RESEARCH PAPER
Structural investigation of the Short Dark Triad for Youths (13-16 years)
 
More details
Hide details
1
Institute of Psychology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland
 
 
Submission date: 2020-06-15
 
 
Final revision date: 2020-08-28
 
 
Acceptance date: 2020-08-28
 
 
Online publication date: 2020-10-05
 
 
Publication date: 2020-10-01
 
 
Current Issues in Personality Psychology 2020;8(3):243-254
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
The classic three-factor structure of the Short Dark Triad Questionnaire (SD3) has been confirmed in studies on different popu-lations. However, a few studies (including those on the Polish population) reveal some problem with the proposed SD3 struc-ture. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the structure of the Short Dark Triad for Youths (SD3-Y) in a sample of subclinical Polish adolescents. The results obtained should be treated as comments on the inconsistencies that exist among classic and critical conceptualisations of the SD3 structure.

Participants and procedure:
Three studies were conducted: (1) adaptation of the Polish version of the SD3 in terms of linguistic and cognitive needs of ado-lescents (N = 45); (2) investigation of the structure of the SD3-Y (N = 405); (3) examination of the external validity of the SD3-Y (N = 325).

Results:
A series of confirmatory factor analyses, reliability analyses using ω coefficients as well as a correlation analysis between the Dark Triad traits and Big Five traits, aggression and self-esteem were conducted. No replication of the factor structure of the classic model was obtained. The bifactor Dark Dyad model with psychopathy and Machiavellianism as two dimensions best fits the data. The ω reliability coefficients were acceptable with the highest value for psychopathy. There was an admissible external validity level.

Conclusions:
The Dark Triad as measured by SD3-Y comprises the Dark Dyad (psychopathy, Machiavellianism) and narcissism as a feature independent of the other two. Such data comply with the critical findings relating to the structure of the SD3 with a Polish adult population.

REFERENCES (46)
1.
Aranowska, E., & Rytel, J. (2012). Struktura czynnikowa kwestionariusza agresji Bussa i Perry’ego (BPQA) w populacji polskiej [Factorial structure of the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPQA) in Polish popula-tion]. Studia Psychologica, 12, 135–151.
 
2.
Atari, M., & Chegeni, R. (2016). Assessment of dark personalities in Iran: Psychometric evaluation of the Farsi translation of the Short Dark Triad (SD3-F). Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 111–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
 
3.
Blackburn, R., & Fawcett, D. J. (1999). The Antisocial Personality Questionnaire: an inventory for assessing de-viant traits in offender populations. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 15, 14–24. https://doi.org/10.1027//1015-....
 
4.
Boduszek, D., Debowska, A., Sherretts, N., Willmott, D., Boulton, M., Kielkiewicz, K., & Hyland, P. (2019). Are prisoners more psychopathic than non-forensic populations? Profiling psychopathic traits among prisoners, community adults, university students, and adolescents. Deviant Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1080/016396....
 
5.
Bogdanovic, M., & Cingula, D. (2015). Dark Triad of Croatian management students. Central European Busi-ness Review, 4, 30–47. https://doi.org/10.18267/j.ceb....
 
6.
Cieciuch, J., Toczyłowska-Niemiec, K., & Barbaranelli, C. (2016). Kwestionariuszowy pomiar pięciu cech oso-bowości dzieci i dorastających. Polska adaptacja Big Five Questionnaire – Children (BFQ-C) [Questionnaire measurement of five personality traits in children and adolescents: a Polish adaptation of the Big Five Ques-tionnaire – Children (BFQ-C)]. Psychologia Rozwojowa, 21, 73–85. https://doi.org/10.4467/208438....
 
7.
Christie, R., & Geis, F. L. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press.
 
8.
Furnham, A., Richards, S. C., & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). The dark triad of personality: a 10-year review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7, 199–216. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.1....
 
