Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Multistudy Reports

Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Short Dark Triad (SD3) in Italian Adults and Adolescents

Published Online:February 19, 2019https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000499

Abstract

Abstract. The term Dark Triad refers to three socially aversive personality dimensions (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) that are evident in the normal range of personality. Jones and Paulhus (2014) developed the Short Dark Triad (SD3) as a 27-item measure of the three constructs. To assess the psychometric properties of the Italian translation, 678 adult university students and 442 adolescent high school students were sampled. Cronbach’s α values for the subscales were acceptable in both samples. Subscale intercorrelations ranged from .29 to .55 in adults and .29 to .53 in adolescents. Although subscale means were higher in the adolescent sample, the two item correlation matrices did not differ significantly. A confirmatory factor analysis using multidimensional full-information item response theory showed that a three-correlated-factor model provided the best fit in both adults and adolescents. When controlled for overlap, SD3 subscales showed adequate convergent and discriminant validity coefficients in both samples. The current research contributes to the literature on dark personalities in two ways: (a) It provides detailed psychometric support for the Italian translation of SD3 and (b) it directly compares SD3 performance in younger and older students.

References

  • Book, A., Visser, B. A. & Volk, A. A. (2015). Unpacking “evil”: Claiming the core of the Dark Triad. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, 29–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.09.016 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Carré, J. R., Mueller, S. M., Schleicher, K. M. & Jones, D. N. (2018). Psychopathy and deviant workplace behavior: A comparison of two psychopathy models. Journal of Personality Disorders, 32, 242–261. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi_2017_31_296 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Chalmers, R. P. (2012). mirt: A Multidimensional Item Response Theory package for the R environment. Journal of Statistical Software, 48, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v048.i06 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Christie, R. & Geis, F. (1970). Studies in Machiavellianism. New York, NY: Academic Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Dowgwillo, E. A. & Pincus, A. L. (2017). Differentiating dark triad traits within and across interpersonal circumplex surfaces. Assessment, 24, 24–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191116643161 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Drislane, L. E., Patrick, C. J. & Arsal, G. (2014). Clarifying the content coverage of differing psychopathy inventories through reference to the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. Psychological Assessment, 26, 350–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035152 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Evans, L. & Tully, R. J. (2016). The Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM): Alternative to the PCL-R? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 27, 79–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2016.03.004 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fossati, A., Somma, A., Borroni, S. & Miller, J. D. (2018). Assessing dimensions of pathological narcissism: Psychometric properties of the short form of the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory in a sample of Italian University Students. Journal of Personality Assessment, 100, 250–258. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2017.1324457 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Furnham, A., Richards, S. C. & Paulhus, D. L. (2013). The Dark Triad of personality: A 10-year review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7, 199–216. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12018 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Glenn, A. L. & Sellbom, M. (2015). Theoretical and empirical concerns regarding the dark triad as a construct. Journal of Personality Disorders, 29(3), 360–377. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Glover, N., Miller, J. D., Lynam, D. R., Crego, C. & Widiger, T. A. (2012). The Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory: A five-factor measure of narcissistic personality traits. Journal of Personality Assessment, 94, 500–512. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2012.670680 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Goncalves, M. K. & Campbell, L. (2014). The Dark Triad and the derogation of mating competitors. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 42–46. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jonason, P. K., Kavanagh, P., Webster, G. D. & Fitzgerald, D. (2011). Comparing the measured and latent Dark Triad: Are three measures better than one? Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences, 2, 28–44. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jonason, P. K., Slomski, S. & Partyka, J. (2012). The Dark Triad at work: How toxic employees get their way. Personality and Individual Differences, 52, 449–453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.008 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jonason, P. K. & Tost, J. (2010). I just cannot control myself: The Dark Triad and self-control. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 611–615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.05.031 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jonason, P. K. & Webster, G. D. (2010). The Dirty Dozen: A concise measure of the Dark Triad. Psychological Assessment, 22, 420–432. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019265 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jones, D. N. & Figueredo, A. J. (2013). The core of darkness: Uncovering the heart of the Dark Triad. European Journal of Personality, 27(6), 521–531. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jones, D. N. & Paulhus, D. L. (2009). Machiavellianism. In M. R. LearyR. H. HoyleEds., Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 93–108). New York, NY: Guilford Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jones, D. N. & Paulhus, D. L. (2011). Differentiating the Dark Triad within the interpersonal circumplex. In L. M. HorowitzS. StrackEds., Handbook of interpersonal psychology: Theory, research, assessment, and therapeutic interventions (pp. 249–268). New York, NY: Wiley. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Jones, D. N. & Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the short dark triad (SD3): A brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment, 21, 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113514105 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Jones, D. N. & Paulhus, D. L. (2017). Duplicity among the Dark Triad: Three faces of deceit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113, 329–342. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000139 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Kerig, P. K. & Stellwagen, K. K. (2010). Roles of callous-unemotional traits, narcissism, and Machiavellianism in childhood aggression. