They reported that behavioral mimicry of high status interactants was predicted only by narcissism, whereas
Machiavellianism and psychopathy associations were non-significant. For example, narcissism had the highest
correlation with overclaiming ( r5.26), and Machiavellianism was the only index positively associated with delay
of gratification ( r5.30) ( Paulhus & Jones, 2011; 2013 ). Infidelity reports also show differential correlates ( Jones &
Weiser, 2014 ).
Location
Jones, D.N., & Paulhus, D.L. (2014). Introducing the Short Dark Triad (SD3): A brief measure of dark personal-
ities. Assessment, 21 ,2 7/C040.
Results and Comments
(See Section B summary below)
SHORT DARK TRIAD (SD3)
Please rate your degree of agreement with each item
on a 5-point scale ranging from ‘Strongly disagree’ to
‘Strongly agree’.
1.It’s not wise to tell your secrets.
2.Generally speaking, people won’t work hard unless
they have to.
3.Whatever it takes, you must get the important
people on your side.
4.Avoid direct conflict with others because they may
be useful in the future.
5.It’s wise to keep track of information that you can
use against people later.
6.You should wait for the right time to get back at
people.
7.There are things you should hide from other people
because they don’t need to know.
8.Make sure your plans benefit yourself, not others.
9.Most people can be manipulated.
10.People see me as a natural leader.
11.I hate being the center of attention. (R)
12.Many group activities tend to be dull without me.13.I know that I am special because everyone keeps
telling me so.
14.I like to get acquainted with important people.
15.I feel embarrassed if someone compliments me. (R)
16.I have been compared to famous people.
17.I am an average person. (R)
18.I insist on getting the respect I deserve.
19.I like to get revenge on authorities.
20.I avoid dangerous situations. (R)
21.Payback needs to be quick and nasty.
22.People often say I’m out of control.
23.It’s true that I can be mean to others.
24.People who mess with me always regret it.
25.I have never gotten into trouble with the law. (R)
26.I enjoy having sex with people I hardly know.
27.I’ll say anything to get what I want.
Notes : Reverse scored item (R).
Subscale scoring: Machiavellianism 5mean of items
1/C09; Narcissism 5mean of items 9 /C018; Psychopathy 5
mean of items 19 /C027.
Reproduced with permission.
Results and Comments (Comparing Combination Measures)
The two popular combination measures exemplify the trade-off of brevity and validity. The recent paper by
Maples et al. (2014) showed that the median response time for the DD was much faster (39 secs) compared with
the SD3 (99 secs). Both measures show solid structural models, although the DD has no reverse-worded items.
Given its reasonable ability to predict appropriate outcomes, some users may opt for the DD when time and
space is at a premium.
Other users may prefer the SD3 simply because head-to-head comparisons indicate superior reliability and
construct validity ( Jones & Paulhus, 2014; Maples et al., 2014 ). Some studies suggest that findings with the DD do
not correspond well with studies standard measures of the Dark Triad ( Jonason & Tost, 2010; Jones & Paulhus,
2014 ; Lee et al., 2012; Maples et al., 2014; Miller et al. 2012 ). In the words of Jonason and colleagues (2013), the
DD measure represents a trade-off of accuracy for efficiency.569 DARK TRIAD MEASURES
V. VICES AND VIRTUES