Dark Triad Personality Research Articles

Dispositional mindfulness as a mediator between basic psychological needs and dark triad traits

We analyzed the mediating effect of mindfulness on the relationship between dark personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and the frustration and satisfaction of basic psychological needs. The research sample comprised 642 nonclinical working adults. The following measurement tools were used: the dark triad of personality, the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale, and the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Dispositional mindfulness fully mediated the relationship between narcissism and basic psychological need frustration. The frustrated participants who were less mindful were also more narcissistic. If the participants were only more frustrated but not less mindful, they did not show a higher level of narcissism. There was a significant relationship between psychopathy and basic psychological need frustration, which was partially mediated by mindfulness (12% of the total effect). There was no relation between Machiavellianism and mindfulness. Mindfulness did not mediate the relationship between Machiavellianism and the basic psychological need frustration/satisfaction. There was no significant relationship between mindfulness and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs. The authors discussed the protective effect of dispositional mindfulness in the context of frustrated basic psychological needs and narcissism, psychopathy and the possibilities of developing dispositional mindfulness.

In Leaders We Trust, or Should We? Supervisors' Dark Triad Personality Traits and Ratings of Team Performance and Innovation.

Our study tests in a sample of 87 organizational groups (297 employees and 87 supervisors) the mediating role of leader-member exchange (LMX) and collective narcissism in the relationship between supervisors’ dark triad (SDT) personality traits and ratings of team outcomes made by supervisors and team members. We show that LMX mediates the association between SDT and team performance and innovation as rated by team members, while collective narcissism mediates the association between SDT and supervisory ratings of team innovation and team performance. Moreover, collective narcissism also mediates the association between SDT and team innovation as rated by team members. Results show that team-level performance appraisal is influenced by supervisory attributes and that the quality of relational exchanges and collective narcissism are plausible mechanisms explaining this association. The use of supervisory ratings of team outcomes in empirical research should also account for the supervisory attributes.

The Nexus of the Dark Triad Personality Traits With Cyberbullying, Empathy, and Emotional Intelligence: A Structural-Equation Modeling Approach.

This study set out to elucidate the complex suite of associations between the Dark Triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), emotional intelligence, empathy, and cyberbullying, as the respective findings regarding this topic have been inconsistent. Studies preponderantly have relied on abbreviated Dark Triad measures that do not differentiate between its lower-order facets. Further, most extant studies have exclusively been based on female psychology undergraduates and have not accounted for known sex differences on the Dark Triad traits and cyberbullying, or for negative associations between cyberbullying and age. Therefore, this nexus of interrelations was investigated in a diverse community sample (N = 749). A structural equation-modeling approached was used to examine predictors of cyberbullying and to test for mediating relationships between lower-order Dark Triad facets and emotional intelligence and empathy. Multigroup models were applied to test for sex-specific patterns. Empathy did not predict cyberbullying, whereas emotional intelligence partly mediated the Dark Triad associations with cyberbullying among both sexes. Sex-specific patterns in the associations between Dark Triad traits and cyberbullying were particularly observed for the grandiose and vulnerable narcissism facets. Emotional intelligence appeared to buffer effects of grandiose narcissism on cyberbullying. Future research could fruitfully explore cyberbullies’ profiles regarding primary and secondary psychopathy, sex differences in narcissism, and buffering effects of emotional intelligence. Further improvements regarding the measurement of dark personality traits are indicated as well.

Predicting Resilience Based on Dark Triad Personality and Psychological Wellbeing in Athletes Students

Background and Aim: The concept of resilience has been recently extensively considered concerning sports studies; accordingly, in most qualitative studies, it has been used to explore the attitudes of coaches, athletes, and sports psychologists. In this regard, the present study aimed to determine resilience in athletic students based on dark triad personality and psychological wellbeing. Methods & Materials: This was a descriptive and correlational study. The population of the study consisted of all male students of Guilan University of Physical Education in the first semester of the academic year 2019-2020. A sample of 200 individuals was selected by convenience sampling method; then, the required data were collected using Sheard et al.’s (2009) Resilience Scale for Adults, Jonsson and Webster’s Dark Triad Personality Questionnaire, and Ryff’s 18-item Psychological Wellbeing Scale (1989). The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. Ethical Considerations: This study was approved by Research Ethics Committee of Guilan University of Medical Sciences (Code: IR.GUMS.REC.1398.121). Results: The present research results suggested a positive and significant correlation between the resilience of the examined athletic students and narcissism (r=0.495, P<0.001), self-acceptance (r=0.598, P<0.001), purposefulness in life (r=0.556, P<0.001), personal growth (r=0.648, P<0.001), the mastery of the environment (r=0.645, P<0.001), positive correlation with others (r=0.569, P<0.001), and independence (r=0.381, P<0.001). Moreover, there was a significant negative correlation between antisocial behavior (r=-0.557, P<0.001) and Machiavelli’s aspect (r=-0.604, P<0.001), and the explored students’ resilience. Additionally, multiple regression analysis data revealed that dark triad personality and psychological wellbeing predict 62% of resilience in the study subjects. Conclusion: The current investigation results signified a significant correlation between dark triad personality and psychological wellbeing, and resilience in athletic students. Accordingly, educators and teachers need to pay more attention to the role of psychological wellbeing and different dimensions of athletes’ personalities for promoting the health and performance of students.