9.
Cleckley, H. (1941). The mask of sanity: an attempt to reinterpret the so-called psychopathic personality. St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
 
10.
DeShong, H. L., Helle, A. C., Lengel, G. J., Meyer, N., & Mullins-Sweatt, S. N. (2017). Facets of the dark triad: Utilizing the five-factor model to describe Machiavellianism. Personality and Individual Differences, 105, 218–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
 
11.
Gamache, D., Savard, C., & Maheux-Caron, V. (2018). French adaptation of the Short Dark Triad: Psychomet-ric properties and a head-to-head comparison with the Dirty Dozen. Personality and Individual Differences, 122, 164–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
 
12.
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cut-off criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/107055....
 
13.
Isen, J., Baker, L., Kern, M., Raine, A, & Bezdjian, S. (2018). Unmasking the association between psychopathic traits and adaptive functioning in children. Journal of Individual Differences, 124, 57–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
 
14.
Izdebski, Z. (2017). Seksualność Polaków 2017 [Sexuality of Poles 2017]. Retrieved from https://dimedic.eu/pl/wiedza/s... [accessed November 11, 2019].
 
15.
Jonason, P. K., Foster, J. D., Kavanagh, P. S., Gouveia, V. V., & Birkás, B. (2018). Basic values and the dark tri-ad traits. Journal of Individual Differences, 39, 220–228. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0....
 
16.
Jonason, P. K., & Kavanagh, P. S. (2010). The dark side of love: Love styles and the Dark Triad. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 606–610. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
 
17.
Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2010). The dirty dozen: a concise measure of the dark triad. Psychological Assessment, 22, 420–432. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00192....
 
18.
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the Short Dark Triad (SD3): a brief measure of dark personali-ty traits. Assessment, 21, 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/107319....
 
19.
Klimstra, T. A., Jelle, J., Sijtsema, J. J., Henrichs, J., & Cima, M. J. (2014). The Dark Triad of personality in ado-lescence: Psychometric properties of a concise measure and associations with adolescent adjustment from a multi-informant perspective. Journal of Research in Personality, 53, 84–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.....
 
20.
Klimstra, T. A., Jeronimus, B. F., Sijtsema, J. J., & Denissen, J. J. A. (2020). The unfolding dark side: Age trends in dark personality features. Journal of Research in Personality, 85, e103915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.....
 
21.
Lau, K. L., & Marsee, M. A. (2013). Exploring narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism in youth: Exam-ination of associations with antisocial behavior and aggression. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22, 355–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826....
 
22.
Lee, K., & Ashton, M. C. (2005). Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism in the five-factor model and the HEXACO model of personality structure. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 1571–1582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
 
23.
Lee, K., Ashton, M. C., Wiltshire, J., Bourdage, J. S., Visser, B. A., & Gallucci, A. (2013). Sex, power, and money: Prediction from the dark triad and honesty-humility. European Journal of Personality, 27, 169–184. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.18....
 
24.
Levenson, M. R., Kiehl, K. A., & Fitzpatrick, C. M. (1995). Assessing psychopathic attributes in a noninstitutionalized population. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3....
 
25.
Łaguna, M., Lachowicz-Tabaczek, K., & Dzwonkowska, I. (2007). Skala samooceny SES Morrisa Rosenberga – polska adaptacja metody [The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: Polish adaptation of the scale]. Psychologia Społeczna, 2, 164–176.
 
26.
Malesza, M., Ostaszewski, P., Büchner, S., & Kaczmarek, M. C. (2017). The adaptation of the Short Dark Triad personality measure – psychometric properties of a German sample. Current Psychology, 38, 855–864. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144....
 
27.
Maples, J. L., Lamkin, J., & Miller, J. D. (2014). A test of two brief measures of the dark triad: the Dirty Dozen and Short Dark Triad. Psychological Assessment, 26, 326–331. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00350....
 
