This research aimed to investigate the area of the so-called dark triad, in terms of emotional functioning. The current state of knowledge does not determine the existence or nature of the relationship between narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism and empathy and the ability to recognize emotions based on facial expressions. Some researchers suggest a negative correlation between these factors, whereas others note a positive relationship between the two. There are also quite a few studies that do not demonstrate this relationship. To verify the hypotheses, the three psychometric tools were used: the Emotional Intelligence Scale - Faces (SIE-T), the Shortened Empathy Quotient Scale (SSIE) and the Dirty Dozen. The respondents were recruited on social networking sites using the snowball method, thus collecting the results from 148 people - 89 women (Mage = 28.18) and 59 men (Mage = 31.59). The obtained data confirmed the hypothesis about the existence of a relationship between the empathy quotient and psychopathy, and the significance of gender as a moderator in the relationship between the ability to recognize emotions and Machiavellianism was found. An insufficiently large group of respondents did not allow us to verify the remaining hypotheses. Future research should focus on deepening the understanding of the emotional dimension in the area of the dark triad. It is recommended to research much larger groups, as well as using non-self-reported tools.