New research published in Personality and Individual Differences reveals a negative association between Dark Triad traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—and feminist attitudes.
Dark Triad traits are known for their association with manipulative, self-serving, and exploitative behaviors. Narcissism encompasses grandiosity, entitlement, and a craving for admiration; Machiavellianism involves cunning, deceit, and strategic manipulation; and psychopathy is marked by impulsivity, low empathy, and a disregard for others. Together, these traits form a personality profile often linked to competitive, dominance-oriented behaviors.
Previous research highlights that men generally exhibit higher levels of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy than women. However, it remains unclear how these traits relate to feminist attitudes. The Dark Triad traits are often associated with manipulative and self-serving behaviors, which some argue may align with traditional male gender roles. In this work, Melanie D. Douglass and colleagues investigated whether individuals high in these traits tend to hold more anti-feminist views.
The researchers recruited 343 participants (57% female, ages 18-54) from the United Kingdom, including universities, sports clubs, and workplaces. Participants completed the Short Dark Triad (SD3) and the Feminist Attitudes Scale (FEM), and also provided demographic information. The SD3, a 27-item scale, measures the Dark Triad traits. Participants rated their level of agreement with various statements on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), such as “I like to use clever manipulation to get my way” for Machiavellianism and “People see me as a natural leader” for narcissism.
The FEM scale assesses participants’ attitudes toward feminism. Statements like “Women have the right to compete with men in every sphere of activity” were rated similarly on a five-point scale. Participants’ responses were used to calculate indices for each Dark Triad trait and feminist attitudes.
Results showed a consistent gender difference in Dark Triad scores, with men scoring significantly higher than women on Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. However, no significant difference was observed between men and women in terms of feminist attitudes. The results also revealed that higher levels of each Dark Triad trait correlated with lower levels of feminist support across all participants, regardless of gender.
The results showed that men scored significantly higher than women on all three Dark Triad traits. However, no significant difference was observed between men and women in their feminist attitudes, suggesting that men and women may share similar surface-level views on feminism in today’s social climate.
Despite this, a key finding was the negative association between each Dark Triad trait and feminist attitudes: individuals with higher Dark Triad scores tended to hold more conservative, anti-feminist views. This relationship held across both men and women, but further analysis revealed a stronger effect in men, indicating that high Dark Triad traits in men are particularly associated with opposition to feminist ideals.
Overall, the study suggested that personality traits associated with manipulation, entitlement, and impulsivity tend to discourage support for feminist ideals, particularly in men.
One limitation is the use of self-report measures, which could introduce social desirability bias, especially regarding attitudes toward feminism. Participants might be more inclined to underreport conservative or anti-feminist views in socially progressive environments, such as universities or workplaces.
The research, “The Relationship Between the Dark Triad and Attitudes Towards Feminism”, was authored by Melanie D. Douglass, Michael Stirrat, Monica A. Koehn, and Robert S. Vaughan.