The Dark Triad of personality in adolescence: Psychometric properties of a concise measure and associations with adolescent adjustment from a multi-informant perspective

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Highlights

  • Measurement invariance across gender was found for the Dirty Dozen measure.

  • The Dirty Dozen Dark Triad measure was valid and reliable for adolescents.

  • Dark Triad traits were strongly associated with aggressive behavior.

  • These associations depended on whom reported on adolescent aggression.

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that the Dark Triad of personality (i.e., Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) is useful in explaining individual differences in adult adjustment. The present study is among the first to examine unique effects of these traits on multi-informant ratings of adolescent aggressive behavior. In two samples (Ns = 611 and 302), we first established measurement invariance, internal consistency and validity of the 12-item Dirty Dozen Dark Triad measure. Furthermore, we found unique associations of each Dark Triad trait with particular forms of aggression, with inconsistent results across informants providing greater insight into these traits. Overall, Dark Triad traits seem applicable to adolescents and useful correlates of adolescent adjustment, especially if their unique effects are studied.

Introduction

In the last decade, the Dark Triad of personality (Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Machiavellianism) has caught a great deal of attention in studies on (young) adults. Yet, little is known about the role of these maladaptive personality traits in adolescence. In the present study, the utility of the Dark Triad in adolescence will be tested by examining (a) the psychometric properties of a brief Dark Triad measure and (b) its associations with direct and indirect forms of aggression based on self-, teacher-, and peer-reports.

Studies on personality in normative samples have typically focused on general personality traits like the Big Five (McCrae & Costa, 1987). Because there is increasing evidence for the absence of a qualitative breach between healthy and unhealthy personality (Bernstein, Iscan, & Maser, 2007), one could suggest that using the Big Five is sufficient for capturing the unhealthy and dysfunctional part of the personality trait spectrum. Previous studies have shown that Big Five traits are indeed reasonably well-able to capture individual differences at the dysfunctional end of the personality spectrum (e.g., Miller, Bagby, Pilkonis, Reynolds, & Lynam, 2005). However, dysfunctional behavioral tendencies are often complex combinations of Big Five traits and specific facets underlying these traits. Therefore, several models have been developed to capture individual differences in dysfunctional personality traits in a more direct manner. Because of the increasing evidence for a continuum from normal and healthy personality to abnormal and unhealthy personality, traits from these models are increasingly often examined in samples drawn from the general population.

There are several taxonomies that attempt to capture the dysfunctional personality traits. Of these taxonomies the Dark Triad has perhaps received the most attention in the last ten years, at least within the social psychology and personality psychology literature (Jonason, Webster, Schmitt, Li, & Crysel, 2012). This model includes the traits of Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Machiavellianism (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Narcissism refers to a tendency to have grandiose (i.e., inflated) self-views supplemented by intrapsychic and interpersonal strategies to maintain these self-views (Twenge & Campbell, 2003). Individuals exhibiting high levels of Psychopathy tend to be impulsive as well as low on empathy (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Finally, Machiavellianism refers to a tendency to exploit others to one’s own advantage by adopting a manipulative interpersonal style (cf. Wilson, Near, & Miller, 1996).

Several studies have shown that Dark Triad traits are strongly associated with Big Five traits (Jonason and Webster, 2010, Lee and Ashton, 2005, Paulhus and Williams, 2002). Across these studies,1 Agreeableness has been shown to be consistently negatively associated with Machiavellianism and Psychopathy. Conscientiousness is consistently negatively associated with Machiavellianism, and there is some evidence for a negative association with Psychopathy. Extraversion is consistently positively associated with Narcissism. Some evidence has been found for a negative association of Neuroticism with Psychopathy (Jonason and Webster, 2010, Paulhus and Williams, 2002), but generally this Big Five trait is not consistently associated with the Dark Triad. Openness is also not consistently associated with the Dark Triad. These associations indicate that the Dark Triad as a whole captures the antagonistic (i.e., non-agreeable) side of personality, while each trait has some additional unique associations with Big Five personality traits (Furnham, Richards, & Paulhus, 2013).

