Darkness within: The Internal Mechanism between Dark Triad and Malevolent Creativity

Abstract

The Dark Triad has been found to be associated with malevolent creativity (MC) in terms of trait level, and its underlying mechanism remains unclear. Based on the cognitive–affective processing system theory and the existing studies, the current study aimed to explore the internal mechanism between the Dark Triad and MC behavioral tendencies/performance. The results revealed that the Dark Triad is positively related to MC behavioral tendencies through trait aggression and general creativity behavioral tendencies. Regarding MC performance, the Dark Triad is positively related to the originality of malevolent ideas through MC behavioral tendencies, but this effect is only significant at low-to-medium levels of moral identity. In line with moral identity theory, a higher moral identity may prevent individuals from acting immorally due to their desire to maintain their moral image, which may further suppress malevolent idea generation. Therefore, cultivating moral identity may be an effective approach to weaken the Dark Triad–MC performance association.