The Dark Triad and facets of personality

This study investigates the Dark Triad in relation to the Big Five facets and the putative redundancy of Machiavellianism and psychopathy. A sample of 442 participants completed measures of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy, as well as the Big Five. Bivariate correlations and multivariate regression analyses with age, sex, and facets of the Big Five as predictors of each dark trait were examined. We found that 13 of the correlations between the Big Five facets and Machiavellianism and psychopathy differed significantly (p < .01; z values ranging from -3.61 to -3.77 and 2.36 to 4.99). Specifically, the relationships between Machiavellianism and anxiety, depression, self-consciousness, vulnerability, assertiveness, excitement-seeking, values, straightforwardness, compliance, modesty, dutifulness, and deliberation differed significantly from the relationships of psychopathy and these facets. Moreover, Machiavellianism and psychopathy differed in terms of their Big Five facet predictors. Of the Big Five facets, psychopathy was independently predicted by excitement-seeking, straightforwardness, altruism, and compliance, facets purported to underlie psychopathy (O'Boyle et al. Journal of Personality, 83, 644-664, 2015). Machiavellianism, on the other hand, was independently predicted by self-consciousness, fantasy, values, trust, and straightforwardness. Narcissism was independently predicted by assertiveness, fantasy, ideas, and modesty. Future research is needed to further clarify these differences, and future directions on how to further the Dark Triad redundancy debate are discussed.