translational Psychiatry 3(7) e285\u2013e285. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/tp.2013.61","DOI":"10.1038\/tp.2013.61"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10803-011-1183-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Blair R. J. R. (2008). Fine cuts of empathy and the amygdala: Dissociable deficits in psychopathy and autism. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 61(1) 157\u2013170. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/17470210701508855","DOI":"10.1080\/17470210701508855"},{"key":"e_1_3_2_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bothe E. Palermo R. Rhodes G. Burton N. Jeffery L. (2019). Expression recognition difficulty is associated with social but not attention-to-detail autistic traits and reflects both alexithymia and perceptual difficulty. 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