Dark triad of personality and aggression in adolescents and young people

Abstract

The present study aims to analyze the relationships between dark triad of personality and aggression in adolescents. Aggression is considered the key factor in the development of criminal behavior, and by deciphering the factors that determine aggression, interventions can be made to prevent and diminish delinquent behavior. In this study, 134 persons between 15 and 28 years old participated, M = 20.48, AS = 2.50, of whom 34 were males and 79 were females. The instruments used to assess the dark personality traits and aggression were The Aggression Questionnaire, BPAQ (α = .89) and Short Dark Triad, SD-3 (α = .79). The results showed that boys have higher levels of physical aggression than girls, while girls have higher levels of anger and hostility than boys. In addition, psychopathy was positively associated with physical aggression, verbal aggression, and anger, Machiavelianism was positively associated with hostility, and narcissism was negatively associated with hostility. Age moderates to some extent the relationship between dark personality traits and physical aggression. Practical implications of these results are disscused.