The associations with the Big Five highlight that the Dark Triad traits are conceptually different from each other but also overlap in the sense that they all capture certain socially undesirable tendencies (Jonason & Webster, 2010). Specifically, Dark Triad traits share about 50% of their variance (e.g., Jonason, Li, & Buss, 2010). Therefore, when studying Dark Triad traits it is recommended to include all three traits to be able to examine which effects are due to the shared variance between Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy, and which effects are due to their unique variance (Jonason & Webster, 2010).

Previous research including the entire Dark Triad in a single study on adolescents is sparse. This may be due to the fact that measuring these traits with traditional separate questionnaires for Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and Narcissism means that 91 items have to be used (Webster & Jonason, 2013). Recently, a brief alternative for these lengthy measures has been developed: The twelve-item Dirty Dozen questionnaire (Jonason & Webster, 2010). Compared to using three separate questionnaires, the Dirty Dozen has the additional advantage of using the same rating scale for each of the Dark Triad traits. Furthermore, the psychometric properties of the subscales of the Dirty Dozen appear to be better than those of instruments that have been used to measure these traits separately. For example, the Dirty Dozen uses a likert-type scale for Narcissism instead of the dichotomous items that are used in the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Terry, 1988) that has traditionally been employed to tap this construct. In addition, the most commonly used Machiavellianism measure (MACH IV; Christie & Geis, 1970) frequently yields relatively low Cronbach’s Alphas, which points to internal consistency issues (Jonason & Webster, 2010).

Obviously, the brevity of the Dirty Dozen comes with some costs regarding the bandwidth of its subscales (Miller et al., 2012). Nevertheless, it provides a viable and practical alternative to lengthy measures tapping Dark Triad traits separately (e.g., Jonason & Luéveno, 2013). Yet, so far, only one study employed the Dirty Dozen measure in an adolescent sample (Muris, Meesters, & Timmermans, 2013). This study used a relatively small sample (N = 117) and the Dirty Dozen measure was not formally validated.

It has long been questioned whether self-reports on personality traits in adolescents should be used, but in the last decade there has been increasing evidence regarding the validity and reliability of adolescent self-reports on Big Five traits (Soto, John, Gosling, & Potter, 2008) and pathological traits (De Clercq et al., 2006, De Clercq et al., 2014, Tromp and Koot, 2010). Adolescent self-reports on personality already seem reasonably valid and reliable in ten-year olds (Soto et al., 2008). However, the older adolescents get, the more differentiated their view on personality (i.e., the lower the average correlations between traits) becomes (Allik et al., 2004, Soto et al., 2008). Specifically, traits such as Agreeableness and Conscientiousness may be highly correlated in young adolescents, but such correlations tend to drop as adolescents grow older. This suggests that older adolescents are better able to distinguish, for example, prosocial behavior from organized and planful behavioral tendencies. Given that the Dark Triad traits are strongly associated yet distinguishable entities, one might expect that older adolescents provide increasingly more differentiated self-ratings on the Dark Triad as they grow older. Information on trait differentiation is important in order to better understand whether the nature of the Dark Triad is similar or changes throughout adolescence.

In addition to age effects on the structure of the Dark Triad, there may also be gender effects. In general, it is getting increasingly common in psychology to test for measurement invariance across groups in order to examine whether results obtained in one group (e.g., men) can be compared to those obtained in another group (e.g., women). Such tests are crucial in order to be sure that, for example, gender differences truly represent differences between men and women, and not just measurement error (cf. van de Schoot, Lugtig, & Hox, 2012). Unfortunately, there appear to be no studies that have established measurement invariance across gender for Dark Triad measures. Still, gender differences in the Dark Triad have been examined in studies assessing these traits collectively in adults. Although there were some inconsistencies across studies, men tend to score higher than women on all three Dark Triad traits (Furnham et al., 2013). The one study that examined these traits collectively in adolescents (Muris et al., 2013), and studies solely focusing on adolescent Narcissism (e.g., Ojanen, Findley, & Fuller, 2012), Psychopathy (e.g., Decuyper, De Bolle, De Fruyt, & De Clercq, 2011), and Machiavellianism (e.g., Peters, Cillessen, & Scholte, 2010) had similar results. However, these gender differences were not large. Additionally and as previously mentioned, measurement invariance across gender had not been established in studies, which makes the validity of these gender differences disputable.