28.
Miller, J. D., Few, L. R., Seibert, L. A., Watts, A., Zeichner, A., & Lynam, D. R. (2012). An examination of the dirty dozen measure: a cautionary tale about the costs of brief measures. Psychological Assessment, 24, 1048–1053. https://doi.org/10.1037/a00285....
 
29.
Miller, J. D., Hyatt, C. S., Maples-Keller, J. L., Carter, N. T., & Lynam, D. R. (2017). Psychopathy and Machia-vellianism: a distinction without a difference? Journal of Personality, 85, 439–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.1....
 
30.
Moshagen, M., Hilbig, B., & Zettler, I. (2018). The dark core of personality. Psychological Review, 125, 656–688. https://doi.org 10.1037/rev0000111.
 
31.
Mulaik, S. (2007). There is a place for approximate fit in structural equation modelling. Personality and Indi-vidual Differences, 42, 883–891. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
 
32.
Muris, P., Meesters, C., & Timmermans, A. (2013). Some youths have a gloomy side: Correlates of the Dark Triad personality traits in non-clinical adolescents. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 44, 658–665. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578....
 
33.
Pabian, S., De Backer, C. J. S., & Vandebosch, H. (2015). Dark Triad personality traits and adolescent cyber-aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 75, 41–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
 
34.
Paulhus, D. L., Neumann, C. S., & Hare, R. D. (2014). Manual for the Hare Self-Report Psychopathy scale. To-ronto: Multi-Health Systems.
 
35.
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psy-chopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-....
 
36.
Pechoro, P., Caramelo, V., Oliveira, J. P., Nunes, C., Curtis, S. R., & Jones, D. N. (2019). The Short Dark Triad (SD3): Adaptation and psychometrics among at-risk male and female youths. Deviant Behavior, 40, 273–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/016396....
 
37.
Persson, B. N., Kajonius, P. J., & Garcia, D. (2017). Revisiting the structure of the Short Dark Triad. Assessment, 26, 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/107319....
 
38.
Raskin, R. N., & Hall, C. S. (1979). A narcissistic personality inventory. Psychological Reports, 45, 590. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.19....
 
39.
Reise, S. P., Moore, T. M., & Haviland, M. G. (2010). Bifactor models and rotations: Exploring the extent to which multidimensional data yield univocal scale scores. Journal of Personality Assessment, 92, 544–559. https://doi.org/10.1080/002238....
 
40.
Rogoza, R., & Cieciuch, J. (2017). Structural investigation of the Short Dark Triad questionnaire in Polish popu-lation. Current Psychology, 38, 756–763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144....
 
41.
Rogoza, R., & Cieciuch, J. (2018). Dark Triad traits and their structure: an empirical approach. Current Psycho-logy, 39, 1287–1302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144....
 
42.
Rogoza, R., Wyszyńska, P., Maćkiewicz, M., & Cieciuch, J. (2016). Differentiation of the two narcissistic faces in their relations to personality traits and basic values. Personality and Individual Differences, 95, 85–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid....
 
43.
Salessi, S., & Omar, A. (2018). Psychometric properties of a scale to measure the dark side of personality. Estu-dos de Psicologia, 35, 159–170. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0....
 
44.
Siddiqi, N., Shahnawaz, M. G., & Nasir, N. (2020). Reexamining construct validity of the Short Dark Triad (SD3) scale. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 8, 18–30. https://doi.org/10.5114/cipp.2....
 
45.
Tsopelas, C., & Armenaka, M. (2012). From conduct disorder in childhood to psychopathy in adult life. Psy-chiatriki, 23, 107–116.
 
46.
Zawadzki, B., Strelau, J., Szczepaniak P., & Śliwińska, M. (1998). Inwentarz osobowości NEO-FFI. Adaptacja polska [Personality inventory NEO-FFI. Polish adaptation]. Warszawa: Pracownia Testów Psychologicznych PTP.
 
Copyright: © Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk This is an Open Access journal, all articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
eISSN:2353-561X
ISSN:2353-4192
Journals System - logo
Scroll to top