Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T00:49:30.179Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Dark Side of Human Values: How Values are Related to Bright and Dark Personality Traits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2021

Gabriel Lins de Holanda Coelho Open the ORCID record for Gabriel Lins de Holanda Coelho [Opens in a new window] ,
Paul H. P. Hanel ,
Renan Pereira Monteiro ,
Roosevelt Vilar  and
Valdiney V. Gouveia
Gabriel Lins de Holanda Coelho*
Affiliation:
University College Cork (Ireland)
Paul H. P. Hanel
Affiliation:
University of Essex (UK)
Renan Pereira Monteiro
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (Brazil)
Roosevelt Vilar
Affiliation:
Massey University (New Zealand)
Valdiney V. Gouveia
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal da Paraíba (Brazil)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Gabriel Lins de Holanda Coelho. University College Cork. School of Psychology. Cork (Ireland). E-mail: linshc@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the present research, we replicate and extend previous findings on the relations between human values and bright\dark traits of personality, using the functional theory of human values (Gouveia, 2013). Specifically, we assessed which dark traits are associated with human values and whether the dark traits explained variance in values beyond the bright traits (Big Five). While prior research has investigated the relations between the three sets of constructs mainly in Western countries, we tested whether the findings hold in Brazil (N = 819). Although values are defined as positive constructs, several value subfunctions were positively correlated with the dark traits (e.g., excitement values with narcissism), while other relations were negative. Controlling for participants' age and gender, hierarchical regressions further revealed that dark traits explain variance in values beyond bright traits, although overall bright traits were more strongly associated with values than dark traits. Together, our findings replicate previous research. Implications for our understanding of the Dark Triad and cross-cultural research are discussed.

Keywords

Big FiveDark Triadhuman values
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 24 , 2021 , e11
Copyright
© Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Conflict of Interest: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Funding Statement: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