Research examining linkages of personality traits with adolescent adjustment is flourishing. However, such studies (e.g., De Bolle et al., 2012, Klimstra et al., 2014) tend to focus on Big Five traits and do not explicitly examine the complex combinations of these traits reflected in the Dark Triad.

In studies linking the Dark Triad traits to adjustment, the associations of these traits with different subtypes of aggression have been of great interest. Typically, overt or direct types (i.e., open physical or verbal forms) of aggression are distinguished from relational or indirect types (i.e., gossiping, spreading rumors) of aggression (e.g., Björkqvist et al., 1992, Card et al., 2008, Heilbron and Prinstein, 2008). There is a considerable literature supporting the distinction between these subtypes of aggression. The divergent validity has, for example, been shown in studies on gender differences. A meta-analysis (Archer, 2004) revealed that boys consistently score higher on measures of direct aggression. Gender differences in indirect aggression are (depending on the method) either non-existent or suggest that girls score slightly higher than boys. A recent study (Tackett, Herzhoff, Reardon, De Clercq, & Sharp, 2014) suggests that these types of aggression are differentially associated with dysfunctional trait domains of Disagreeableness and Emotional Instability and their facets. These results point to the potential role of personality in explaining individual differences in direct and indirect aggression.

Dark Triad traits have also been linked to direct and indirect aggression in previous studies. Psychopathic traits (or conceptually similar Callous–Unemotional traits) have been shown to be positively associated with both forms of aggression (Kerig and Stellwagen, 2010, Lau and Marsee, 2013). However, there are at least some studies suggesting that the links with physical aggression are stronger and more replicable (Coyne and Thomas, 2008, Stickle et al., 2013).

Across studies, Narcissism was often linked to direct forms of aggression (Bukowski et al., 2009, Kerig and Stellwagen, 2010, Lau and Marsee, 2013). However, across the board linkages of Narcissism with indirect (relational) forms of aggression appeared to be stronger. It should be noted that there is also at least one study (Ojanen et al., 2012) that found no significant association of Narcissism with direct or indirect aggression.

Overall, a similar pattern of findings emerged for Machiavellianism, as this trait was also related to both forms of aggression (Lau & Marsee, 2013), but more strongly to indirect aggression than to direct aggression (Kerig & Stellwagen, 2010). The fact that Machiavellianism mediated the association between Narcissism and indirect (relational) aggression points out that its crucial to account overlap between Dark Triad traits when examining their associations with aggression (Kerig & Stellwagen, 2010). Unfortunately, there are few studies considering all three Dark Triad traits simultaneously in predicting direct and indirect aggression.

Another issue is that different studies tend to use different reporters (e.g., self-reports on aggression in Lau and Marsee (2013), teacher reports on aggression in Kerig and Stellwagen (2010)). This may explain some of the inconsistencies in the results of those studies, as due to biases different reporters may provide very different information on aggression (cf., Tackett, Waldman, & Lahey, 2009). However, it may also be that particular informants simply do not have access to all the contexts in which target adolescents may display aggression (e.g., Card et al., 2008). For example, teachers are unlikely to know how much aggression children display at home. To get insight into informant biases and to get the most accurate and complete information regarding aggression, multi-informant data should be employed (e.g., Kraemer et al., 2003).

In a large-scale study, Hawley (2003) employed this strategy by examining associations of Machiavellianism with self-, teacher-, and peer-reported aggression. Individuals classified as Machiavellians (i.e., labeled bi-strategic controllers by Hawley (2003)) had elevated levels of self- and peer-reported aggression, but average levels of teacher-reported aggression. They also were perceived as popular by their peers. Machiavellians may be high on perceived popularity because they adequately combine pro- and antisocial behavior, as suggested by a study on perceived popularity (Dijkstra, Lindenberg, Verhulst, Ormel, & Veenstra, 2009). That is, adolescents high on both prosocial and antisocial behaviors were more often perceived as popular compared to those who only displayed antisocial behavior.

Until now, there appears to be only one study that used multi-informant data on adolescent aggression and that considered all Dark Triad traits simultaneously. That study (Muris et al., 2013) only found unique associations of Psychopathy and Machiavellianism with aggression. However, a relatively small sample was employed, direct and indirect aggression were not distinguished, and only self- and parent-reports of aggression were used. This is a limitation, because adolescent aggression is also common in classrooms, and peers and teachers are likely to provide more accurate information on aggression regarding that context. In this regard, peer-nomination techniques in which each child in a classroom reports on the aggressive tendencies of every other child in the classroom may be particularly informative. Thus, further study of the linkages between adolescent aggression and the Dark Triad of personality is needed.