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32, 343–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-009-9168-7 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lau, K. S. L. & Marsee, M. A. (2013). Exploring narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy in youth: Examination of associations with antisocial behavior and aggression. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22, 355–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-012-9586-0 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., Smith, S. F., Sauvigné, K. C., Patrick, C. J., Drislane, L. E., Latzman, R. D. & Krueger, R. F. (2016). Is boldness relevant to psychopathic personality? Meta-analytic relations with non-Psychopathy Checklist-based measures of psychopathy. Psychological Assessment, 28, 1172–1185. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000244 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Miller, J. D., Few, L. R., Seibert, L. A., Watts, A., Zeichner, A. & Lynam, D. R. (2012). An examination of the Dirty Dozen measure of psychopathy: A cautionary tale about the costs of brief measures. Psychological Assessment, 24, 1048–1053. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028583 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Miller, J. D., Lynam, D. R., Hyatt, C. S. & Campbell, W. K. (2017). Controversies in narcissism. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 13, 291–315. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Millsap, R. E. & Yun-Tein, J. (2004). Assessing factorial invariance in ordered-categorical measures. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 39, 479–515. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Neumann, C. S., Uzieblo, K., Crombez, G. & Hare, R. D. (2013). Understanding the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) in terms of the unidimensionality, orthogonality, and construct validity of PPI-I and -II. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 4, 77–79. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027196 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Nunnally, J. C. & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Patrick, C. J. & Drislane, L. E. (2015). Triarchic model of psychopathy: Origins, operationalizations, and observed linkages with personality and general psychopathology. Journal of Personality, 83, 627–643. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12119 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Paulhus, D. L., Neumann, C. S. & Hare, R. D. (2016). Manual for the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (4th ed.). Toronto, Canada: Multi-Health Systems. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Paulhus, D. L. & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36, 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Raskin, R. & Hall, C. S. (1979). A Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Psychological Reports, 45, 590. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1979.45.2.590 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Rauthmann, J. F. (2013). Investigating the Mach IV with item response theory and proposing the trimmed the Mach*. Journal of Personality Assessment. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2012.742905 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Reise, S. P. (2012). The rediscovery of bifactor measurement models. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 47(5), 667–696. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Reise, S. P., Morizot, J. & Hays, R. D. (2007). The role of the bifactor model in resolving dimensionality issues in health outcomes measures. Quality of Life Research, 16(1), 19–31. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Reise, S. P. & Rodriguez, A. (2016). Item response theory and the measurement of psychiatric constructs: Some empirical and conceptual issues and challenges. Psychological Medicine, 46, 2025–2039. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716000520 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Reise, S. P. & Waller, N. G. (2009). Item response theory and clinical measurement. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 5, 27–48. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.032408.153553 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Samejima, F. (1997). Graded response model. In W. J. van der LindenR. K. HambletonEds., Handbook of item response theory (pp. 85–100). New York, NY: Springer. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Schneider, T. J., McLarnon, M. J. & Carswell, J. J. (2017). Career interests, personality, and the Dark Triad. Journal of Career Assessment, 25, 338–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072715616128 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sharp, C., Steinberg, L., Temple, J. & Newlin, E. (2014). An 11-item measure to assess borderline traits in adolescents: Refinement of the BPFSC using IRT. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 5(1), 70–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000057 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sherman, E. D., Miller, J. D., Few, L. R., Campbell, W. K., Widiger, T. A., Crego, C. & Lynam, D. R. (2015). Development of a Short Form of the Five-Factor Narcissism Inventory: The FFNI-SF. Psychological Assessment, 27, 1110–1116. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000100 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sica, C., Drislane, L., Caudek, C., Angrilli, A., Bottesi, G., Cerea, S. & Ghisi, M. (2015). A test of the construct validity of the Triarchic Psychopathy measure in an Italian community sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 82, 163–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.015 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Somma, A., Borroni, S., Drislane, L. E. & Fossati, A. (2016). Assessing the triarchic model of psychopathy in adolescence: Reliability and validity of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) in three samples of Italian community-dwelling adolescents. Psychological Assessment, 28, e36–e43. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000184 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • van Baardewijk, Y., Vermeiren, R., Stegge, H. & Doreleijers, T. (2011). Self-reported psychopathic traits in children: Their stability and concurrent and prospective association with conduct problems and aggression. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 33, 236–245. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-010-9215-4 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • van der Ark, L. A. (2014). New developments in Mokken scale analysis in R. Journal of Statistical Software, 48, 1–27. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Vernon, P. A., Villani, V. C., Vickers, L. C. & Harris, J. A. (2008). A behavioral genetic investigation of the Dark Triad and the Big 5. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 445–452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.09.007 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Veselka, L., Giammarco, E. A. & Vernon, P. A. (2014). The Dark Triad and the seven deadly sins. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 75–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.055 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Visser, B. A., Book, A. S. & Volk, A. A. (2017). Is Hillary dishonest and Donald narcissistic? A HEXACO analysis of the presidential candidates’ public personas. Personality and Individual Differences, 106, 281–286. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar