Although many individuals engage in some form of antisocial behavior, they do not necessarily become criminals. To understand why some individuals cross the line into criminality, researchers discovered that a repertoire of coexisting “bright” and “dark” personality traits play a crucial role [1, 2]. In stable and predictable environments, individuals tend to develop “bright” traits, such as the motivation to maintain positive relationships and emotional stability [3]. Conversely, in harsh and unsupportive environments, individuals may develop over time “darker” traits, including dominance, deceitfulness, and disregard for moral norms, which increase the risk of engaging in criminal activities [4].
The Bright Triad of Personality
Most studies connecting personality traits to criminal behavior utilize the Five-Factor Model (FFM), which includes Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Recently, the combination of high Agreeableness, high Conscientiousness, and low Neuroticism has been termed the “Bright triad,” [2] indicating traits that promote well-being and prosocial behavior. Conversely, individuals with low levels of this protective profile seem to be more likely to commit crimes.
Individual differences in prosocial and antisocial behaviors have been predicted to some degree by the FFM dimensions in this combination. However, it was proposed that specific dark personality traits could bring a distinct contribution to predicting antisocial outcomes, being differentially associated with criminal behavior [5].
The Dark Factor of Personality
Dark personality traits can provide crucial insights into predispositions towards immoral behaviors, but the predictive value of previous models (e.g. Dark Triad or Dark Tetrad) regarding criminality is limited, possibly due to the presence of both non-aversive and adaptive aspects (for instance vulnerability in the case of Narcissism, or disinhibition in the case of Psychopathy) [6].
The Dark factor of personality [7, 8, 9] is defined as the “general tendency to maximize one’s individual utility—disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others, accompanied by beliefs that serve as justifications”. Recent studies document the stability of the Dark factor in predicting various forms of antisocial behavior, such as deception or self-reported aggression in the general population [10]. The Dark Factor has an internal structure comprising five dark themes underlying the dark core of personality: Callousness, Sadism, Vindictiveness, Deceitfulness, and Narcissistic Entitlement [11].
Despite preliminary research, numerous questions persist, such as whether there is a blend of bright and dark personality traits in prisoners, and to what degree the dark traits overshadow the bright(er) ones, potentially found in the general population. Finally, to what extent can personality traits enable us to distinguish occasional lawbreakers from those with a consistent pattern of offending (recidivism)?
Aims of the study
Aim 1: We aimed to uncover for the first time in the literature the predictive value of both bright and dark core of personality for criminal behavior and criminal history.
Aim 2: We explored whether replacing the Dark Factor with its five expressed dark themes (Callousness, Deceitfulness, Narcissistic Entitlement, Sadism, and Vindictiveness) would better predict criminal behavior beyond the contribution of the FFM personality dimensions, compared to the Dark Factor total score.
Study design
Participants: The study included a large sample of 296 incarcerated offenders from two maximum security prisons from Romania and a control sample of 282 participants, without a criminal record.
Measures: The Dark Factor Inventory (D70) [8] and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory [12].
Procedure: Participation in the study was voluntary and conditioned by the signed informed consent of all subjects (both prison and community participants). Participants were required to have adequate reading–writing skills and those with a known history of mental illness or receiving psychiatric medication were excluded. Data collection was conducted in two sessions.
Results and implications
Comparing first-time offenders or recidivists to individuals with no criminal history, we observed no differences in their declared motivation (or lack thereof) to cooperate with others (Agreeableness). However, individuals engaging in criminal behaviors described themselves as less able to maintain emotional stability in the face of negative affect, including sadness, anxiety, and anger (high Neuroticism), less likely to express positive emotions, assertive behavior, and less sensitive to social attention (low Extraversion), and reporting more curiosity and proneness to new experiences and risky behaviors (Openness).
Additionally, recidivists, probably due to the time spent in prison, may develop a preference for task-oriented coping, and become less distractible and better organized (tendency to show higher Conscientiousness).
Looking at the “dark side of the moon”, our results support the notion that individuals with a criminal record have a higher tendency to provoke disutility in others (higher Dark Factor total score), to deceive others in the pursuit of their interests (Deceitfulness), and even derive satisfaction from doing so (Sadism) compared to the general population.
Limitations and Future research directions
Multiple informants – future research should go beyond self-report measures, potentially influenced by inmates’ tendency to present a favorable image [13] due to privacy concerns, fear of negative consequences, or attempts to avoid stigma and personal shame.
Type of offense- future research should try to incorporate different offense types, in order to explore the potential dark and bright specificities according to a type of offense or criminal versatility.
Implications
Development of effective prevention and rehabilitation policies (designing tailored training programs for prison staff, targeting self-serving justifications supporting a criminal lifestyle) should take into account the mix of bright and dark personality dimensions as relevant predictors.
The Dark Factor inventory can be added to the repertoire of risk assessment measures predicting antisocial behaviors and the risk of reoffending.
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Photo credit: Ron Lach, https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-gray-robe-looking-at-the-mirror-in-cell-behind-bars-10461531/