Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
The dark triad (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism) predicts a range of costly workplace outcomes, including counterproductive work behavior, dishonesty, fraud, and bullying. Although full-length instruments assess these traits well, their length limits their use in applied and organizational research. Short measures such as the Short Dark Triad (SD3) and the Dirty Dozen (DD) offer efficiency but lose trait-specific variance, inflate the shared antagonistic core, and blur distinctions among the traits, particularly for psychopathy and narcissism. Because dark traits are expressed primarily through interpersonal conduct, behaviorally framed items may preserve more trait-specific variance than attitudinal or affective items. Building on prior work toward a behavioral Dark Tetrad measure (Dean, 2021), the present study develops and evaluates a short, behavior-focused measure of the dark triad. We hypothesize that (H1) items will load significantly and positively on their intended Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism factors; (H2) the three factors will correlate moderately to strongly while remaining empirically distinct; and (H3) each factor will correlate negatively with empathy. Approximately 160 adults will be recruited from the Middle Tennessee State University psychology participant pool, supplemented by CloudResearch as needed. Participants will complete an online Qualtrics survey containing the 32-item Behavioral Dark Triad Measure (e.g., "I'm willing to deceive others if it helps me achieve my goals"), the SD3, the DD, the MACH-IV, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and demographic items. Attention checks will screen for careless responding. A confirmatory factor analysis will test the hypothesized correlated three-factor structure (H1, H2), and item loadings will guide selection of the strongest items for a final short form. Convergent validity will be examined through correlations with the corresponding SD3, DD, and MACH-IV scales, and H3 will be tested through correlations with the IRI empathy subscales. We expect a clear three-factor structure, moderate interfactor correlations, strong convergence with established measures, and negative associations with empathy that are strongest for psychopathy, moderate for Machiavellianism, and weakest for narcissism. For research, a measure that better preserves trait-specific variance would let researchers identify which dark trait drives a given outcome rather than attributing effects to a shared dark core. For practice, a brief behavioral measure gives organizations and applied researchers an efficient way to assess dark traits in surveys and field studies where long instruments are impractical, such as studies of counterproductive work behavior and unethical decision-making.
Date
November 2026
Subject
Industrial and organizational psychology
Document Type
posters
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Included in
Developing a new short behavioral measure of the dark triad
The dark triad (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism) predicts a range of costly workplace outcomes, including counterproductive work behavior, dishonesty, fraud, and bullying. Although full-length instruments assess these traits well, their length limits their use in applied and organizational research. Short measures such as the Short Dark Triad (SD3) and the Dirty Dozen (DD) offer efficiency but lose trait-specific variance, inflate the shared antagonistic core, and blur distinctions among the traits, particularly for psychopathy and narcissism. Because dark traits are expressed primarily through interpersonal conduct, behaviorally framed items may preserve more trait-specific variance than attitudinal or affective items. Building on prior work toward a behavioral Dark Tetrad measure (Dean, 2021), the present study develops and evaluates a short, behavior-focused measure of the dark triad. We hypothesize that (H1) items will load significantly and positively on their intended Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism factors; (H2) the three factors will correlate moderately to strongly while remaining empirically distinct; and (H3) each factor will correlate negatively with empathy. Approximately 160 adults will be recruited from the Middle Tennessee State University psychology participant pool, supplemented by CloudResearch as needed. Participants will complete an online Qualtrics survey containing the 32-item Behavioral Dark Triad Measure (e.g., "I'm willing to deceive others if it helps me achieve my goals"), the SD3, the DD, the MACH-IV, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), and demographic items. Attention checks will screen for careless responding. A confirmatory factor analysis will test the hypothesized correlated three-factor structure (H1, H2), and item loadings will guide selection of the strongest items for a final short form. Convergent validity will be examined through correlations with the corresponding SD3, DD, and MACH-IV scales, and H3 will be tested through correlations with the IRI empathy subscales. We expect a clear three-factor structure, moderate interfactor correlations, strong convergence with established measures, and negative associations with empathy that are strongest for psychopathy, moderate for Machiavellianism, and weakest for narcissism. For research, a measure that better preserves trait-specific variance would let researchers identify which dark trait drives a given outcome rather than attributing effects to a shared dark core. For practice, a brief behavioral measure gives organizations and applied researchers an efficient way to assess dark traits in surveys and field studies where long instruments are impractical, such as studies of counterproductive work behavior and unethical decision-making.
Department
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Dept. of Psychology