Facets of the Dark Triad: Utilizing the Five-Factor Model to describe Machiavellianism

Previous studies have investigated how the three Dark Triad constructs (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism) relate to the Five-Factor Model (FFM) in order to understand the underlying traits and relationships of these constructs. The current study investigated the relationships between Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy with the FFM facets. The three Dark Triad (DT) constructs were strongly correlated with all facets of low agreeableness and with the neuroticism facet angry hostility. There was significant overlap in the relationships of psychopathy and Machiavellianism with the FFM facets overall. Additionally, the DT constructs were investigated in relation to three types of workplace behaviors (i.e., counterproductive, citizenship, and unethical), with results indicating strong relationships for all three DT constructs with counterproductive and unethical workplace behaviors. Overall, the findings suggest that the Machiavellianism measures used strongly correlate with psychopathy and therefore may not assess a unique construct. Future studies should continue to investigate how these constructs may be overlapping and/or how measures of Machiavellianism may not be adequately assessing the full construct.