Relationships Between the Dark Triad and Schwartz's Circumplex of Values on High School Students

Abstract

Values are abstract ideals to be achieved and serve as criteria for individual behavior, choices, and self-evaluation. Schwartz defined 10 universal values in his Theory of Values and created four value groups that group together related values. The Dark Triad consists of negative behaviors such as using others for personal gain, egocentrism, cheating, and manipulating others. The purpose of this research is to test whether Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism, which are the dimensions of the Dark Triad, predict Schwartz's value groups of conservatism, self-enhancement, openness to change, and self-transcendence through the implicit variable of the Dark Triad. A MIMIC model was developed and tested for this purpose. The MIMIC model is used to determine whether a large number of observed variables predict a latent variable and whether this latent variable causes a large number of cases. The results of the research indicated that Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism predicted the values of power, success and hedonism in the self-enhancement value group through the Dark Triad implicit variable. It was also found to negatively predict the values of universality, benevolence and conformity. Notably, the Dark Triad and its dimensions do not predict conservatism and openness to change.