Abstract
AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2023, VOL. 75, NO. 1, 2177498 https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2023.2177498 Does the dark triad predict intention to commit corrupt acts? The mediating role of financial anxiety among Saudi students a a,b Radeah Mohammed Hamididin and Mogeda El Sayed El Keshky a b Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 12 December 2022 Objective: Corruption is a threat to the economies and overall wellbeing of nations, organiza- Accepted 1 February 2023 tions, and individuals, and it is important to understand corruption’s antecedents and path- ways through which it operates. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship KEYWORDS between the dark triad personality traits and corruption propensity, and to examine Machiavellianism; a mediation role of financial anxiety. psychopathy; narcissism; Method: A sample of 699 respondents (72.5% of females, mean age = 24.3, SD = 6.65) was dark triad; corruption; involved in this study. Respondents completed a survey containing demographic questions, financial anxiety the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen scale, the Corruption Propensity Scale, and the Financial Anxiety Scale. Structural equation models were estimated to investigate the relationships among variables. Results: The main findings indicated that only psychopathy was directly related to corruption propensity while narcissism and Machiavellianism were associated with corruption propensity only through financial anxiety. This indicates that financial anxiety fully mediated the relation- ship between narcissism and Machiavellianism, respectively, and corruption propensity, but did not mediate the relationship between psychopathy and corruption. Conclusion: psychopathy appears to be an important predictor of corruption propensity. In addition, financial anxiety plays an important role as a trigger for corruption propensity in narcissists and Machiavellians. Therefore, it is crucial to take financial anxiety into account when designing policy against corruption. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Corruption deteriorates people’s well-being and nations’ wellbeing. (2) Studies have shown that corruption results from dark personality traits. (3) Research has also shown some paths through which this relationship operates, including anxiety. What this topic adds: (1) This study shows that financial anxiety facilitates Machiavellians and Narcissists to engage in corruption. (2) Psychopaths do not need to have financial anxiety to engage in corruption, they are already more prone to corruption. (3) Programs aimed to eradicate corruption should put emphasis on psychopathy and financial anxiety in people. Introduction Corruption hinders economic development and alters Corruption is a malevolent behaviour that exists in all investment flow and international trade (Glynn et al., countries, affecting individuals, organizations, and socie- 1997). The World Bank and the Organization for ties, although not proportionally. Corruption has Economic Cooperation and Development identify cor- a negative impact on performance and reduces organiza- ruption as the big challenge of the globalized economy tional satisfaction (Park & Blenkinsopp, 2011). Corruption (Park, 2003). also presents challenges that weaken an organizational In some cultures, corruption results from social environment (Kenny, 2007). Corruption is widespread norms that value loyalty and gift giving over law. Thus, throughout the world and has arguably been asserted what is considered a bribe in one culture may be con- as one of the ugly sides of globalization (Park, 2003). sodered a gift in another (Persson et al., 2013). The Saudi CONTACT Mogeda El Sayed El Keshky drmogeda@gmail.com © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 2 R. M. HAMIDIDIN AND M. E. S. EL KESHKY society has extended family in the centre of its social intentions and indeed engage in corrupt acts, especially structure. Accordingly, for Saudis, bloodlines shapes when they have high levels of dark triad personality social status more than wealth and success (Alshalan, traits. 2017), which means one has to devote loyalty to the According to Lesnik and Blanc (1990), scarcity is the family in the first place. In addition, the code of honour father of corruption, especially in developing coun- governs interpersonal relationships and business trans- tries. People do not always have enough money to actions in Saudi Arabia, which implies that transactions support their families, which make them prone to that are judged dishonourable whether legal or illegal, corruption (Park, 2003). In fact, people may be willing are considered immoral (Alshalan, 2017). to do anything possible, even becoming involved in Corruption is usually defined as deliberate deviant criminal activities such as corruption, when they fail to behaviour that breaks legal and/or moral societal meet the resources needed for survival (Staw & norms and uses public or others’ resources for personal Szwajkowski, 1975). Similarly, Sachin et al. (2021) benefit (Rabl & Kühlmann, 2008). This definition found that the lack of emergency assets was associated implies some form of the malicious personality traits with financial anxiety. Accordingly, students who were that have been conceptualized under the term “dark struggling with their financial situations would experi- triad” (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Corruption is not only ence financial anxiety which might make them enga- an economic issue, but a question of morality (Collier, ging in corrupt intentions, especially when they have 2002), which indicates that those with immoral person- high levels of dark triad personality traits. ality traits would be more likely to engage in corrupt Previous studies have examined the relationship behaviours. Prior research has documented that the between the dark triad and corruption, but financial dark triad personality traits are responsible for many anxiety was neglected despite its potential impact. The unethical behaviours and misconduct (Azizli et al., significance of this study resides in fact that it is the 2016; Roeser et al., 2016). But, through which mechan- first study to investigate financial anxiety to explain the isms would people be keen to engage