References

Araújo, R. d. C. R., Bobowik, M., Vilar, R., Liu, J. H., de Zuñiga, H. G., Kus‐Harbord, L., Lebedeva, N., & Gouveia, V. V. (2020). Human values and ideological beliefs as predictors of attitudes toward immigrants across 20 countries: The country-level moderating role of threat. European Journal of Social Psychology, 50(3), 534–546. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2635CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Back, M. D., Küfner, A. C. P., Dufner, M., Gerlach, T. M., Rauthmann, J. F., & Denissen, J. J. A. (2013). Narcissistic admiration and rivalry: Disentangling the bright and dark sides of narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(6), 1013–1037. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034431CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balakrishnan, A., Plouffe, R. A., & Saklofske, D. H. (2017). What do sadists value? Is honesty-humility an intermediary? Replicating and extending findings on the link between values and “dark” personalities. Personality and Individual Differences, 109, 142–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.12.055CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baughman, H. M., Jonason, P. K., Lyons, M., & Vernon, P. A. (2014). Liar liar pants on fire: Cheater strategies linked to the Dark Triad. Personality and Individual Differences, 71, 35–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.07.019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borg, I., & Bardi, A. (2016). Should ratings of the importance of personal values be centered? Journal of Research in Personality, 63, 95–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2016.05.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Citizens Information (2020). Social welfare payments and COVID-19 (coronavirus). https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/covid19_and_social_welfare.htmlGoogle Scholar
Coelho, G. L. H., Hanel, P. H. P., Vilar, R., Monteiro, R. P., Gouveia, V. V., & Maio, G. R. (2020). Need for affect and attitudes toward drugs: The mediating role of values. Substance Use & Misuse, 27(8), 1870–1885. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2018.1467454Google Scholar
Costa, P. T. Jr., Terracciano, A., & McCrae, R. R. (2001). Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: Robust and surprising findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(2), 322–331. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.2.322CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ferreira, M. C., Fischer, R., Porto, J. B., Pilati, R., & Milfont, T. L. (2012). Unraveling the mystery of Brazilian Jeitinho: A cultural exploration of social norms. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(3), 331–344. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211427148CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fischer, R., & Boer, D. (2015). Motivational basis of personality traits: A meta‐analysis of value‐personality correlations. Journal of Personality, 83(5), 491–510. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12125CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fischer, R., Milfont, T. L., & Gouveia, V. V. (2011). Does social context affect value structures? Testing the within-country stability of value structures with a functional theory of values. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 42(2), 253–270. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022110396888CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geukes, K., Nestler, S., Hutteman, R., Dufner, M., Küfner, A. C. P., Egloff, B., Denissen, J. J. A., & Back, M. D. (2017). Puffed-up but shaky selves: State self-esteem level and variability in narcissists. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 112(5), 769–786. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000093CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gignac, G. E., & Szodorai, E. T. (2016). Effect size guidelines for individual differences researchers. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 74–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.069CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gouveia, V. V. (2013). Teoria Funcionalista dos Valores Humanos: Fundamentos, aplicações e perspectivas [Functional Theory of Human Values: Foundations, applications and perspectives]. Casa do Psicólogo.Google Scholar
Gouveia, V. V., Milfont, T. L., Fischer, R., & Santos, W. S. (2008). Teoria Funcionalista dos Valores Humanos [Functional Theory of Human Values]. In Teixeira, M. L. M. (Ed.), Valores humanos e gestão: Novas perspectivas [Human values and management: New perspectives] (pp. 47–80). Editora Senac.Google Scholar
Gouveia, V. V., Milfont, T. L., & Guerra, V. M. (2014a). Functional theory of human values: Testing its content and structure hypotheses. Personality and Individual Differences, 60, 41–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.12.012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gouveia, V. V., Milfont, T. L., & Guerra, V. M. (2014b). The functional theory of human values: From intentional overlook to first acknowledgement—A reply to Schwartz (2014). Personality and Individual Differences, 68, 250–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.03.025CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gouveia, V. V., Monteiro, R. P., Gouveia, R. S. V., Athayde, R. A. A., & Cavalcanti, T. M. (2016). Avaliando o lado sombrio da personalidade: Evidências psicométricas do Dark Triad Dirty Dozen [Assessing the dark side of personality: Psychometric evidences of the dark triad dirty dozen]. Interamerican Journal of Psychology, 50(3), 420–432.Google Scholar
Gouveia, V. V., Vione, K. C., Milfont, T. L., & Fischer, R. (2015). Patterns of value change during the life span some evidence from a functional approach to values. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(9), 1276–1290. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215594189CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hanel, P. H. P., Maio, G. R., Soares, A. K. S., Vione, K. C., Coelho, G. L. d. H., Gouveia, V. V., Patil, A. C., Kamble, S. V., & Manstead, A. S. R. (2018). Cross-cultural differences and similarities in human value instantiation. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article e849. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00849CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hanel, P. H. P., & Wolfradt, U. (2016). The ‘dark side’ of personal values: Relations to clinical constructs and their implications. Personality and Individual Differences, 97, 140–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.045CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, A. F., & Coutts, J. J. (2020). Use Omega rather than Cronbach’s Alpha for estimating reliability. But… Communication Methods and Measures. 