The Dark Tetrad and Antisocial Behavior in a Community Sample of College Students

Narcissistic, psychopathic, and Machiavellian personality traits have been reported to be three distinct but empirically overlapping traits called the Dark Triad. Recently, sadistic traits were added to this trio of personality and it became labeled the Dark Tetrad of personality traits. As the Dark Triad has been suggested to be a single Dark Core of personality, additional research is needed to test whether or not the concept of a Dark Core remains relevant when considering both sadism and borderline personality traits. The aim of the study was to assess the contribution of Dark Tetrad traits to antisocial behaviors in a community sample of 511 college students. While controlling for borderline personality traits, and frequency of substance, a multiple regression analysis showed that psychopathic and sadistic traits were unique predictors of antisocial behavior in both genders. Machiavellian and narcissistic traits did not appear to independently contribute to antisocial behavior. While not significant in this variable-centered study, exploring the association of borderline personality traits with the Dark Tetrad using a person-centered approach is warranted and further studies beyond the Dark Tetrad need to be developed.