The Dark Triad of personality and folk intuitions about free will and moral responsibility

Abstract

The present research aimed to investigate the association between the Dark Triad of personality and philosophical intuitions regarding freedom and moral responsibility. In this study, 871 participants evaluated free will and moral responsibility for either a positive or a negative moral action performed by an agent in completely deterministic or indeterministic conditions. Subsequently, they completed a self-report scale to assess the Dark Triad of personality traits. The results revealed that psychopathy and, to a marginal extent, narcissism— in contrast to Machiavellianism— were significantly linked to lower agreement regarding the agents' possession of freedom and moral responsibility. This association remained significant even after statistically controlling for demographic factors, moral valence, and conditions. Discrepancies between components of the Dark Triad concerning folk intuitions about free will and moral responsibility, as well as their compatibility with determinism, are discussed.