The relationship between the Dark Triad and attitudes towards feminism

Douglass, Melanie D.; Stirrat, Michael; Koehn, Monica A.; Vaughan, Robert S.

Abstract

The Dark Triad traits are considered a male-centric framework of personality with women generally scoring lower on narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Research has examined the drivers behind this relationship attributing effects mostly to biological or evolutionary reasons with less work understanding environmental factors. To date, no research has examined the relationship between the Dark Triad and attitudes towards feminism. Three hundred and forty-three participants completed self-report measures of the Dark Triad and feminist attitudes. Results reported no differences between men and women on feminist attitudes, but men scored higher on the Dark Triad. Multiple linear regression indicated a negative association between the Dark Triad and feminist attitudes with all three traits significantly negatively contributing to the model. In all cases, this effect was stronger in men. These findings suggest that whilst men and women hold similar feminist attitudes, Dark Triad traits may facilitate a disregard for feminism.

Citation

Douglass, M. D., Stirrat, M., Koehn, M. A., & Vaughan, R. S. (2023). The relationship between the Dark Triad and attitudes towards feminism. Personality and Individual Differences, 200, Article 111889. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111889

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 27, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Sep 6, 2022
• Publication Date: 2023-01
• Deposit Date: Jan 18, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 18, 2023
• Journal: Personality and Individual Differences
• Print ISSN: 0191-8869
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 200
• Article Number: 111889
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111889
• Keywords: Dark Triad; Narcissism; Machiavellianism; Psychopathy; Feminism