Dark and Light Triad: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Network Analysis in 5 Countries

Abstract

Personality clusters such as the Dark and Light Triad are going through an exponential investigation. The Dark Triad traits characterize behaviors associated primarily with socially undesirable outcomes, while the Light Triad traits are composed of behaviors linked to prosocial responses. Most studies that sought to map and investigate both triads are performed in North American or European contexts. Thus, we analyzed the structure of two of the most used short composite measures (i.e., Dirty Dozen and Light Triad Scale) in a sample of 2335 adults from Poland, Brazil, Nigeria, Colombia, and Peru. We performed structural equation models to understand better the structure of both instruments in the five countries. Subsequently, we conducted a network analysis to observe the dynamics of both triads in countries with different cultures. Our results found that Machiavellianism is one of the more relevant traits in Latin American and European countries, while humanism is in Nigeria. Other findings reaffirm that light and dark are not opposite traits, but at the same time, they represent distinct constructs.