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The Relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and Sexting Behaviors among Adolescents and Young Adults across 11 Countries

Morelli M 1 , Urbini F 2 , Bianchi D 3 , Baiocco R 3 , Cattelino E 4 , Laghi F 3 Show all authors , Sorokowski P 5 , Misiak M 5 , Dziekan M 6 , Hudson H 7 , Marshall A 8 , Nguyen TTT 9 , Mark L 9 , Kopecky K 10 , Szotkowski R 10 , Toplu Demirtaş E 11 , Van Ouytsel J 12 , Ponnet K 13 , Walrave M 12 , Zhu T 14 , Chen Y 14 , Zhao N 14 , Liu X 14 , Voiskounsky A 15 , Bogacheva N 16 , Ioannou M 17 , Synnott J 17 , Tzani-Pepelasi K 17 , Balakrishnan V 18 , Okumu M 19 , Small E 20 , Pavlova Nikolova S 21 , Drouin M 22 , Chirumbolo A 2

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
  • 2 Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
  • 3 Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
  • 4 Department of Human and Social Sciences, University of Valle D'Aosta, 11100 Aosta, Italy
  • 5 Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland
  • 6 Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, 60-658 Poznań, Poland
  • 7 Department of Health Sciences, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR 72035, USA
  • 8 College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA
  • 9 College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
  • 10 Centre for Prevention of Risky Virtual Communication, Palacky University Olomouc, 77900 Olomouc, Czech Republic
  • 11 Psychological Counseling and Guidance, MEF University, Istanbul 34396, Turkey
  • 12 Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
  • 13 Department of Communication Sciences, imec-mict-Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
  • 14 Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, China
  • 15 Department of General Psychology, Lomonosow Moscow State University, 101000 Moscow, Russia
  • 16 Department of Pedagogy and Medical Psychology, Sechenov University, 101000 Moscow, Russia
  • 17 Department of Psychology, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK
  • 18 Department of Information System, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
  • 19 School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
  • 20 School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA
  • 21 Department of Social Medicine and Healthcare Organization, Medical University-Varna, 9000 Varna, Bulgaria
  • 22 Department of Psychology, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN 46805, USA
Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2021 03 04;18(5).
PMID: 33806314 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18052526

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sexting is an increasingly common phenomenon among adolescents and young adults. Some studies have investigated the role of personality traits in different sexting behaviors within mainstream personality taxonomies like Big Five and HEXACO. However, very few studies have investigated the role of maladaptive personality factors in sexting. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and experimental (i.e., sharing own sexts), risky (i.e., sexting under substance use and with strangers), and aggravated sexting (i.e., non-consensual sexting and sexting under pressure) across 11 countries.

METHODS: An online survey was completed by 6093 participants (Mage = 20.35; SDage = 3.63) from 11 different countries which covered four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America). Participants completed the Sexting Behaviors Questionnaire and the 12-item Dark Triad Dirty Dozen scale.

RESULTS: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that sharing own sexts was positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Narcissism. Both risky and aggravated sexting were positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Psychopathy.

CONCLUSIONS: The present study provided empirical evidence that different sexting behaviors were predicted by Dark Triad Personality Traits, showing a relevant role of Machiavellianism in all kinds of investigated sexting behaviors. Research, clinical, and education implications for prevention programs are discussed.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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