The Dark Triad of Personality: Is Psychopathy a Good Predictor of Workplace Stress?

Background:Psychopathy as an antisocial characteristic of an individual is characterized by a lack of empathy, guilt, inability to control impulsive behavior, irresponsibility, irritability and aggressive behavior. Because of the traits that underlie this factor, we hypothesized that psychopaths would experience more stress in the work environment. Stress, in this article, is operationalized within Karasek’s model of stress which consider that contextual variables (excessive demands on work, lack of social support, and lack of control at work) are responsible for experiencing stress at the workplace. This kind of work context, according to our assumption, can affect psychopaths to have a weaker response to stressful situations.Objective:To determine the predictive power of psychopathy as a factor in the dark triad in order to explain the workplace stress.Methods:We conducted the study in one company on a sample of 235 respondents. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic Characteristics Questionnaire, the Dark Triad Questionnaire (SD27) and the Copenhagen Questionnaire for measuring cognitive, behavioral and somatic stress.Results:The mean age of the respondents was 39.04±10.27 years. Using standard regression analysis, we found that the dark triad model is the only significant one in explaining cognitive stress, and a significant predictor is psychopathy.Conclusion:In majority of previous studies, psychopathy has not been associated with stress, and the findings are important for future research that should shed light on the complex relationship between psychopathy and stress.

Signaling virtuous victimhood as indicators of Dark Triad personalities.

We investigate the consequences and predictors of emitting signals of victimhood and virtue. In our first three studies, we show that the virtuous victim signal can facilitate nonreciprocal resource transfer from others to the signaler. Next, we develop and validate a victim signaling scale that we combine with an established measure of virtue signaling to operationalize the virtuous victim construct. We show that individuals with Dark Triad traits-Machiavellianism, Narcissism, Psychopathy-more frequently signal virtuous victimhood, controlling for demographic and socioeconomic variables that are commonly associated with victimization in Western societies. In Study 5, we show that a specific dimension of Machiavellianism-amoral manipulation-and a form of narcissism that reflects a person's belief in their superior prosociality predict more frequent virtuous victim signaling. Studies 3, 4, and 6 test our hypothesis that the frequency of emitting virtuous victim signal predicts a person's willingness to engage in and endorse ethically questionable behaviors, such as lying to earn a bonus, intention to purchase counterfeit products and moral judgments of counterfeiters, and making exaggerated claims about being harmed in an organizational context. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

An unjustified bad reputation? The Dark Triad and support for populism

While research concludes that populist leaders stand out for their “dark” personalities, studies on the psychological underpinnings of citizens’ populist attitudes are scant and inconclusive, with some agreement on the association between disagreeableness and populist attitudes. By bringing the Dark Triad personality traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism into the picture, we aim to answer whether populist citizens -like populist leaders-score higher in this dark traits, and whether the addition of the Dark Triad helps to better understanding the populist personality. Using an online Spanish sample, our analyses find that using the Dark Triad does indeed add to our understanding of populist attitudes. In opposition to widespread intuitions about the character of populists, we find that psychopathy and Machiavellianism are negatively associated with support for populism, with only narcissism being positively related to the people-centric dimension of populist attitudes.

The Dark Triad of Personality's Relationship with Compliance towards COVID-19 Pandemic Recommendations along with Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Polish Citizens.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone to comply with rules of a sanitary regime and social distancing on a daily basis. The aim of our research was to assess the differences in the levels of Dark Triad traits between people who obeyed and disobeyed the pandemic restrictions. Additionally, we considered the possible correlation between the Dark Triad and the intensity of symptoms of depression and anxiety. A total of 604 Polish participants, whose average age was 28.95 ± 11.27 years, completed an online survey which measured Dark Triad traits using the Polish version of the Dirty Dozen test. Anxiety and depression were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The results revealed a possible relationship between personality traits and compliance with pandemic restrictions. Individuals with higher levels of psychopathy tended to disobey newly introduced rules. On the other hand, a higher level of subclinical narcissism might have contributed to a better civil compliance. The results showed a significant positive correlation between the intensity of the Dark Triad and the occurrence of depressive symptoms. Furthermore, narcissism was linked to anxiety symptoms. These results can contribute to a better understanding of behavioural patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic within the group of individuals who exhibit the Dark Triad traits. Our conclusions might help to identify individuals who are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems.

