Dark traits from the variable-centered and person-centered approach and their relations with some risky behaviours

Abstract

The aim of this research was to determine whether the person-centered or the variable-centered approach is better at describing the covariance between the Dark Triad and Dark Tetrad traits in the community sample. On the sample of 624 participants (48.2% males), the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD), the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale (SSIS) and the Varieties of Sadistic Tendencies Scale (VAST) were used for measuring the dark traits, while the Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (RPQ) and the questions about alcohol use were applied for criteria validation. In order to test whether the variableor the person-centered approach better described covariance among the dark traits, the latent profile analysis was used. The results revealed one profile or two quantitatively different profiles (low and high dark traits), suggesting that the variable-centered approach is more appropriate than the person-centered for describing the dark traits. In the case of the Dark Tetrad, profile membership largely depended on the used sadism measure, i.e. profile agreement was moderate. High dark traits profile based on the combination with the SSIS sadism scale was characterized by both higher aggression and alcohol use, while the same profile based on the combination with the VAST sadism measure was characterized only by higher aggression.

Keywords

• Dark Triad
• Dark Tetrad
• dark traits
• sadism
• latent profile analysis
• aggression
• alcohol use