On HBO's hit television show "Succession," fictional media mogul Logan Roy, his adult children, and his yes-men (and women) manipulate, bamboozle, and strong arm everyone around them in the pursuit of more power.
Currently in its fourth and final season, the series illustrates that no one is safe from the Roy family's domineering and often cruel tactics, not even the Roys themselves. According to psychology experts, this is likely because the Roy family members exhibit dark triad traits.
The dark triad is a set of three traits that some psychologists say is helpful for describing more sinister types of pathological behavior, according to Bill Chopik, a social-personality psychologist at Michigan State University.
According to Psychology Today, the dark triad traits include:
Unlike rare and diagnosable personality disorders like narcissistic personality disorder, the dark triad traits are not diagnosable, Chopik said. Rather, they exist on a scale or spectrum, with every person embodying these traits to varying levels. According to Chopik, the dark triad can describe how a person is acting at any given moment in time, but it cannot describe someone's full identity or state of being.
On "Succession," the Roy family members exhibit these traits often, according to Tribeca Therapy therapist Kelly Scott, who is also a fan of the show. To Scott, "Succession" centers around Logan Roy's adult children pursuing a feeling of safety with a parent who has never, and cannot, provide it.
"These kids have been raised by a very Machiavellian and manipulative parent who had all of the power in his marriage and in the family system," Scott told Insider.
She said that it's likely Shiv, Roman, and Kendall Roy, three of Logan's children, adapted by matching their behavior to their father's as a way to feel connected to him and to navigate their complicated family.