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Spitefulness is a personality trait characterized by an inclination to cause harm to others in a manner that also results in self-harm. Studies considering this trait have mostly been performed in individualistic cultures. Our aim was to adapt and accumulate statistical evidence for the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Spitefulness Scale (SS-BP), examining the functioning of the instrument in a collectivist culture. Study 1 adapted the instrument, investigated dimensionality, and examined item functioning and gender invariance in a sample of 766 participants (53.4% male) aged between 18 and 63 years old (

In the current study, we investigated the unique associations between dichotomous thinking, extreme response style (ERS), and the Dark Triad of personality, namely, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. We hypothesized that dichotomous thinking would exhibit a positive effect on ERS, and that dichotomous thinking would be positively associated with the Dark Triad even after accounting for ERS. Participants were 488 adults with a mean age of 29.54 years (SD = 10.38). Results confirmed dichotomous thinking positively predicts ERS, that the relationship between dichotomous thinking and the Dark Triad domains remains positive and significant even after accounting for ERS. Moreover, ERS manifested weak negative associations with the Dark Triad, with a significant relationship only with psychopathy. Findings from the current study help expand the understanding of both the substantive nature of response styles and the cognitive processes underlying the Dark Triad of personality.

Although only moderately correlated, Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and subclinical narcissism can overlap to a higher degree in the case of brief measures. To reconcile shortness and unidimensionality, such inventories might emphasize less specific and more general components in their trait scale compositions. In the current study, we combined confirmatory factor analysis and the unidimensional Rating Scale model to investigate the salience of a general factor in the Short Dark Triad (SD3; Jones & Paulhus, 2014). Participants were 1965 community adults, with ages ranging from 18 to 72 years (M = 25.50, SD = 9.04). The results revealed that the true score variance contained in the SD3 scales is mostly due to a common dark triad component, whereas the coverage of content that is unique to each factor is relatively small. Although a substantive interpretation is presented regarding this single latent continuum underlying the SD3 items, future studies should attempt to test how sound this general factor is once the variation due to social desirability is controlled for. The issues of personality “nuances” and multidimensionality are also discussed.