in corruption, relationship between the dark triad and corruption. To knowing it is illegal and/or unethical? Previous the best of our knowledge, no prior study has hypothe- research has asserted the dark triad has a positive sized the mediational role of financial anxiety in this relationship with corruption intention through the relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this study was path of anxiety (Hajhoseiny et al., 2019), but in this to contribute to the literature by investigating this study we hypothesized the path of, specifically, finan - relationship in a sample of Saudi students. cial anxiety, where those people who score high on the dark triad might engage in corruption when they are Dark triad and corruption anxious about their finances. Financial anxiety derives from lack of financial The dark triad consists of three malicious personality resources (Roll et al., 2016) and, consequently, it is traits: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism more prevalent in low-income people. In America, for (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Machiavellianism is charac- example, employees who earned lower wages were ten terized by a high will to manipulate others in order to times more likely to report financial stress than those achieve personal goals and an absence of moral princi- who were earning higher wages (Board of Governors of ples (Pechorro et al., 2021). Those who score high on the Federal Reserve System, 2016; Qian, 2013). psychopathy have traits such as impulsivity, lack of Moreover, households earning less than $50,000 remorse, manipulativeness, lack of responsibility, and reported significantly higher financial stress than those abusive charming (Hare & Neumann, 2008). Narcissism earning more than $50,000 (American Psychological is characterized by entitlement, grandiosity, vanity, lack Association [APA], 2015). Among students, research of empathy, and obsession with self-enhancing beha- has shown that when they take loans for their educa- viours (Raskin & Hall, 1979; Smith & Lilienfeld, 2013). tion, this contributes significantly to their financial anxi- Prior metanalytic reviews has established a link between ety. It was reported in a sample of female students that the dark triad and a range of work-related outcomes. financial anxiety was prevalent, especially due to stu- The dark triad was related to both leadership effective - dent loans (Archuleta et al., 2013). In Saudi Arabia, ness and managerial derailment in a review by Spain a study found that anxiety was higher among those et al. (2014). O’Boyle et al. (2012) concluded in their who were experiencing a financial burden compared meta-analysis that Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and to those who were not (Alshamlan et al., 2020). It is narcissism were all related to counterproductive work well conceivable that worry about scarcity of financial behaviours, which might include corruption. A plausible resources might trigger someone to have corrupt inference would be that individuals who score high on AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 3 these traits would be more likely to engage also in narcissism, two aspects are differentiated and show corruption, and previous research has indeed estab- different relationships with some variables. For exam- lished these relationships. For example, Zhao et al. ple, grandiose narcissism is related to positive out- (2016) and Putri et al. (2021) found dark triad personality comes whereas vulnerable narcissism is related to traits to positively predict corruption intent. Therefore, negative outcomes (Besser & Zeigler-Hill, 2011). we formulate the first hypothesis as follows: Parallelly, Papageorgiou et al. (2019) reported that grandiose narcissism increased mental toughness while vulnerable narcissism decreased mental tough- H1: The dark triad personality traits are positively asso- ness. Similarly, Derefinko (2015) reported mixed results ciated with corruption propensity concerning anxiety and psychopathy. Testing “the psy- chopathic low anxiety” hypothesis, they found a small relationship between anxiety and the total score of psychopathy, and while factor 1 of psychopathy was Dark triad and financial anxiety negatively related to anxiety, factor 2 was positively The dark triad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psy- related to anxiety. While Kowalski et al. (2021) found chopathy) are personality traits characterized by social a positive relationship between Machiavellianism and aversiveness, manipulative behaviours, and other self- anxiety, no association was reported between psycho- serving behaviours and are linked to anxiety. Previous pathy and anxiety. Although the dark triad exhibit research has established that narcissism can lead to different relationships with anxiety, we argue that anxi- distress and unhappiness (Fang et al., 2021; Gómez- ety about money or one’s financial situation is another Leal et al., 2019), which are related to anxiety. different dimension that may be associated with the Machiavellianism has also been shown to be related dark triad. Desperation for money can push individuals to anxiety. In a sample of females, it was found that to have corruption intention if the occasion is pre- those who scored higher on Machiavellianism had sented, and way more for those individuals with the increased anxiety symptoms (Sabouri et al., 2016). dark side of personality. As such, we formulate Studying psychopathy among violent offenders, our second hypothesis as follows: Skeem et al. (2007) emphasized the propensity of psy- chopaths to anxiety. Derefinko (2015) also stated that psychopathy may be associated with anxiety. Shengbo H2: The dark triad personality traits are positively asso- et al. (2022) concluded that psychopaths often experi- ciated with financial anxiety ence anxiety because of their lack of emotional response and lack of empathy (Shengbo et al., 2022). Nonetheless, the dark triad traits exhibit different Financial anxiety as a mediator relationships with some outcomes that are related to anxiety. For example, narcissism exhibit a positive rela- Financial anxiety can be defined as a psychological tionship with mental toughness and a negative rela- worry and unhealthy attitude towards thinking about, tionship with emotional reactivity while