Associations between Dark Triad and Ambivalent Sexism: Sex Differences among Adolescents

María Patricia Navas, Lorena Maneiro, Olalla Cutrín, Jose Antonio Gómez-Fraguela and Jorge Sobral
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María Patricia Navas: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Lorena Maneiro: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Olalla Cutrín: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Jose Antonio Gómez-Fraguela: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Jorge Sobral: Department of Politic Science and Sociology, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-11

Abstract: The Dark Triad traits (DT; Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism) have been repeatedly labeled as a constellation of traits that are characterized by a dishonest and self-focused approach to interpersonal relations. Personality psychologists suggest that these traits make some people more susceptible than others to intergroup bias, threat, and aggression. Thus, in order to delve into a psychological profile prone to accepting and justifying sexist attitudes, the aims of the current study were to analyze the presence of DT and sexist attitudes in a sample of 367 adolescents ( M age = 15.12, SD = 0.88; 50.1% males), find out the relationships that DT has with both hostile and benevolent sexism, and analyze the relevant differences between sexes in these relationships. The results indicated higher scores in DT and Ambivalent sexism for males. The correlations of Machiavellianism with psychopathy, and psychopathy with narcissism revealed significantly higher associations in males than females. The structural equation modeling of the bifactorial model, characterized by a global latent factor that encompasses the common characteristics of DT—along with the three specific factors of Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism—showed that the global latent factor of DT was related to both hostile and benevolent sexism in males and females. Singularly, narcissism was related to benevolent sexism in males, and psychopathy was related to hostile sexism in females. Finally, this research discusses the implications of these results on the implementation of positive models of interpersonal relationships in adolescence towards dating violence prevention.

Keywords: Dark Triad; Machiavellianism; psychopathy; narcissism; Ambivalent sexism; adolescent (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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