Civic Engagement and Personality: Associations with the Big Five and the Dark Triad

Abstract

Several studies have analyzed the relationship between general personality traits and attitudes and behaviors, indicating that a person is more committed to the community. After raising the question of whether malevolent traits might also be related, the aim was to analyze the relationship between civic engagement and personality, delving into the contribution of the Dark Triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and controlling for the association with the Big Five. The Civic Engagement Questionnaire, the Short Dark Triad, and the Big Five Inventory-10 were administered to 1175 Spanish students (convenience sampling). After performing statistical analyses using SPSS statistical software, it was obtained that the three Dark Triad traits explained 11% of the total explained variance of civic engagement, while 19% was reached when the Big Five were included. Narcissism and openness were the factors most strongly associated with engagement. The positive relationship between narcissism and general personality traits could explain why narcissistic people have more favorable attitudes. Furthermore, people with narcissistic traits may display these attitudes for their own benefit. This study provides further evidence of how the narcissistic personality trait differs from the other two malevolent traits. Given that these traits are also associated with maladaptive behaviors, knowing all their characteristics could facilitate the design of prevention programs aimed at reducing such maladaptive behaviors.