Don’t threaten me and my dark side or even self-harm won’t stop me from hurting you

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate whether our dark side not only leads to aggressive behavior against others but also to direct deliberate self-harming behavior when the ego is threatened. One hundred and seventy two students of sports science were recruited as participants (60.7% female) with a mean age of 20.98 (SD=1.95). Participants filled out the German versions of the NPI, Mach IV and the SRP-III. To assess direct deliberate self-harming behavior, a white-noise-aggression to others and to self paradigm was used. Findings revealed that mainly the common core of the dark side of personality and not its facets (only narcissism to a very small extent) predicted direct deliberate self-harming behavior. These results highlight the necessity for researching this “vulnerable dark side” to obtain a better understanding of the Dark Triad members acting in situations with ego-threats (especially self-esteem threats).