Light Triad traits of personality as moderators between the dark core of personality, psychopathy, and antisociality/criminality

The current study aims at examining the potential role of Light Triad traits of personality as moderators of the dark core of personality-psychopathy-antisociality/criminality links. A convenience sample composed of 354 adult participants (M = 32.02 years, SD = 13.26 years, range = 18-68 years) from Portugal was used in the current study. Results show that only the Kantianism trait of the Light Triad Scale (LTS) measure significantly moderates the dark factor of personality (D) measure and the psychopathy trait of the short dark tetrad (SD4) measure when predicting the antisociality/criminality outcome, while the Light Triad total score only moderates the psychopathy trait. Findings suggest that the conceptualisation of Light Triad traits -more specifically, the Kantianism trait - as protective factors for antisocial and criminal behaviour are a promising avenue for research, but more investigation is needed about its moderation effects to inform behavioural interventions in forensic settings.