Pathological personality traits and self-reported managerial leadership. A comparison of the Dirty Dozen and Five-Factor Model – Antagonistic Triad Measure

The present study (N = 427) investigated the predictive and incremental validity of two measures of Dark Triad traits—the Dirty Dozen (DD) and the Five-Factor Model Antagonistic Triad Measure (FFM ATM)—in their relation to self-reported managerial leadership. Prior research has highlighted the complexity of Dark Triad (DT) traits, suggesting that unidimensional measures like the DD may obscure the nuanced relationships between these constructs and relevant outcomes. The FFM ATM disaggregates Dark Triad traits into both core components (Antagonism, Emotional Stability, Impulsivity, and Agency) as well as traditional DT subscales (e.g., Psychopathy comprises Antagonism, Emotional Stability, and Impulsivity). Results demonstrated that the FFM ATM provided substantially better statistical prediction and incremental validity across leadership dimensions. Specifically, both FFM ATM empirically derived factors and multidimensional DT subscales accounted for nearly all explained variance in leadership factors, outperforming the DD in predictive accuracy in all cases. These findings underscore the importance of recognizing the multidimensional structure of Dark Triad traits to capture their distinct and overlapping influences on leadership. Moreover, the results suggest that theoretically grounded and empirically robust measures like the FFM ATM offer a clearer description of how individual differences in Dark Triad traits relate to self-reported managerial leadership compared to short, omnibus measures.