Machiavellianism: dimensionality of the Mach IV and its relation to self-monitoring in a Spanish sample

Evaluation of psychometric characteristics of light triad personality questionnaire in nurses

INTRODUCTION

Personality is one of the important etiological factors of psychological factors. In this regard, one of the important factors in the success of people's social and psychological life is the light triad personality. They are a combination of sympathy, compassion, and humanity. On the basis of results of the research, it is not possible to trust the psychometrics characteristics of tools; it is necessary to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of these tools. Meanwhile, the aim of the present study is the evaluation of psychometrics characteristics of light triad personality in nurses.

METHODS

The statistical population includes all nurses who were employed in the summer and autumn of 2020 in private centers and hospitals affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The sample of this study was 245 nurses who were selected by convenience sampling. To analyze the data, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Pearson correlation, total question-score correlation, and reliability analysis were used by using SPSSV22 and LISRELV8.80 software.

RESULTS

The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three-factor structure of the light triad personality questionnaire. The findings of the convergent validity of the light triad personality questionnaire were evaluated and confirmed via its simultaneous implementation by the Social Health and Emotional Sympathy Questionnaires and its divergent reliability was confirmed by the Machiavellian Questionnaire. The reliability coefficient of the questionnaire was obtained for the factors of sympathy, compassion, philanthropy, and totality by using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, 0.83, 0.75, 0.70, and 0.92, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Finally, with regard to the desired validity and reliability coefficients, ease of implementation, scoring, interpretation, and explanation, as well as a short time to answer, it can be said that light triad personality questionnaires were qualified for use in psychological research to measure the rate of light triad personality.

Spanish Adaptation and Validation of the 34-Item Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP)

The recent conceptualization of psychopathy as a dimensional construct has given rise to the need for validated instruments for use in nonclinical populations. The Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP-III) is a questionnaire widely used to evaluate psychopathic traits in clinical and nonclinical samples in the English-speaking population. Using a community sample, the authors aimed to adapt and validate, to the Spanish language, the SRP-III based on the English short-form version by Mahmut, Menictas, Stevenson, and Homewood (2011). The SRP-III was administered to 1,938 participants. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the four-factor model satisfactorily fits the data. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were adequate for the total score and its four facets. The SRP-III also showed good construct validity as measured through its relationship with personality, depression, empathy, machiavellianism, and narcissism. These results suggest that the Spanish version of the 34-item SRP-III is an adequate measurement of psychopathic traits.

The Dark Triad and the Detection of Parental Judicial Manipulators. Development of a Judicial Manipulation Scale

This research examines the relationship between dark triad and the use that some parents make of their children in order to attack the other parent after a couple break-up. We examined whether parents who are willing to lie about issues concerning the other parent and their children during a couple break-up process show higher levels of dark triad traits. Across two different samples of divorced participants (N = 1085 and N = 249), we measured dark triad traits and willingness to engage in judicial manipulation. The objective of this study was to build a judicial manipulation scale to measure willingness to lie and use children to harm the other parent that could be used in professional practice. Results show significant correlations for judicial manipulation and dark triad traits and confirm the psychometric properties of reliability and validity of a proposed scale. We found that dark triad traits are adequate indicators of judicial manipulation. We discuss the importance of the scale to help the judicial system to determine which parent is the most appropriate to be designated as the legal custodial parent.

Revenge among Parents Who Have Broken up Their Relationship through Family Law Courts: Its Dimensions and Measurement Proposal

This work analyzes inter-parental revenge after a breakup process, as it relates to the dark triad of personality, moral disengagement, and sex role ideology. Our objective was to test a predictive model for revenge based on these variables. Additionally, a scale to measure revenge among parents was developed. A sample of 384 participants who had minor children, had broken up their relationship, and had undergone or were undergoing problematic judicial procedures regarding their children completed a survey. They answered to measures of the dark triad of personality (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy); moral disengagement strategies; sex role ideology, and revenge. An instrument (the R scale), with adequate reliability and validity was developed to test revenge. Results show that revenge behaviors are perpetrated by 1 to 5% of participants. Revenge has three components: revenge through the child, revenge through economic manipulation, and revenge by cutting off communication. Results also show that for males, but not for females, sex role ideology mediates the relationship between the components of the dark triad, moral disengagement, and revenge. This paper aims at providing some insight for the protection of minors from manipulation by means of the Family Courts.