GAMBARAN KEPRIBADIAN GELAP (DARK TRIAD PERSONALITY) PADA PENGGUNA MEDIA SOSIAL

Nowadays, humans today are inseparable from the sophistication of information and communication technology, all people can enjoy the sophistication of today's technology, be it children, adolescents, adults, and even parents who cannot be separated from technology. In Indonesia, the age range is from 15 years to 24 years and is the largest user. The sampling technique used in this study was purposive sampling. The research subjects were 386 respondents and were active social media users. The measuring instrument used in this study uses an adaptation scale of dark triad personality by Jones and Pauhlus (2014) which consists of 26 items that the authors translate and adapt to the Indonesian culture. The purpose of this study was to describe the dark triad of personality among social media users. A dark personality is a personality that is dominated by negative behavior. The results showed 15.80% had high traits of Machiavellianism, 14.76% had high traits of narcissism, and 15.02% had high traits of psychopathy. Based on the results of the analysis of the mean value of personality factors based on the dark triad personality theory, it can be concluded that in general, the highest mean value is on the trait of Machiavellianism with a mean value of 21.09 and the lowest score lies in the characteristics of psychopathy, namely 11.20. Most social media users are Instagram with a percentage of 95.5% then Instant Massaging (Wa / Line) at 83.8% and Facebook at 53%. The dark personality or dark triad personality is a personality that is dominated by negative behavior so that in the Islamic perspective it is included in the personality of anger, which means that the individual tends to the character of the body and teaches the principle of enjoyment.

A few prolific liars in Japan: Replication and the effects of Dark Triad personality traits.

Truth-Default Theory (TDT) predicts that across countries and cultures, a few people tell most of the lies, while a majority of people lie less frequently than average. This prediction, referred to as “a few prolific liars,” is tested in Japan. The study further investigated the extent to which the Dark Triad personality traits predict the frequency of lying. University students (N = 305) reported how many times they lied in the past 24 hours and answered personality questions. Results indicate that the few prolific liars pattern is evident in Japan thereby advancing TDT. Results also show that Japanese frequent liars tend to have Dark Triad personality traits, but the nature of the findings may be unique to Japan. Results of the generalized linear model suggest that the Dark Triad components of Machiavellianism and psychopathy exacerbate lying behavior by reducing the guilt associated with lying. However, narcissism encourages guilt and therefore inhibits lying behavior with both direct and indirect effects. These narcissism findings appear to contradict prior studies but stem from use of a more appropriate statistical analysis or the Japanese context.

INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CLOSE PARTNER VIOLENCE, EMOTIONAL VIOLENCE AND DARK TRIAD PERSONALITY TRAITS

The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between attitudes towards emotional violence and control behavior with dark triad personality traits together with physical and sexual violence against women. Another aim is to draw attention to psychological violence and control behaviors in the studies, to be carried out in the context of preventing intimate partner violence. The sample group consisted of 140 men aged 18 and over, who were reached through random sampling, reached through Google forms and face-to-face interviews. For the purposes of the research, the ISKEBE Violence against Women Scale (ISKEBE Attitude Scale) and Short Dark Triad Scale (SD3-T) were used, and personal information form was applied for demographic data. According to the statistics, men with a high dark triad total value have higher attitudes towards violence against women. There is a positive correlation between the high scores of psychopathy and body attitudes subscale scores. (B: 0.305, p <0.001) A positive relationship was found between the high scores of narcissisms and the attitudes towards identity subscale. (B: 0.308, p <0.001) There is a positive relationship between the high score of Machiavellianism and the attitudes towards identity subscale. (B: 0.470, p <0.001)) There is a positive correlation between Machiavellian score and psychopathy score. (B: 0.515, p <0.001). The results reveal that dark triad personality traits predict emotional and physical violence in close partner relationships.

The Dark Triad of Personality in the Context of Health Behaviors: Ally or Enemy?