14(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/19312458.2020.1718629CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, J., & van de Vijver, F. J. R. (2015). Self-presentation styles in self-reports: Linking the general factors of response styles, personality traits, and values in a longitudinal study. Personality and Individual Differences, 81, 129–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.09.009CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, J., de Vijver, F. J. R. V., Fetvadjiev, V. H., Espinosa, A. d. C. D., Adams, B., Alonso‐Arbiol, I., Aydinli‐Karakulak, A., Buzea, C., Dimitrova, R., Fortin, A., Hapunda, G., Ma, S., Sargautyte, R., Sim, S., Schachner, M. K., Suryani, A., Zeinoun, P., & Zhang, R. (2017). On enhancing the cross-cultural comparability of Likert-scale personality and value measures: A comparison of common procedures. European Journal of Personality, 31(6), 642–657. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2132CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2–3), 61–83. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X0999152XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hitlin, S., & Piliavin, J. A. (2004). Values: Reviving a dormant concept. Annual Review of Sociology, 30(1), 359–393. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.30.012703.110640CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodson, G., Book, A., Visser, B. A., Volk, A. A., Ashton, M. C., & Lee, K. (2018). Is the Dark Triad common factor distinct from low Honesty-Humility? Journal of Research in Personality, 73, 123–129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2017.11.012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inman, R. A., da Silva, S. M., Bayoumi, R., & Hanel, P. H. P. (2017). Cultural value orientations and alcohol consumption in 74 countries: A societal-level analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article e1963. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01963CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. (1991). The “Big Five” Inventory & Versions 4a and 54. Institute of Personality and Social Research.Google Scholar
Jonason, P. K., Foster, J. D., Kavanagh, P. S., Gouveia, V. V., & Birkás, B. (2018). Basic values and the dark triad traits. Journal of Individual Differences, 39(4), 220–228. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000267CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonason, P. K., Icho, A., & Ireland, K. (2016). Resources, harshness, and unpredictability: The socioeconomic conditions associated with the Dark Triad traits. Evolutionary Psychology, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1474704915623699CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonason, P. K., & Middleton, J. P. (2015). Dark Triad: The “Dark Side” of human personality. In Wright, J. D. (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (2nd Ed., pp. 671–675). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.25051-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonason, P. K., Strosser, G. L., Kroll, C. H., Duineveld, J. J., & Baruffi, S. A. (2015). Valuing myself over others: The Dark Triad traits and moral and social values. Personality and Individual Differences, 81, 102–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.10.045CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2010). The dirty dozen: A concise measure of the dark triad. Psychological Assessment, 22(2), 420–432. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019265CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2009). Machiavellianism. In Leary, M. R. & Hoyle, R. H. (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 102–120). Guilford.Google Scholar
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2011). The role of impulsivity in the Dark Triad of personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(5), 679–682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.04.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jost, J. T., Glaser, J., Kruglanski, A. W., & Sulloway, F. J. (2003). Political conservatism as motivated social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 129(3), 339–375. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.129.3.339CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kajonius, P. J., Persson, B. N., & Jonason, P. K. (2015). Hedonism, achievement, and power: Universal values that characterize the Dark Triad. Personality and Individual Differences, 77, 173–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.055CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kline, P. (2013). Handbook of Psychological Testing. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315812274CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knoppen, D., & Saris, W. (2009). Do we have to combine values in the Schwartz’ Human Values Scale? A comment on the Davidov studies. Survey Research Methods, 3(2), 91–103. https://doi.org/10.18148/srm/2009.v3i2.2601Google Scholar
Łowicki, P., & Zajenkowski, M. (2017). No empathy for people nor for God: The relationship between the Dark Triad, religiosity and empathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 115, 169–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maio, G. R. (2016). The Psychology of human values. Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315622545CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Mazui, G. (2020, March 23). Bolsonaro revoga trecho de MP que previa suspensão de contratos de trabalho por 4 meses [Bolsonaro revokes stretch of MP that provided for suspension of employment contracts for 4 moths]. O Globo. https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2020/03/23/bolsonaro-diz-que-revogou-trecho-de-mp-que-previa-suspensao-de-contratos-de-trabalho-por-4-meses.ghtmlGoogle Scholar
Miller, J. D., Hyatt, C. S., Maples-Keller, J. L., Carter, N. T., & Lynam, D. R. (2017). Psychopathy and Machiavellianism: A distinction without a difference? Journal of Personality, 85(4), 439–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12251CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, J. D., Vize, C., Crowe, M. L., & Lynam, D. R. (2019). A critical appraisal of the Dark-Triad literature and suggestions for moving forward. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 28(4), 353–360. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721419838233CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milojev, P., & Sibley, C. G. (2014). The stability of adult personality varies across age: Evidence from a two-year longitudinal sample of adult New Zealanders. Journal of Research in Personality, 51, 29–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2014.04.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miura, M. A., Pilati, R., Milfont, T. L., Ferreira, M. C., & Fischer, R. (2019). Between simpatia and malandragem: Brazilian jeitinho as an individual difference variable. PLOS ONE, 14(4), Article e0214929. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214929Google Scholar