Measurement invariance tests of revisions to archaically worded items in the Mach IV scale

The Machiavellian IV [1] instrument, developed almost 50 years ago to measure trait Machiavellianism and still in wide use in personality research, uses item wording that is not gender-neutral, makes use of idiomatic expressions, and includes archaic references. In this two-sample study, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on one sample to examine the structure of responses to the Mach IV. In an independent second sample the resulting EFA structure was analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis-based measurement equivalence/invariance (ME/I) tests in a control group with the original archaic items and a treatment group with eight items rewritten in a more modern vernacular. Specific model testing steps [2] and statistical tests [3] were applied in a bottom-up approach [4] to ME/I tests on these two versions of the Mach IV. The two versions were found to have equal form, equal factor loadings, but unequal indicator error variances. Subsequent item-by-item tests of error invariance resulted in substantial decrements to fit for three revised items suggesting that the error associated with these items was not equal across the two versions.

Moral disengagement and willingness to behave unethically against ex-partner in a child custody dispute

The current study examines the role of moral disengagement on the likelihood of making false allegations or retaliating against the partner in a child custody dispute. Moral disengagement strategies can be useful to explain this tendency to harm their partner in a custody dispute, because they help reduce the aversive state caused by the dissonance provoked when the ethical principles of the individual do not match their behavior. An individual that is able to lessen the negative affect anticipated before committing a transgression, would be more likely to engage in it. A sample of 1097 Spanish adults who had experienced a break up with their partner and had children participated in the study. They were evenly divided by sex and their mean age was 39.95 (SD = 8.89). They answered to a vignette depicting a child custody dispute during a break up process and answered to a series of questions regarding whether they would be willing to make false allegations or to take retaliatory action against their former partner. They also answered to questionnaires on moral disengagement and the "dark triad" of personality. Results show that moral disengagement is a significant predictor of false allegations and retaliatory action, stronger than any of the variables included in the "dark triad", and predicts willingness to harm the partner beyond the common core of dark traits. We did not find gender differences in inclination to harm the partner, although men are more prone to the use of moral disengagement strategies than women. Still, we found that the type of moral disengagement that better predicts these tendencies is different for men and women. Men significantly favored reconstrual strategies that include moral justification, advantageous comparison and euphemistic labelling, while the best predictor for women are strategies focused on the recipient, like attribution of blame or dehumanization.

The Malevolent Side of Human Nature

The term dark triad refers to the constellation of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Over the past few years, the concept has gained momentum, with many researchers assuming that the dark triad is a prominent antecedent of transgressive and norm-violating behavior. Our purpose in this meta-analytic review was to evaluate (a) interrelations among narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy; (b) gender differences in these traits; (c) how these traits are linked to normal personality factors; and (d) the psychosocial correlates of the dark triad. Our findings show that dark triad traits are substantially intercorrelated, somewhat more prevalent among men than women, predominantly related to the Big Five personality factor of agreeableness and the HEXACO factor of honesty-humility, and generally associated with various types of negative psychosocial outcomes. We question whether dark triad traits are sufficiently distinct and argue that the way they are currently measured is too simple to capture the malevolent sides of personality. Because most research in this domain is cross-sectional and based on self-reports, we recommend using a cross-informant approach and prospective, longitudinal research designs for studying the predictive value of dark triad features.