The main aim of this manuscript was to present a preliminary verification of the relations between the Dark Triad of personality traits and health-oriented behaviors in university students. The study involved 143 healthy students (94 female and 49 male) from the Silesian Voivodeship (Poland). The diagnosis of the elements of the Dark Triad of personality was carried out using a psychological examination based on the following tests: TriPM-41, Mach IV, NPI. The intensity of the health behaviors was examined using the Health Behavior Inventory developed by Z. Juczyński. The Health Behavior Inventory is positively correlated with narcissism and its self-sufficiency component and negatively with psychopathic disinhibition. For the Health Behavior Inventory’s subscales, a positive relationship was observed between Positive Mental Attitude and narcissism, most of its components, and psychopathic boldness. The analysis of correlations with the division of the subjects into the Dark Triad traits ≤Me and >Me revealed that a significant positive correlation between the general intensity of the health behaviors and the intensity of narcissism mainly concerns university students with a lower level of this trait and its components. Therefore, it can be presumed that narcissism, although considered as a socially aversive trait, is associated with pro-health behaviors.

Our Vulnerable Dark Side-Two Laboratory Approaches.

The Dark Triad of personality has been associated with aggression against others as a reaction to perceived provocations. However, previous work has also shown that such responsive aggression even occurs if it means harming oneself. The first of two laboratory studies aimed to investigate whether this relation between the Dark Triad and self-harming behavior also occurs in situations where no others are affected but self-harm is likely. The second laboratory study considered two different settings in a within-participants design in order to analyze the stability of self-harming behavior and to what extent the Dark Triad constructs influence this behavior. The sample for study 1 consisted of 151 students (45.7% female) with a mean age of 21.40 years (SD = 2.19); the sample for study 2 consisted of 251 students (76.0% female) with a mean age of 22.21 years (SD = 3.90). Aside from the Dark Triad’s common core, depending on how self-harm was triggered (ego-threat (mainly narcissism), being alone with one’s own thoughts (mainly psychopathy), or reward condition (mainly Machiavellianism)), the Dark Triad traits differed in their responsiveness but were stable over the last two conditions, thereby suggesting a vulnerable side of the Dark Triad.

The dark triad of personality and hero/villain status as predictors of parasocial relationships with comic book characters.

The dark triad of personality and hero/villain status as predictors of parasocial relationships with comic book characters.

Dark triad personality traits prediction with AI

IntroductionThe dark triad is composed by the personality traits Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy (MNP). Their complexity can make them difficult to interrelate. Artificial intelligence (AI) could help in this endeavour.ObjectivesTo investigate whether AI could predict MNP from themselves.MethodsData from 210 questionnaires were analysed using an AI. The short Dark Triad questionnaire (SD3) was used to assess MNP. Two of the MNP scores were employed to predict the third one and the procedure was repeated for all of them alternatively. The AI was conservatively tuned to maximize the one-way random intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between predicted and real values. Pearson’s r was calculated too. The free and open source programming language R was used for all the analyses. Dataset source: Borráz-León, Javier I. (2020), “Dark triad, attractiveness, mate value, and sexual partners”, Mendeley Data, V1, doi: 10.17632/87vx6jfnrp.1ResultsMachiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy predictions obtained ICC of 0.593, 0.335, 0.505 and Pearson’s r of 0.608, 0.346, 0.548 respectively. The results were indicative of fair performance, mainly for Machiavellianism and psychopathy.ConclusionsAI might be useful to predict MNP. This could be utile in many situations, such as dealing with missing data or deciding whether to formally test someone. Finally, the AI used in this study is freely available, allowing anyone to experiment.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Big Five and Dark Triad personality traits as predictors of multicultural attitude and efficacy.

The advances in communication and transportation facilities have accelerated the formation of multicultural societies worldwide. Personality traits may be one of the most important indicators of adapting to multicultural environments. Educational environments are multicultural in terms of the composition of students they serve. The present study investigated the predictive role of Big Five and Dark Triad personality traits on multicultural attitude and efficacy (MAE) among teacher candidates. The study population comprised of teacher candidates (N = 404) studying in Turkey. In order to collect data, Big Five personality and the Dark Triad, the Adjective Based Personality Scale and the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen Scale were used respectively. In addition, data regarding MAE were collected through the Multicultural Efficacy Scale. The results showed that openness to new experience positively (β = .16, p < .01) and psychopathy negatively (β = -.16, p < .01) predicted multicultural attitude. On the other hand, multicultural efficacy was positively predicted only by openness to new experience (β = .32, p < .001). Therefore, openness and psychopathic traits can play an important role in explaining multicultural attitude and efficacy. Also, there is no significant difference with regard to teacher candidates' multicultural efficacy and attitudes according to their grade level. Individuals with openness to new experiences personality trait have a positive attitude towards multiculturalism, and they view themselves as competent to get involved in multicultural environments. On the other hand, individuals with the psychopathy personality trait have negative attitudes towards multiculturalism.

