Unveiling the Dark: Exploring the Nomological Consistency of the Short Dark Triad and Dirty Dozen Scales
We examined the consistency of the Short Dark Triad (SD3) and the Dirty Dozen (DD) scales, which are widely used for assessing Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), in a community Italian sample of 504 individuals aged 18 to 89 years. The findings revealed strong converg...
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PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Europe's Journal of Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.12591 |
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| author | Marco Tommasi Marco Lauriola Aristide Saggino |
| author_facet | Marco Tommasi Marco Lauriola Aristide Saggino |
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| description | We examined the consistency of the Short Dark Triad (SD3) and the Dirty Dozen (DD) scales, which are widely used for assessing Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), in a community Italian sample of 504 individuals aged 18 to 89 years. The findings revealed strong convergence for Machiavellianism and psychopathy across the two scales. In contrast, narcissism demonstrated weaker convergence, with moderate correlations between the SD3 and DD scales. Nomological consistency, the degree to which different indicators of a construct share similar associations with external criteria, was assessed using four sets of criteria: psychopathy or empathy, the Five-Factor Model of personality, mental health (psychological well-being, anxiety, and depression), and social disinhibition. Both scales showed moderate consistency with empathy, the Big Five, and social disinhibition criteria but displayed inconsistency concerning mental health criteria. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism exhibited distinct patterns in relation to social disinhibition. Narcissism demonstrated the most divergence from other traits and the highest inconsistency between SD3 and DD. The SD3 appeared to focus predominantly on grandiose narcissism, whereas the DD scale likely encompasses both grandiose and vulnerable aspects of narcissism. Consequently, SD3 and DD cannot be considered fully equivalent measures of Dark Triad traits. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8e35d53e47d444ccabb682b814a3d9b1 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 1841-0413 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology |
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| series | Europe's Journal of Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-8e35d53e47d444ccabb682b814a3d9b12025-08-04T11:12:38ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for PsychologyEurope's Journal of Psychology1841-04132025-05-012129310810.5964/ejop.12591ejop.12591Unveiling the Dark: Exploring the Nomological Consistency of the Short Dark Triad and Dirty Dozen ScalesMarco Tommasi0Marco Lauriola1Aristide Saggino2Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi “Gabriele d'Annunzio” Chieti-Pescara, Chieti-Pescara, ItalyDepartment of Social and Developmental Psychology, “La Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, Università degli Studi “Gabriele d'Annunzio” Chieti-Pescara, Chieti-Pescara, ItalyWe examined the consistency of the Short Dark Triad (SD3) and the Dirty Dozen (DD) scales, which are widely used for assessing Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy), in a community Italian sample of 504 individuals aged 18 to 89 years. The findings revealed strong convergence for Machiavellianism and psychopathy across the two scales. In contrast, narcissism demonstrated weaker convergence, with moderate correlations between the SD3 and DD scales. Nomological consistency, the degree to which different indicators of a construct share similar associations with external criteria, was assessed using four sets of criteria: psychopathy or empathy, the Five-Factor Model of personality, mental health (psychological well-being, anxiety, and depression), and social disinhibition. Both scales showed moderate consistency with empathy, the Big Five, and social disinhibition criteria but displayed inconsistency concerning mental health criteria. Psychopathy and Machiavellianism exhibited distinct patterns in relation to social disinhibition. Narcissism demonstrated the most divergence from other traits and the highest inconsistency between SD3 and DD. The SD3 appeared to focus predominantly on grandiose narcissism, whereas the DD scale likely encompasses both grandiose and vulnerable aspects of narcissism. Consequently, SD3 and DD cannot be considered fully equivalent measures of Dark Triad traits.https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.12591dark triadnomological patternnarcissismpersonalitysocial disinhibition |
| spellingShingle | Marco Tommasi Marco Lauriola Aristide Saggino Unveiling the Dark: Exploring the Nomological Consistency of the Short Dark Triad and Dirty Dozen Scales Europe's Journal of Psychology dark triad nomological pattern narcissism personality social disinhibition |
| title | Unveiling the Dark: Exploring the Nomological Consistency of the Short Dark Triad and Dirty Dozen Scales |
| title_full | Unveiling the Dark: Exploring the Nomological Consistency of the Short Dark Triad and Dirty Dozen Scales |
| title_fullStr | Unveiling the Dark: Exploring the Nomological Consistency of the Short Dark Triad and Dirty Dozen Scales |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unveiling the Dark: Exploring the Nomological Consistency of the Short Dark Triad and Dirty Dozen Scales |
| title_short | Unveiling the Dark: Exploring the Nomological Consistency of the Short Dark Triad and Dirty Dozen Scales |
| title_sort | unveiling the dark exploring the nomological consistency of the short dark triad and dirty dozen scales |
| topic | dark triad nomological pattern narcissism personality social disinhibition |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.12591 |
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