Das Dreckige Dutzend und die Niederträchtigen Neun

Bei der Erfassung persönlichkeitsrelevanter Eigenschaften kommen evaluativ negativere Dispositionen oft zu kurz. Diese sind jedoch besonders in interpersonellen Situationen wichtig. Die „Dunkle Triade”, bestehend aus Narzissmus, Psychopathie und Machiavellismus bietet die Möglichkeit diese verwandten Konstrukte und ihre Effekte spezifisch zu untersuchen. Im deutschen Sprachraum werden derzeit drei separate und umfangreiche Instrumente zu deren Messung benötigt. In drei Studien (N = 501; N = 828; N = 96) wird die Validierung einer deutschen Version (das „Dreckige Dutzend”) der „Dirty Dozen”-Kurzskalen ( Jonason & Webster, 2010 ), sowie eine psychometrisch optimierte Version (die „Niederträchtigen Neun”) zur Erfassung der Kernaspekte der Dunklen Triade vorgestellt. Die vier bzw. drei Items umfassenden Skalen beider Instrumente weisen eine gute Struktur, interne Konsistenz und Stabilität auf. Darüber hinaus zeigen die Skalen zufriedenstellende konvergente Beziehungen zu den Standardverfahren der Dunklen Triade, differenzierte Zusammenhänge mit weiteren relevanten Persönlichkeitskonstrukten (z. B. Big Five-Facetten, Aggressivität, Soziosexualität) und prädizieren charakteristische Verhaltensweisen. Implikationen für die Erfassung der Dunklen Triade in Forschungs- und Anwendungskontexten werden diskutiert.

Investigating the MACH-IV with item response theory and proposing the trimmed MACH*

The MACH-IV was investigated (N = 528) with item response theory to elucidate its psychometric properties and suggest a trimmed version, the MACH*. The core content of the MACH-IV seemed to be cynicism/misanthropy and the MACH* was formed from the 5 most informative and precise MACH-IV items. The MACH* showed good internal consistency and construct and criterion validity comparable to the MACH-IV. The MACH-IV and MACH* measure most precisely at average to above average levels of Machiavellianism. Implications for theory and measurement of Machiavellianism are discussed.

Reliability and Validity of the Kiddie Mach Scale in Chinese Children

The present study examined the psychometric properties of a translated Chinese version of the Kiddie Mach Scale in a sample of Chinese students ( N = 787) ages 9 to 13 years (416 boys, 371 girls; M age = 11.3 yr., SD = 1.3). Results of confirmatory factor analysis showed a three-factor structure to be the most adequate model: Distrust, Lack of faith in human nature, and Dishonesty. These results are similar to the English version, but not the Greek version. The Chinese version exhibited weak internal consistency, but acceptable 4-week test-retest reliability. The Chinese version of the Kiddie Mach Scale was significantly associated with the Basic Empathy Scale. There was a sex effect on Kiddie Mach Scale scores with boys scoring higher on the Total scale and the Distrust subscale. Some items did not seem to function well in Chinese culture. More research will be needed to find items that represent, especially, distrust in Chinese settings.

"Machiavellianism" and frontal dysfunction: evidence from Parkinson's disease

INTRODUCTION

A number of reports have identified significant personality differences in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) when compared with age-matched controls. We hypothesised that these differences may be related to impairment in prefrontal inhibitory functions resulting in the expression of new "Machiavellian" personality traits.

METHODS

Thirty-five patients with PD and 17 age-matched controls were assessed with a set of neuropsychologic, personality and mood tests as well as the Mach IV scale, which measures a set of "Machiavellian" personality characteristics.

RESULTS

PD patients with elevated Machiavellian traits ("high Machs") were selectively impaired on tests of prefrontal function relative to "low Mach" patients. In addition, while high Machs did not differ from low Machs in terms of age, educational level, Hoehn-Yahr stage, mood function, or Mini Mental State Exam score, they indicated greater willingness to affiliate with a fictional Machiavellian character and scored significantly lower on the "cooperativeness" and "self-directedness" subscales of the Cloninger Temperament and Character Inventory.

CONCLUSIONS

We suggest that (1) PD patients with frontal impairment are vulnerable to dramatic personality change, and (2) the frontal lobes are required for maintenance of prosocial personality traits.