The main goal of the present study is to demonstrate the utility of the Dark Triad of personality for research on adolescent adjustment. To this end, the psychometric properties of a concise Dark Triad measure (i.e., the 12-item Dirty Dozen; Jonason & Webster, 2010) will be evaluated by examining its factor structure, testing for measurement invariance across gender and gender differences in mean levels, and examining associations with Big Five personality traits in a sample of older adolescents (16.8 years old on average) and a sample young adolescents (12.8 years old on average). These data allow for studying whether the psychometric properties of the measure are sound at different ages in adolescence. Based on previous studies of young adult samples (typically >20 years old), we expect that a three-factor model with separate factors of Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy will provide the most optimal fit. Based on aforementioned previous studies on adolescent Big Five traits, we do expect that the Dark Triad traits will be stronger associated with one another in the younger sample when compared to the older sample. Such a trait-differentiation process has not yet been tested for the Dark Triad.

The present study will be the first to use rigorous scalar (i.e., strict) invariance tests to examine whether this model applies equally to (i.e., is invariant across) both gender groups. We expect that this will be the case. In line with previous research, boys are expected to score higher than girls on all three traits. Regarding associations with Big Five traits, we expect a negative association of Agreeableness with all Dark Triad traits, a negative association of Conscientiousness with Machiavellianism and Psychopathy, a positive association of Extraversion with Narcissism, and a negative association of Neuroticism with Psychopathy.

In addition, the present study will be the first to link multi-informant ratings of both direct and indirect aggression provided by adolescents themselves, their teachers, and their peers to adolescent Dark Triad personality traits while accounting for the conceptual overlap between these three traits. As all three Dark Triad traits represent a part of the maladaptive trait space and reflect antisocial tendencies, they should all be related to some form of aggressive behavior. However, all three traits represent somewhat different antisocial tendencies, and therefore differential associations with direct and indirect aggression can be expected. Specifically, based on the aforementioned studies, we expect Psychopathy to be associated with both forms of aggression, but more strongly with direct aggression than with indirect aggression. Both Narcissism and Machiavellianism are expected to be associated with both forms of aggression, but more strongly with indirect aggression than with direct aggression. The availability of aggression data from three informants allows us to gain insight into unique and shared perceptions regarding aggression of adolescents themselves, their teachers, and their peers.

Section snippets

Participants

Sample 1 consisted of 611 adolescents (54.2% girls; Mage = 16.79 years, SD = 0.87) attending various high schools in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium (Flanders). Sample 2 consisted of 302 adolescents (48.3% girls; Mage = 12.79, SD = 0.78) participating in the Study of Personality, Adjustment, Cognition, and Emotions (SPACE) conducted at two high schools in the Netherlands. Big Five, Dark Triad, and self-reported aggression data were available in both samples; data on teacher- and peer-reported

Internal consistency, factor structure, measurement invariance, and gender differences

First, we examined the internal consistency of the Dirty Dozen among adolescents. As Cronbach’s Alphas were high for subscales of Narcissism (.85 and .84 in Samples 1 and 2, respectively), Machiavellianism (.79 and .74 in Samples 1 and 2, respectively), and Psychopathy (.74 in both samples), internal consistency was satisfactory.

Second, we examined the factor structure of the Dutch-language Dirty Dozen among adolescents. For this purpose, we used Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFAs) in Mplus 7 (

Discussion

The main purpose of the present study was to demonstrate the utility of the Dark Triad for understanding adolescent development. Our findings suggest that the Dark Triad can be measured in a reliable and valid manner among adolescents, and that its traits contribute to a better understanding of individual differences in adolescent adjustment.

Conclusion

Despite the aforementioned limitations, our study clearly shows that adolescent Dark Triad personality traits can be measured in a psychometrically sound manner. Moreover, our findings involving multi-informant ratings of aggressive behavior suggest that these traits are important correlates of adolescent psychological adjustment. Our findings underline that it is crucial for future studies to consider all three Dark Triad traits simultaneously to capture their unique effects. Using such

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