Subclinical Sadism and the Dark Triad: Should There Be a Dark Tetrad?

Laura K. Johnson; Rachel A. Plouffe; Donald H. Saklofske

doi:10.1027/1614-0001/a000284

Subclinical Sadism and the Dark Triad: Should There Be a Dark Tetrad?

Laura K. Johnson (Lead / Corresponding author), Rachel A. Plouffe, Donald H. Saklofske

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

58 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Dark Triad is a constellation of three antisocial personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Recently, researchers have introduced a "Dark Tetrad" that includes subclinical sadism, although others suggest considerable overlap between psychopathy and sadism. To clarify the position of sadism within the Dark Triad, an online study was conducted with 615 university students. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that a six-factor solution fit the data best, representing Machiavellianism, psychopathy, physical sadism, verbal sadism, narcissism, and vicarious sadism. Furthermore, convergent validity was supported through sadism's correlations with the HEXACO personality traits. The results support sadism's inclusion within the Dark Tetrad as a unique construct but with some conceptual overlap with psychopathy.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	127-133
Number of pages	7
Journal	Journal of Individual Differences
Volume	40
Issue number	3
Early online date	7 Feb 2019
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000284
Publication status	Published - Jul 2019

Keywords

Dark Tetrad
Dark Triad
factor analysis
Machiavellianism
narcissism
psychopathy
sadism

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Psychology
Biological Psychiatry

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10.1027/1614-0001/a000284

Cite this

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Subclinical Sadism and the Dark Triad: Should There Be a Dark Tetrad?

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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