The Relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and Sexting Behaviors among Adolescents and Young Adults across 11 Countries

Mara Morelli, Flavio Urbini, Dora Bianchi, Roberto Baiocco, Elena Cattelino, Fiorenzo Laghi, Piotr Sorokowski, Michal Misiak, Martyna Dziekan, Heather Hudson, Alexandra Marshall, Thanh Truc T. Nguyen, Lauren Mark, Kamil Kopecky, René Szotkowski, Ezgi Toplu Demirtaş, Joris Van Ouytsel, Koen Ponnet, Michel Walrave, Tingshao Zhu, Ya Chen, Nan Zhao, Xiaoqian Liu, Alexander Voiskounsky, Nataliya Bogacheva, Maria Ioannou, John Synnott, Kalliopi Tzani-Pepelasi, Vimala Balakrishnan, Moses Okumu, Eusebius Small, Silviya Pavlova Nikolova, Michelle Drouin and Antonio Chirumbolo
Additional contact information
Mara Morelli: Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Flavio Urbini: Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Dora Bianchi: Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Roberto Baiocco: Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Elena Cattelino: Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Valle D’Aosta, 11100 Aosta, Italy
Fiorenzo Laghi: Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
Piotr Sorokowski: Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland
Michal Misiak: Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland
Martyna Dziekan: Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, 60-658 Poznań, Poland
Heather Hudson: Department of Health Sciences, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR 72035, USA
Alexandra Marshall: College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA
Thanh Truc T. Nguyen: College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Lauren Mark: College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Kamil Kopecky: Centre for Prevention of Risky Virtual Communication, Palacky University Olomouc, 77900 Olomouc, Czech Republic
René Szotkowski: Centre for Prevention of Risky Virtual Communication, Palacky University Olomouc, 77900 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Ezgi Toplu Demirtaş: Psychological Counseling and Guidance, MEF University, Istanbul 34396, Turkey
Joris Van Ouytsel: Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Koen Ponnet: Department of Communication Sciences, imec-mict-Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Michel Walrave: Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Tingshao Zhu: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, China
Ya Chen: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, China
Nan Zhao: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, China
Xiaoqian Liu: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, China
Alexander Voiskounsky: Department of General Psychology, Lomonosow Moscow State University, 101000 Moscow, Russia
Nataliya Bogacheva: Department of Pedagogy and Medical Psychology, Sechenov University, 101000 Moscow, Russia
Maria Ioannou: Department of Psychology, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK
John Synnott: Department of Psychology, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK
Kalliopi Tzani-Pepelasi: Department of Psychology, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK
Vimala Balakrishnan: Department of Information System, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Moses Okumu: School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
Eusebius Small: School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
Silviya Pavlova Nikolova: Department of Social Medicine and Healthcare Organization, Medical University-Varna, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria
Michelle Drouin: Department of Psychology, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN 46805, USA
Antonio Chirumbolo: Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 5, 1-25

Abstract: Background: Sexting is an increasingly common phenomenon among adolescents and young adults. Some studies have investigated the role of personality traits in different sexting behaviors within mainstream personality taxonomies like Big Five and HEXACO. However, very few studies have investigated the role of maladaptive personality factors in sexting. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and experimental (i.e., sharing own sexts), risky (i.e., sexting under substance use and with strangers), and aggravated sexting (i.e., non-consensual sexting and sexting under pressure) across 11 countries. Methods: An online survey was completed by 6093 participants (Mage = 20.35; SDage = 3.63) from 11 different countries which covered four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America). Participants completed the Sexting Behaviors Questionnaire and the 12-item Dark Triad Dirty Dozen scale. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that sharing own sexts was positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Narcissism. Both risky and aggravated sexting were positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Psychopathy. Conclusions: The present study provided empirical evidence that different sexting behaviors were predicted by Dark Triad Personality Traits, showing a relevant role of Machiavellianism in all kinds of investigated sexting behaviors. Research, clinical, and education implications for prevention programs are discussed.

Keywords: sexting; dark triad traits; personality; cross-country investigation; adolescents; young adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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