Dark and light university: The relationship between dark and light personality traits and educational choices and the desire for power as a mediating factor

Abstract

The present research investigates the role of dark and light personality traits in determining academic discipline preferences among university students. Two studies showed that university students with relatively high scores on dark personality traits (specifically, narcissism and Machiavellianism) and relatively low scores on light personality traits are over-represented in business and law programs, compared to psychology and other academic disciplines. The results further suggest that personality is a distal determinant of academic discipline choice, with human values being the proximal determinant. Specifically, high scores in dark/low light personalities express a desire for power, which explains why they choose economics or law as their academic discipline. Contrary to our expectations, low dark/high light personalities were not over-represented in psychology, compared to other academic disciplines. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of considering personality traits and human values in understanding academic discipline choices among university students. Recognizing these factors can inform educational institutions in developing strategies to better support students in aligning their academic pursuits with their personal characteristics and values.

Keywords

• Dark tetrad
• Light triad
• Academic majors
• Power values