Associations between the dark tetrad and political orientation: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Political orientation is an individual's preference for a particular style of government, often conceptualised through the left-right (liberal-conservative) axis. Previous studies suggest that the dark tetrad personality traits psychopathy, Machiavellianism, sadism, and narcissism may be positively associated with conservative political orientation. However, because these effect sizes in primary studies are heterogeneous, the present systematic review aimed to assess the relationships between dark tetrad traits and political orientation using meta-analysis. In total, 28 studies were identified that reported zero-order correlations between at least one dark tetrad trait and political orientation. Findings showed no associations between political orientation and psychopathy, narcissism, or Machiavellianism. Although sadism was very weakly associated with political orientation (r = 0.10), this estimate was derived from few samples (k = 5). Neither sample (student vs general), political orientation measure (single- vs multiple-item), or political orientation construct (liberalism vs conservatism) significantly moderated the association between psychopathy and political orientation, but limited evidence suggested that the dark trait scale used did. Limitations included poor measurement of political orientation, reliance on selfreport for measuring dark tetrad traits, and largely western samples, which future studies should address. In conclusion, the dark tetrad is mostly unrelated to political orientation.