Monteiro, R. P. (2014). Entendendo a psicopatia: Contribuição dos traços de personalidade e valores humanos [Understanding psychopathy: Contribution of personality traits and human values] [ Master’s thesis]. Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Brazil. https://repositorio.ufpb.br/jspui/bitstream/tede/7564/2/arquivototal.pdfGoogle Scholar
Monteiro, R. P., Lopes, G. S., Nascimento, B. S., Gouveia, V. V., Shackelford, T. K., & Zeigler-Hill, V. (2017). Dark Triad predicts self-promoting mate attraction behaviors. Personality and Individual Differences, 119, 83–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.07.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neumann, C. S., Hare, R. D., & Pardini, D. A. (2015). Antisociality and the construct of psychopathy: Data from across the globe. Journal of Personality, 83(6), 678–692. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12127CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pailing, A., Boon, J., & Egan, V. (2014). Personality, the Dark Triad and violence. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 81–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.11.018CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parks-Leduc, L., Feldman, G., & Bardi, A. (2015). Personality traits and personal values: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 19(1), 3–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868314538548CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patrick, C. J., Fowles, D. C., & Krueger, R. F. (2009). Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: Developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness. Development and Psychopathology, 21(3), 913–938. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579409000492CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Toward a taxonomy of Dark Personalities. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23(6), 421–426. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721414547737CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, O. C. (2013). Values and adult age: Findings from two cohorts of the European Social Survey. European Journal of Ageing, 10(1), 11–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-012-0247-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roccas, S., Sagiv, L., Schwartz, S. H., & Knafo, A. (2002). The Big Five personality factors and personal values. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(6), 789–801. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202289008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogoza, R., Wyszyńska, P., Maćkiewicz, M., & Cieciuch, J. (2016). Differentiation of the two narcissistic faces in their relations to personality traits and basic values. Personality and Individual Differences, 95, 85–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.038CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmitt, D. P., Allik, J., McCrae, R. R., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2007). The geographic distribution of Big Five Personality Traits: Patterns and profiles of human self-description across 56 nations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38(2), 173–212. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022106297299CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. (2005). Robustness and fruitfulness of a theory of universals in individual human values. In Tamayo, A. & Porto, J. B. (Eds.), Values and behavior in organizations (pp. 21–55). Vozes.Google Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 25, 1–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60281-6Google Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1), Article e11. https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1116CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. (2014). Functional theories of human values: Comment on Gouveia, Milfont, and Guerra (2014). Personality and Individual Differences, 68, 247–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.03.024CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H., & Bardi, A. (2001). Value hierarchies across cultures: Taking a similarities perspective. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32(3), 268–290. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022101032003002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H., Melech, G., Lehmann, A., Burgess, S., Harris, M., & Owens, V. (2001). Extending the cross-cultural validity of the theory of basic human values with a different method of measurement. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32(5), 519–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022101032005001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, S. H., & Rubel, T. (2005). Sex differences in value priorities: Cross-cultural and multimethod studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(6), 1010–1028. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.89.6.1010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southard, A. C., Noser, A. E., Pollock, N. C., Mercer, S. H., & Zeigler-Hill, V. (2015). The interpersonal nature of dark personality features. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 34(7), 555–586. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2015.34.7.555CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Transparency International. (2018). Transparency International. Corruption perceptions index. https://www.transparency.org/cpi2018/results#methodologyGoogle Scholar
Vilar, R., Liu, J. H.-f., & Gouveia, V. V. (2020). Age and gender differences in human values: A 20-nation study. Psychology and Aging, 35(3), 345–356. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000448CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wink, P. (1991). Two faces of narcissism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(4), 590–597. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.61.4.590CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolfradt, U., & Dalbert, C. (2003). Personality, values and belief in a just world. Personality and Individual Differences, 35(8), 1911–1918. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00040-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Lins de Holanda Coelho et al. supplementary material

Figures S1-S2

Download Lins de Holanda Coelho et al. supplementary material(File)
File 127 KB