Assessment of dark personalities in Iran: Psychometric evaluation of the Farsi translation of the Short Dark Triad (SD3-F)

• Only 20 items of the SD3 have acceptable psychometric properties in Iran.
• The 20-item Farsi SD3 has a three-factor structure in Iranian samples.
• The SD3-F and its subscales have marginally acceptable internal consistency.
• The SD3-F has acceptable convergent validity in Iranian context.

The Dark Triad traits- Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy- have attracted much research attention in the past decade. The Short Dark Triad (SD3) is one of the commonly used short measures of the Dark Triad. In the present study, we translate and adapt the SD3 into Farsi. Two studies (total N = 523) examined the factor structure, internal consistency, and convergent validity of the Farsi SD3. Study 1 suggested that only 20 items had sufficient psychometric quality to be subjected to factor analysis. The subsequent exploratory factor analysis suggested a three-factor solution. All SD3 subscales had adequate convergent validity. Furthermore, internal consistency coefficients of the Farsi SD3 subscales were marginally acceptable with the exception of Machiavellianism subscale for men. Finally, Study 2 supported the 3-factor structure of the 20-item SD3 using confirmatory factor analysis. Therefore, the 20-item SD3-F may be used with marginally acceptable reliability and validity to assess the Dark Triad of personality in Iranian context.