Determine your Dark Factor
Ethically, morally, and socially questionable behavior is part of everyday life. Psychologists use the umbrella term "dark traits" to subsume personality traits that are linked to these classes of behavior — most prominently, Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy (among many others). The Dark Factor of Personality (D) specifies what all dark traits have in common, i.e., their common core.
D is defined as the tendency to maximize one's individual utility — disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others —, accompanied by beliefs that serve as justifications. Put simply, individuals high in D will ruthlessly pursue their own interests, even when it negatively affects others (or even for the sake of it), while having beliefs that justify these behaviors.
On the following pages, you can determine your level in D by responding to a number of statements. Depending on the version you chose, this will take between 5 - 20 minutes.
The results will be provided immediately after you have responded to all statements on the final page. Please note that the results you receive can only be reliable in any way to the extent that you respond seriously and honestly.
In case of any question, please write an E-mail (mhz@darkfactor.org) to the primary researchers: Morten Moshagen, Benjamin Hilbig, and Ingo Zettler.
Please select the version you would like to take:
- I only want a rough estimate of my D score (30 statements).
- I want a more reliable estimate of my D score and additionally rough estimates on 9 more specific dark traits (60 statements).
- I want a good estimate of my D score, more reliable estimates on 9 more specific dark traits, and additionally my score on Honesty-Humility (90 statements).