 Hey, Psych2Goers, welcome back to our channel. We wanted to let you know that we truly value your ongoing support. It's viewers like you that help us in our goal to spread awareness about mental health and psychology. Together, we can continue to help make psychology and mental health more accessible to everyone. So, thank you. Now, on to the video. When you hear that someone is an empath, you may think it's a good thing. They have a great sense of what others are feeling or thinking, and they have a great deal of empathy as well. But, what if someone possessed cognitive empathy and displayed traits of a dark personality type? Would they use your feelings against you? Know exactly how to behave to appear kind and normal? While hiding their true intentions? Well, a dark empath may do just that. A study by Haim and Associates found that out of a group of 991 participants, 19.3% were dark empaths. Those with dark personality types are thought to be so based on their rank of dark triad personality traits and lack of empathy. The dark triad is a term used to group three benevolent personality traits in psychology. The dark triad comprises the traits of Machiavellianism, Narcissism and Psychopathy. Dark triad personality types rank high in the three dark traits, while low in empathy. While empaths are ranked low in dark traits and of course high in empathy. But, a dark empath ranks high in both dark triad traits and empathy. But just because you display empathy doesn't mean you share another's feelings emotionally. That is effective empathy. Dark empaths often use cognitive empathy to their advantage, meaning they know what it is you want and feel, but dark empaths may use it against you. So, to help you recognize if you're being manipulated by someone who has both cognitive empathy and malevolent traits, here are five signs of a dark empath. Number one, their kindness often feels fake. Your partner cuddles with you after a romantic evening with you. They say comforting words when you're worried, and they compliment you at seemingly the right time. But, you can't shake this feeling that something is off. Something doesn't feel sincere about it all. In fact, they sound a bit forced or fake with certain actions. So, what's going on? Dark empaths know what to say and how they should act to appear as if they're the perfect partner. So, they may sound a bit forced when they pay you certain compliments or go forward with certain actions. It's important to look out for dark triad traits and other signs before jumping to the conclusion that they're a dark empath because they may just be a people pleaser. Number two, they manipulate you. Dark empaths often will use their insight into cognitive empathy as a means of manipulating others. Since they are aware of what you might be feeling or thinking, they know exactly how to use your emotions against you. They may have no boundaries and only focus on fulfilling their needs. If you notice the end of every argument or discussion that only their needs are met, they may be manipulating you. Number three, they guilt trip you. In the study from Heyman Associates, dark empaths displayed higher indirect aggression than your average person. This was especially true in guilt tripping tactics. If you notice your partner often uses guilt as a means of getting you to do what they want, this may be the first sign that they're a dark empath. Number four, they love malicious humor. Dark empaths also demonstrated especially high indirect aggression in malicious humor. Sigmund Freud, the famous founder of psychoanalysis, called this type of humor, tendentious. It's the worst type of humor and is destructive in nature. When one uses malicious humor, they often make hurtful jokes that put others beneath them, giving them a feeling of superiority over others. And number five, they spread rumors. Those who have the dark triad trait of Machiavellianism often enjoy deceiving, manipulating and exploiting others in order to achieve their own needs and desires. Dark empaths have an easy way of manipulating others by narrowing in on their feelings and weaknesses. They may spread rumors about what they've sensed you're most insecure about or vulnerable about. They know exactly how to hurt you because they have the ability to understand what it is you're feeling on a cognitive level. They simply need to understand what it is that hurts you and spread gossip and rumors focused on that to get exactly what they want. So, have you met a dark empath? Do you know someone who shows these signs? Which one jumps out at you? What will you do next? Let us know in the comments below. If you found this video helpful, don't forget to click the like button and share this video with someone who you might think is suffering from a toxic relationship. Subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell icon for more content like this. As always, thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.