Creativity and the Dark Triad: A meta-analysis

This paper presents a meta-analysis of the relationships between creativity (creative potential, activities, and achievement) and the Dark Triad of personality: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Multilevel meta-analytic models demonstrated a small but significant positive association between creativity and narcissism (r = 0.15 [0.10, 0.29]) and Machiavellianism (r = 0.06 [0.02, 0.09]), but not with psychopathy (r = 0.03 [-0.02, 0.07]). Creativity measures (self-report-vs.-performance), aspects (self-perception, creative activity, creative abilities, creative achievements), and domains (general, art, science, and everyday creativity) moderated the links with the Dark Triad. We discuss the possible mechanism of associations between Dark Triad traits and creativity and highlight future research directions.

Are Tattooing Indicators of Dark Personalities? An Analysis of Body Modification within the Framework of Dark Triad of Personality

There are several displays commonly labeled as body modifications, including body piercings, scarification, tattoos, cutting, etc. In this study, we were focused on one distinct form of body modification, namely tattoos. The current exploratory study investigated the connection between body modifications (BM) and Dark Triad personality for a sample of 77 university students with BM, compared to a control group of 77 non-BM individuals. Three self-administrated questionnaires were used to collect the data: Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-Short Form, Mach-IV scale, and Narcissistic Personality Inventory. The findings suggest that subclinical psychopathy is most strongly connected to body modifications. An increased number of tattoos was also significantly correlated with a higher level of anti-sociality. Participants with visible body modifications had significantly higher affective callousness and overall self-reported subclinical psychopathy levels, compared with individuals with non-visible alterations.

The Relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and Sexting Behaviors among Adolescents and Young Adults across 11 Countries

Background: Sexting is an increasingly common phenomenon among adolescents and young adults. Some studies have investigated the role of personality traits in different sexting behaviors within mainstream personality taxonomies like Big Five and HEXACO. However, very few studies have investigated the role of maladaptive personality factors in sexting. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and experimental (i.e., sharing own sexts), risky (i.e., sexting under substance use and with strangers), and aggravated sexting (i.e., non-consensual sexting and sexting under pressure) across 11 countries. Methods: An online survey was completed by 6093 participants (Mage = 20.35; SDage = 3.63) from 11 different countries which covered four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America). Participants completed the Sexting Behaviors Questionnaire and the 12-item Dark Triad Dirty Dozen scale. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that sharing own sexts was positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Narcissism. Both risky and aggravated sexting were positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Psychopathy. Conclusions: The present study provided empirical evidence that different sexting behaviors were predicted by Dark Triad Personality Traits, showing a relevant role of Machiavellianism in all kinds of investigated sexting behaviors. Research, clinical, and education implications for prevention programs are discussed.

Individual psychological peculiarities of the inconsistency between cognitive and socio-psychological development of students

The subject of this article is the search for individual psychological peculiarities of the inconsistency between cognitive and socio-psychological development of students. The relevance of this topic is substantiated by the theoretical diversity of research on the inconsistency in psychology and the need for the development of socio-cultural and cognitive skills in the educational process. A hypothesis is advanced that the inconsistency between the processes of cognitive and socio-personal development would be variable, determining the individual psychological methods of its resolution. The goal of this research lies in conjoint analysis of cognitive and personal characteristics for assessing the inconsistency of students&amp;rsquo; development. The author applies the correlational research design, which is defined by the goal of research and specificity of the sampling. The survey involved 34 students (18 boys and 16 girls) of the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science of the Ural Federal University aged 18-22 (M=18.3 3 SD=0.79). The article employs the psychodiagnostic questionnaires: Aizenka EPI test; short version of the &amp;ldquo;Dark Triad of Personality&amp;rdquo; scale adapted by M. S. Egorova and others; characterological questionnaire by G. Schmishek, &amp;ldquo;Rational-experiential&amp;rdquo; questionnaire by S. Epstein adapted by T. V. Kornilova, A. Y. Razvalyaeva; Mann-Whitney U-test, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The following gender differences are revealed: for the female students, cognitive and personal characteristics are generally more interrelated, while the pronounced affective personality traits testify to the possible tension in social communication; male students demonstrated greater proneness to rational processing of information and formation of engineering skills, while weakness of integration of the inner and outer Self, which may increase narcissistic traits, reduce self-criticism, and cause difficulties in establishment and maintenance of social contacts. The acquired results empirically&amp;nbsp; prove the importance of socio-psychological competence, and allow differentiating the technologies of its formation in the educational process.