{"title":"The Dark Triad traits in the South African workplace: moderators of career interests and success.","authors":"Denise Oldewage, Petronella Jonck","doi":"10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1588364","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Numerous studies have been conducted on the nexus between the Dark Triad personality traits and the influence thereof within the context of work. However, a paucity of studies underscores the interaction between these traits with career interests and success, particularly within the South African context. This study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effect of the Dark Triad traits on career interest and career success.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A quantitative approach utilizing a cross-sectional design collected 406 responses from economically active participants using convenience sampling. The structured self- reported survey included the South African Career Interest Inventory (SACII-Short), The Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD) and the Subjective Career Success Inventory (SCSI). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and moderation analysis were performed to examine the data.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Psychopathy had a statistically significant negative effect on both career interests and career success. Contrarily, narcissism did not have a statistically significant impact on either career interest or career success. Machiavellianism had a detrimental effect on career success but not career interest. The moderation analysis supported the hypothesis that psychopathy moderates the relationship between investigative career interest and career success negatively, underscoring the disruptive nature of this trait on career outcomes.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Organizations should practice caution when hiring or promoting individuals with Dark Triad traits, particularly in positions requiring collaboration, trust and long-term success. This could be achieved by integrating personality assessments such as the DTDD into leadership development, talent development and HR policies interventions to reduce the negative consequences of the mentioned attributes to career success.</p>","PeriodicalId":12525,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Psychology","volume":"16 ","pages":"1588364"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12174127/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Frontiers in Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1588364","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Numerous studies have been conducted on the nexus between the Dark Triad personality traits and the influence thereof within the context of work. However, a paucity of studies underscores the interaction between these traits with career interests and success, particularly within the South African context. This study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effect of the Dark Triad traits on career interest and career success.
Methods: A quantitative approach utilizing a cross-sectional design collected 406 responses from economically active participants using convenience sampling. The structured self- reported survey included the South African Career Interest Inventory (SACII-Short), The Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD) and the Subjective Career Success Inventory (SCSI). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and moderation analysis were performed to examine the data.
Results: Psychopathy had a statistically significant negative effect on both career interests and career success. Contrarily, narcissism did not have a statistically significant impact on either career interest or career success. Machiavellianism had a detrimental effect on career success but not career interest. The moderation analysis supported the hypothesis that psychopathy moderates the relationship between investigative career interest and career success negatively, underscoring the disruptive nature of this trait on career outcomes.
Discussion: Organizations should practice caution when hiring or promoting individuals with Dark Triad traits, particularly in positions requiring collaboration, trust and long-term success. This could be achieved by integrating personality assessments such as the DTDD into leadership development, talent development and HR policies interventions to reduce the negative consequences of the mentioned attributes to career success.
期刊介绍：
Frontiers in Psychology is the largest journal in its field, publishing rigorously peer-reviewed research across the psychological sciences, from clinical research to cognitive science, from perception to consciousness, from imaging studies to human factors, and from animal cognition to social psychology. Field Chief Editor Axel Cleeremans at the Free University of Brussels is supported by an outstanding Editorial Board of international researchers. This multidisciplinary open-access journal is at the forefront of disseminating and communicating scientific knowledge and impactful discoveries to researchers, academics, clinicians and the public worldwide. The journal publishes the best research across the entire field of psychology. Today, psychological science is becoming increasingly important at all levels of society, from the treatment of clinical disorders to our basic understanding of how the mind works. It is highly interdisciplinary, borrowing questions from philosophy, methods from neuroscience and insights from clinical practice - all in the goal of furthering our grasp of human nature and society, as well as our ability to develop new intervention methods.
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