Into the heart of darkness: A person-centered exploration of the Dark Triad

Abstract

Previous research has sought to leverage person-centered methods (i.e., latent profile analysis; LPA) to examine the Dark Triad, which has aimed to illuminate subgroups of individuals who demonstrate distinct patterns of the Dark Triad variables. However, past research has predominantly concluded that variable-centered analyses may be better suited for the Dark Triad. Yet, other research has described how advanced factor analyses can more comprehensively identify the complex and nuanced multidimensionality and sources of variance underlying the Dark Triad. This study applies these modern factor analysis methods, namely bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (B-ESEM), which subsequently facilitates the more effective extraction of unique, configurationally-distinct profiles of the Dark Triad. In particular, across two large datasets (n = 13,271 and 1042), results showed evidence for four distinct profiles and highlight relations with several theoretically interesting covariates, thereby providing evidence of construct validity of the Dark Triad profiles. Person-centered approaches may, therefore, be viable for future Dark Triad research. However, it is recommended that factor scores from the B-ESEM, if identified as optimal, be used as input for the person-centered analyses.