Relationships between bullying behaviours and the Dark Triad: A study with adults

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Abstract

The current study is the first to directly investigate relationships between the Dark Triad personality traits and bullying behaviours. We also sought to design a reliable measure of bullying for use with an adult sample. The sample consisted of 657 participants (203 males; 454 females), aged 18 to 70 (M = 23.1, SD = 8.65). Participants completed the Short-D3, a measure of the Dark Triad personality traits, as well as a Bullying Questionnaire which was constructed for this study. Correlational analyses demonstrated that psychopathy was most strongly related to bullying, followed by Machiavellianism, and narcissism. However, our predictions for the differential correlations between the Dark Triad facets and bullying type were generally not supported. Implications are discussed.

Highlights

► First direct investigation of bullying and the Dark Triad. ► Development of a bullying scale for adults. ► Established correlations between bullying behaviors and the Dark Triad. ► Psychopathy shows largest correlations with bullying.

Introduction

Bullying is a universal problem for elementary and high school students, with prevalence rates demonstrating that almost 30% of teens are involved in bullying as either a bully, a victim, or both (Nansel et al., 2001). Males typically report experiencing more physical forms of bullying, and females are generally victims of indirect bullying (Undheim & Sund, 2010). Long-term effects of bullying for both bullies and victims include an increased risk for depression and loneliness (O’Moore, 2000), lowered self-esteem for girls, higher involvement in delinquent behaviour (Carbone-Lopez, Esbensen, & Brick, 2010) and a decrease in academic performance (Schwartz, Gorman, Nakamoto, & Toblin, 2005). However, much remains uncovered regarding the characteristics of bullies, victims, and bystanders which might permit the development of appropriate intervention strategies for these individuals.

Section snippets

Literature on childhood bullying

Three specific bullying criteria have been identified by Olweus (1995) to classify these behaviours. These criteria are: (1) aggressive behaviour directed toward an individual or group, which (2) happens repeatedly and over time, where (3) an imbalance of power is evident. A fourth criterion-the intent to harm the victim-has also been considered (Peterson & Rigby, 1999). While six participant roles have been identified in bullying research, these roles are often condensed into three broader

Direct and indirect aggression

Research has identified two broad subtypes of aggression that may lead to different types of bullying. Direct aggression is characterised by openly confrontational behaviours in an attempt to directly harm the victim (Griffin & Gross, 2004). Conversely, indirect aggression refers to the use of non-confrontational methods to harm or damage another’s peer relationships. With indirect aggression, the perpetrator cannot always easily be identified (Cappella & Weinstein, 2006), which provides a

Characteristics of bullies

Researchers have traditionally believed that some bullies cannot adequately process social information (Randall, 1997). The Social Information Processing model attempts to explain a deficiency in social competence among bullies, and assumes that maladaptive behaviours are preceded by poor social abilities (Arsenio & Lemerise, 2001). However, this model has been criticised for relying too heavily on theoretical premises rather than empirical data (Peeters, Cillessen, & Scholte, 2010). Moreover,

The Machiavellian bully

Machiavellianism refers to the tendency to manipulate and deceive others in social situations for personal gain (Christie & Geis, 1970). Peeters et al. (2010) found that the prevalence of Machiavellianism is higher in adolescents who engage in indirect bullying, since social manipulation is required for successful acts of relational aggression. These children may perceive aggression and manipulation as necessary to maintain social status or power within a group (LaFontana & Cillessen, 2002).

The narcissistic bully

Narcissism involves feelings of grandiosity, a sense of entitlement, and vanity (Kerig & Stellwagen, 2010). While these individuals appear egocentric, it is often the case that they truly possess a relatively low self-esteem. In what has been termed the Theory of Threatened Egoism, it is proposed that narcissism directly contributes to aggression (Washburn, McMahon, King, Reinecke, & Silver, 2004), and may be a defense mechanism to protect a fragile self-esteem. Bushman and Baumeister (1998)

Psychopathy and aggression

Three clusters of traits have been identified within the construct of psychopathy: impulsivity, callous-unemotional (CU) traits, and narcissism. Impulsivity is a multi-faceted construct, which has been defined as an increased response to provoked attacks and disinhibition of social restraints (Kerig & Stellwagen, 2010). CU traits reflect interpersonal coldness, such as a lack of empathy or guilt. Both impulsivity and CU traits have been linked to aggression, and CU traits in particular

Dark Triad and aggression

The Dark Triad refers to a combination of three socially undesirable traits: sub-clinical narcissism, Machiavellianism, and sub-clinical psychopathy (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Although these traits are correlated—and thus merit being clustered together—correlations among them are typically quite modest (e.g., Paulhus & Williams, 2002), so each may also be viewed as a distinct aspect of socially aversive behaviour.

Although the Dark Triad has not been studied in relation to bullying among adults

The present study

The purpose of the present study is to extend understanding of bullies by examining bullying styles in relation to the Dark Triad, as well as to design a Bullying Questionnaire suitable for an adult population. Previous studies have used a variety of methods to measure bullying in children (see Ang and Goh, 2010, Nansel et al., 2001, Olweus, 1995), whereas the area of adult bullying is hindered by inappropriate measurement techniques (Cowie, Naylor, Rivers, Smith, & Pereira, 2002). While links

Participants

The sample in this study consisted of 657 participants (203 males; 454 females), aged 18 to 70 (M = 23.1, SD = 8.65). Participants were recruited through posters at the University of Western Ontario, via online advertisements, and by e-mails sent through the University of Western Ontario Directory. Participants were also recruited through Facebook, whereby other participants who had previously completed the survey posted a short paragraph on their Facebook page encouraging others to participate.

The Short D3

The Dark Triad personality traits were measured using the Short-D3 (Paulhus & Williams, 2002), consisting of 28 items, measured on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = disagree strongly; 5 = agree strongly). The Short-D3 contains three subscales which reflect the three Dark Triad personality traits: narcissism (“I like to be the centre of attention”; 9 items), Machiavellianism (“It’s not wise to tell your secrets”; 10 items), and psychopathy (“I like to pick on losers”; 9 items). In our sample, Cronbach’s

Procedure

Participants were directed to the website Survey-Monkey, where they read a letter of information and provided their consent. Participants then completed a demographics form and a series of electronic questionnaires including the Short-D3, the Bullying Questionnaire, and others not relevant to the current study.

Upon completion of the questionnaires, participants were debriefed, entered into a draw, and prompted to post a short paragraph on their Facebook page encouraging others to participate in

Results

Table 1 shows intercorrelations among and between each of the Short-D3 and Bullying Questionnaire variables. Moderate to high correlations were found among Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, higher than those previously reported by Paulhus and Jones (2011). The three Dark Triad variables also had low to moderate correlations with all subscales of the Bullying Questionnaire, with psychopathy displaying the largest correlations and narcissism the lowest. Notably, Machiavellianism was

Discussion

The present study is the first to directly investigate the relationship between the Dark Triad and bullying behaviours. This study extended the limited literature on bullying in adults, beyond the workplace setting. A reliable measure of bullying was also successfully designed.

The Bullying Questionnaire yielded a one factor solution, which implies the presence of a general bullying factor. This suggests that individuals who engage in bullying incorporate various means to achieve a desired goal.

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