Environmental attitudes in China: The roles of the Dark Triad, future orientation and place attachment

Abstract

Given the current environmental situation and social change in China, we explored the relationships between the Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) and environmental attitudes (beliefs regarding environmentally related issues), and the mediating roles of future orientation (the tendency to plan for meeting long-term objectives) and place attachment (the emotional connection with the place of residence) in these relationships. Using a national sample from all 31 provinces of mainland China (N = 998), we found that the psychometric structure of the Dark Triad was well confirmed under Chinese culture. The Dark Triad as a whole was negatively related to environmental attitudes, but narcissism was not significantly associated with environmental attitudes when the three Dark Triad traits were considered as the predictors simultaneously. Future orientation and place attachment mediated the association between the Dark Triad and environmental attitudes. These findings enrich our understanding of the relevant variables of environmental attitudes and provide references for China's government and other developing countries to improve environmental issues. The uniqueness of narcissism could expand the understanding of the commonality and diversity among the Dark Triad traits, and an efficient tool of the Dark Triad was provided under Chinese culture.

How Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Narcissism Affect Sustainable Entrepreneurial Orientation: The Moderating Effect of Psychological Resilience

“…However, in other countries, the results may differ. Specific social issues and serious environmental problems in China’s current development may affect the entrepreneurial attitude of potential entrepreneurs to a certain extent (Huang et al, 2018). Therefore, future research should consider collecting data from different countries in order to understand the differences in the impact of individual personality traits on SEO (Chang and Park, 2018).…”

“…In most cases, environmental problems are understood as social dilemmas with time conflicts, representing tensions between the satisfaction of short- and long-term interests (Milfont et al, 2012). For example, Huang et al (2018) showed that the dark triad was negatively correlated with environmental attitudes and suggested that when individuals with the dark triad weigh short-term interests and future environmental interests, they tend to satisfy their short-term interests at the expense of future environmental interests, which is ultimately expressed as negative environmental attitudes.…”

“…Simultaneously, when the level of individual psychological resilience is different, the influence of the dark triad on SEO may also be different. For individuals with dark triad, their ruthlessness, irresponsibility, and arrogant attitude would only make them pay more attention to personal development, while rarely consider the consequences for those around them and the surrounding environment (Huang et al, 2018). Furthermore, they would take a negative attitude toward sustainable entrepreneurship which is full of challenges and pursues long-term benefits.…”

Going Green Is Exhausting for Dark Personalities but Beneficial for the Light Ones: An Experience Sampling Study That Examines the Subjectivity of Pro-environmental Behavior

“…It has been discussed (but not yet examined) that everyday sadism is negatively associated with attitudes toward the environment ( Mertens et al, 2021 ). Taken together, the dark tetrad and PEB should be negatively related due to this socially aversive nature ( Paulhus and Williams, 2002 ; Huang et al, 2019 ).…”

“…More specifically, the definition of Machiavellianism is based on the 16th-century philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli and describes people who are “cynical, unprincipled, believe in interpersonal manipulation as the key for life success, and behave accordingly” ( Furnham et al, 2013 , p. 201). Recent results showed a negative association of Machiavellianism and psychopathy with environmental attitudes ( Huang et al, 2019 ). In addition, Machiavellianism predicted the justification of eating meat ( Mertens et al, 2021 ).…”