The utility of the Dark Triad model in the prediction of the self-reported and behavioral risk-taking behaviors among adolescents

• Associations among the Dark Triad and different risk-taking measures were examined.
• Narcissism and psychopathy significantly predicted adolescents' risk behaviors.
• This was found to be the case for self-reported and behaviorally based risk measures.
• Contrary, Machiavellianism was unrelated to either type of risk-taking assessment.

Associations among the Dark Triad (psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism) using a self-report risk measure (i.e., Adolescent Risk-taking Questionnaire) and two behavioral tasks (i.e., Balloon Analog Risk task and Probability Discounting task) were examined to assess risk taking in 248 adolescents. Two dark personality traits, narcissism and psychopathy, have been shown to be significantly predictive of adolescent risk behaviors. This was found to be the case for self-reported risk behaviors, as well as for different behaviorally based risk types. Contrary, Machiavellianism was unrelated to either type of risk-taking assessment. Reliably, these results suggest that darker personality variables may prove valuable in understanding risk-taking behaviors in adolescents.