The Dark Tetrad and radicalization: personality profiles in young women

Abstract

Women's religious radicalization and the specific factors at play in this process remain largely understudied. Psychopathic, narcissistic, Machiavellian, and sadistic traits constitute the Dark Tetrad of personality, which has been shown to be associated with several antisocial tendencies. Concretely, it has been found that the Dark Tetrad traits predict radicalized cognitions and behaviors in women. The aim of this study was (a) to extract homogeneous groups of participants using cluster analysis based on Dark tetrad traits and (b) to examine whether clusters based on Dark tetrad traits differed in both predictors (perceived discrimination and religious involvement) and consequences (radicalized cognitions and behaviors) of radicalization. Sample included 643 French college women who completed selfreport questionnaires. Psychopathic, narcissistic, Machiavellian, and sadistic traits were moderately correlated. The cluster analysis resulted in four groups: a Low Traits group, a Moderate Machiavellian group, a Narcissistic group, and a group high on sadistic, psychopathic and Machiavellian traits (17% of the sample), which was characterized by the highest levels of radicalized cognitions and behaviors. This study suggests that a significant minority of non-clinical college women is characterized by the presence of high levels of Dark Tetrad traits and is at risk of religious radicalization.

The dark tetrad personality traits moderate the relationship between ideological passion and violent activism.

“…Third, the relationships between political violence and dark tetrad personality traits are severely inconsistent across studies. For instance, in some research sadism and psychopathy are positively associated with proviolence attitudes (Međedović & Knežević, 2019)-in other studies, only Machiavellianism is significantly but negatively associated with this variable (Pavlović & Storm, 2020) while in the work of Chabrol et al (2020), Machiavellianism is positively related to radical cognitions, but only narcissism is positively linked with self-reported radicalized behavior. These differences may be attributable to the wealth of samples, operationalizations of dark tetrad measures (e.g., the Machiavellianism scale [MACH IV] from Christie & Geis, 1970; see Pavlović & Storm, 2020) and outcomes (e.g., different scales for extremism, radical thoughts, or intentions).…”

“…Third, the relationships between political violence and dark tetrad personality traits are severely inconsistent across studies. For instance, in some research sadism and psychopathy are positively associated with proviolence attitudes (Međedović & Knežević, 2019)—in other studies, only Machiavellianism is significantly but negatively associated with this variable (Pavlović & Storm, 2020) while in the work of Chabrol et al (2020), Machiavellianism is positively related to radical cognitions, but only narcissism is positively linked with self-reported radicalized behavior.…”

“…Despite growing evidence linking political violence and the dark tetrad, there are several glaring gaps that need addressing. First, studies do not directly rely on samples of political activists, but typically investigate general or undergraduate samples which are less susceptible to ideological radicalization (e.g., Chabrol et al, 2020; Pavlović & Wertag, 2021). Second, most of the ideologies under investigation typically fall on the conservative side of the spectrum (i.e., Islamists and White/Christian nationalists).…”

Dark Tetrad personality traits and the propensity to lie across multiple contexts

“…Originally a Dark Triad of personality (subclinical narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy; Paulhus & Williams, 2002), the Dark Tetrad also includes trait sadism (Chabrol et al, 2020;Chabrol et al, 2015). Although these dark personality traits share some overlap (e.g., disagreeable, socially aversive), they are considered conceptually distinct (Chabrol et al, 2009).…”

Dark triad, partisanship and violent intentions in the United States

“…Empirically, in studies that control for the big five traits, the dark triad shows incremental validity in predicting a range of noxious behavior, including workplace and sexual deviance, cheating, interpersonal aggression and crime (McKee, Waples & Tullis, 2017;Muris et al, 2017). In the radicalization literature, the construct has been implicated in radicalization among young women (Chabrol et al, 2019) is relevant in understanding lone actor radicalization (Gøtzsche-Astrup & Lindekilde, 2019) and may motivate violence to stand out from others (Meloy & Yakeley, 2014). Surprisingly, this construct has only recently begun to play a role in the study of political behavior.…”