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Testing construct independence in the Short Dark Triad using Item Response Theory

Persson, Björn N. ; Kajonius, Petri J. and Garcia, Danilo (2017) In Personality and Individual Differences 117. p.74-80
Abstract

The Dark Triad (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) is a popular construct for describing socially aversive personality traits. In recent years, the Short Dark Triad (SD3; Jones & Paulhus, 2014) has become a popular measure for assessing the Dark Triad constructs. However, recent research has called the supposed dissimilarity between the Dark Triad constructs into question. In particular, theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that a distinction between Machiavellianism and psychopathy may not be tenable. In order to investigate this issue further, we analyzed the SD3 in a large sample (N = 1983) using Item Response Theory. We establish item response parameter estimates for each Dark Triad construct and further... (More)

The Dark Triad (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) is a popular construct for describing socially aversive personality traits. In recent years, the Short Dark Triad (SD3; Jones & Paulhus, 2014) has become a popular measure for assessing the Dark Triad constructs. However, recent research has called the supposed dissimilarity between the Dark Triad constructs into question. In particular, theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that a distinction between Machiavellianism and psychopathy may not be tenable. In order to investigate this issue further, we analyzed the SD3 in a large sample (N = 1983) using Item Response Theory. We establish item response parameter estimates for each Dark Triad construct and further test whether the Dark Triad constructs can be modelled together. Results show that Machiavellianism and narcissism could not be modelled together, but the combinations Machiavellianism and psychopathy, and narcissism and psychopathy, yielded acceptable model fit. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of how the Dark Triad constructs may be interpreted and studied in the future.

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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Dark Triad, Item Response Theory, Machiavellianism, Narcissism, Psychopathy
in
Personality and Individual Differences
volume
117
pages
7 pages
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85019886838
ISSN
0191-8869
DOI
10.1016/j.paid.2017.05.025
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
d68c3f5a-91e8-41c6-bbd3-4268b8ab3882
date added to LUP
2017-06-14 09:56:44
date last changed
2022-04-01 17:32:28
@article{d68c3f5a-91e8-41c6-bbd3-4268b8ab3882,
  abstract     = {{<p>The Dark Triad (i.e., Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) is a popular construct for describing socially aversive personality traits. In recent years, the Short Dark Triad (SD3; Jones &amp; Paulhus, 2014) has become a popular measure for assessing the Dark Triad constructs. However, recent research has called the supposed dissimilarity between the Dark Triad constructs into question. In particular, theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that a distinction between Machiavellianism and psychopathy may not be tenable. In order to investigate this issue further, we analyzed the SD3 in a large sample (N = 1983) using Item Response Theory. We establish item response parameter estimates for each Dark Triad construct and further test whether the Dark Triad constructs can be modelled together. Results show that Machiavellianism and narcissism could not be modelled together, but the combinations Machiavellianism and psychopathy, and narcissism and psychopathy, yielded acceptable model fit. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of how the Dark Triad constructs may be interpreted and studied in the future.</p>}},
  author       = {{Persson, Björn N. and Kajonius, Petri J. and Garcia, Danilo}},
  issn         = {{0191-8869}},
  keywords     = {{Dark Triad; Item Response Theory; Machiavellianism; Narcissism; Psychopathy}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  pages        = {{74--80}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Personality and Individual Differences}},
  title        = {{Testing construct independence in the Short Dark Triad using Item Response Theory}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.05.025}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.paid.2017.05.025}},
  volume       = {{117}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}