CREATING A NEW SHORT MEASURE OF THE DARK TETRAD

Abstract

The four dark personality traits of Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism have been studied together under an overarching construct called the Dark Tetrad. As this field of study is relatively new, the most effective and efficient way to measure the Dark Tetrad is still debated. While there are ethical and practical needs of a short measure of the Dark Tetrad, a validated measure of the construct has yet to emerge. The purpose of the current study was to begin the process of creating a new short measure of the Dark Tetrad. Study 1 selected potential items and created two potential factor structures for the new short measure. Study 2 cross-validated and compared the two potential factor structures. Results demonstrated that the empirical-based factor structure was a more accurate representation of the Dark Tetrad compared to the theory-based factor structure, indicating that the Dark Tetrad would be better represented as an overarching construct compared to four separate traits. Results also revealed potential items for the new short measure of the Dark Tetrad. Further research needs to examine the factor structure of the Dark Tetrad before a new short measure is created.