Association Between the Dark Triad of Personality Traits and Risk of Violence: A Comparative Study Between Prisoners and Non-Offenders

Abstract

The dark triad traits of personality, namely Psychopathy, Narcissism, and Machiavellianism, are three different but interrelated traits that relate to several antisocial characteristics and behaviours that are not acceptable in society. These traits share several attributes at various levels, such as a tendency for self-promotion or self-exhibition, dominance, duplicity, impulsivity, and emotional coldness. This study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between dark triad characteristics and the risk of committing violent acts. This study employed a rigorous methodology, using two distinct samples to ensure comprehensive data collection. The first sample comprised incarcerated offenders, with 215 participants, while the second sample included 304 non-offenders of both sexes. Three measures were used for data collection, including the dark traits of personality scale, the violence risk scale, and the psychopathic personality scale designed explicitly for prisoners. These measures and several statistical tools were used to analyse the data, ensuring a thorough and robust approach to the study. The findings of this study are significant, revealing a statistically significant association between the dark triad personality traits of Psychopathy and Narcissism and the risk of violence in both study samples. These traits emerged as strong predictors of violence, with narcissism being the most potent predictor. The study also confirmed that males exhibit higher levels of psychopathic traits than females and that the risk of violence is higher among prisoners than non-offenders. These results provide valuable insights into the relationship between dark triad traits and violent behavior, contributing to our understanding of these complex issues. These traits alone and according to their characteristics have been associated with criminal outcomes. Conducting more research on the characteristics of dark traits of personality could facilitate the design of prevention programs aimed at reducing violence and inappropriate behavior.