Gail Herriot who posts at Instapundit links to Journal of Personality and Social Psychology research which finds this entirely sensible relationship.
Individuals with Dark Triad traits—Machiavellianism, Narcissism, Psychopathy—more frequently signal virtuous victimhood, controlling for demographic and socioeconomic variables that are commonly associated with victimization in Western societies.
Interpreting this for the lay reader, Psychology Today writes:
People who signal virtue and victimhood are more likely to have dark triad personality traits. The dark triad comprises narcissism (entitled self-importance), Machiavellianism (strategic exploitation and duplicity) and psychopathy (callousness and cynicism).
In case you are unsure, these 3 traits do not signal mental health, quite the reverse. This finding relates to the Reynolds quote below. It seems he was prophetic.
