Status-driven risk taking: Another “dark” personality?

Abstract

We elucidated a recently proposed individual difference variable, Status-Driven Risk Taking (SDRT), in three different samples of Canadian undergraduate students. In particular, we focused on the relationships between SDRT and the “Dark Triad” of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. In each of the three studies, SDRT was moderately correlated with Dark Triad variables. In Study 1, SDRT and the Dark Triad were negatively associated with HEXACO Honesty-Humility and positively associated with antisocial behaviour. In Study 2, SDRT, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy were negatively correlated with Big Five Agreeableness and Conscientiousness and positively correlated with prioritizing extrinsic life aspirations. In Study 3, we found consistencies in the vocational interests associated with SDRT and the Dark Triad. Overall, SDRT was not only related to personality, life aspirations, vocational interests, and the Dark Triad in the hypothesised directions but, when entered in regression analyses with the Dark Triad, SDRT was also shown to account for unique variance in the prediction of important outcome variables. Thus, these studies provide preliminary evidence that SDRT might be a useful addition to the “dark” personality constructs.