Dark Triads and Ethical Attitudes in Undergraduate University Students

Abstract

This study explored the association between Dark Triad personality traits—Narcissism, Psychopathy, and Machiavellianism—and ethical attitudes, specifically Idealism and Relativism, in undergraduate university students. It was hypothesized that higher levels of narcissism would be associated with more unethical attitudes (i.e., lower idealism and higher relativism). Additionally, it was predicted that psychopathy and Machiavellianism would show distinct patterns of association with ethical orientations. The study further hypothesized that gender would significantly influence the expression of Dark Triad traits, with men expected to score higher than women. A correlational research design was employed, involving 202 students (101 men, 101 women; age range = 17–24 years; M = 21.27, SD = 1.98). Participants completed the Short Dark Triad-3 (Jones & Paulhus, 2014) and the Ethics Position Questionnaire (Schlenker & Forsyth, 1980). Pearson bivariate correlation revealed that narcissism and psychopathy showed a negative correlation with idealism, however Machiavellianism showed a positively correlation with relativism. Independent samples t-tests indicated that men scored significantly higher than women on all three Dark Triad traits. These findings suggest that each Dark Triad trait differentially relates to ethical attitudes, and that men tend to exhibit more pronounced dark personality characteristics compared to women.