engaging in, and managing personal finances effec - Machiavellianism and psychopathy exhibit a negative tively (Shapiro & Burchell, 2012). As such, financial relationship with mental toughness and a positive rela- anxiety can act as the path through which the dark tionship with emotional reactivity to stress (Birkás triad impacts on corruption. Narcissists have a high et al., (2016); Onley et al., 2013). Moreover, others sense of grandiosity and are attention seekers. Hence, reported that Machiavellianism and psychopathy they experience a gap between their undesired self were positively correlated with alexithymia whereas and actual self (Hajhoseiny et al., 2019). Therefore, a negative correlation was reported for narcissism narcissists suffer with self-esteem issues, which has (Cairncross et al., 2013). Lyons et al. (2019) found that been shown to be related to anxiety (Bajaj et al., narcissism buffered the effect of stress on depression 2016). Machiavellians score low in emotional intelli- and psychosis whereas Machiavellianism and psycho- gence (Tsirimokou et al., 2021), and it was reported pathy were directly related to anxiety. Another study that individuals with low emotional intelligence lack showed that narcissism was positively related to men- the ability to express emotions, and consequently are tal toughness and resilience while Machiavellianism unable to effectively manage stressful situations and psychopathy showed no association with mental (Schutte et al., 2001). This indicates that toughness and resilience (Szabó et al., 2022). It is note- Machiavellians can be prone to anxiety, as indeed worthy to mention also that within the construct of has been reported by Kubak and Salekin (2009). 4 R. M. HAMIDIDIN AND M. E. S. EL KESHKY Individuals high on Machiavellianism experience relationships with corruption propensity, and these emotional instability, and cannot express their relationships are hypothesized to be mediated by emotions as delicately as their as their counter- financial anxiety. parts (Szijjarto & Bereczkei, 2015). It is also note- worthy to note that others argued that Methods Machiavellians manage stressful situations through Machiavellian intelligence, which gives them ability Participants to adapt in any social context (Bereczkei, 2018). This study used a convenience sample of university Psychopaths lack remorse and guilt. However, pre- students in order to reach as many and diverse parti- vious studies have shown that psychopaths experi- cipants as possible. A link to the survey was sent via ence anxiety because of their antisocial behaviours emails, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter. A total of and the risks they take (Sandvik et al., 2015). 699 respondents returned the completed survey. They Anxiety can lead to the mobilization of various were informed about the aim and the intended out- kinds of psychological and physiological resources come of the study, and they provided informed con- to escape or avoid danger (Rachman, 2004) and sent. The sample included 505 females (72.5%) and 192 triggers psychological, physiological, and beha- males (27.5%). The sample had a mean age of 24.3 (SD vioural resources in order to counter the unplea- = 6.65), ranging between 18 and 51. Other socio- sant feelings (Pacheco-Unguetti et al., 2010). Thus, demographic characteristics of the sample are as fol- seeking to “remedy” their emotional distress, indi- lows: Around 77.5% were single, 16.3% were married, viduals may adopt ideas and behaviours that 5.6% were divorced, and 0.6% were widowed. Around include corrupt intent and acts. The Affective 21.6% earned less than 5000 RS, 22.1% earned at least Events Theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) postu- 5000 RS and less than SR 8000, 16.2% earned between lates that the emotional state of employees 8000 RS and less than SR 11,000, and 40.1% were impacts workplace attitudes and behaviours, earning 11,000 SR or more. which can lead to unethical behaviours including corruption. The mediational role of financial anxi- ety can be explained by the Conservation of Measures Resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989) since anxiety can act as a draining resource, and acquiring money, in This study used three assessment scales: The Dark Triad any way, would compensate the loss (Hajhoseiny Dirty Dozen (Jonason & Webster, 2010), the Corruption et al., 2019). Propensity Scale (Agbo & Iwundu, 2015), and the Financial Anxiety Scale (Archuleta et al., 2013). Along with these scales, the questionnaire included demo- H3: Financial anxiety positively mediates the relation- graphic characteristics including gender, age, educa- ship between the dark triad personality traits and corrup- tion, marital status, income, nationality, and job type. tion propensity The Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (Jonason & Webster, 2010) is a twelve-item instrument that measures The conceptual model is summarized in Figure 1. Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism, with The dark triad traits are hypothesized to have positive 4 items for each trait. Respondents are asked to rate Figure 1. Contextual model. Note: DTn are the numbered items in the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen scale. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 5 how strongly they agree with the statements on Statistical analysis a 9-point Likert scale from 1 (not at all) to 9 (very All the statistical analyses were carried out in RStudio much). Therefore, total scores for each respective (Ihaka & Gentleman, 1996). Descriptive statistics and trait range from 4 to 36. The scale includes items like ANOVA tests were computed first. Second, Pearson “I tend to exploit others towards my own end” for correlation coefficients were calculated, followed by Machiavellianism, “I tend to lack remorse” for psycho- Cronbach’s alphas, which were computed using the pathy, and “I tend to want others to admire me” for “psych” statistical software package (Revelle, 2017). narcissism. The scale exhibited acceptable internal Third, structural equation models were used to esti- consistency reliability in previous studies mate the mediation analysis, using the “lavaan” pack- (Machiavellianism α = 0.69, psychopathy α = 0.65, age (Rosseel, 2012). To compare different models, and narcissism α = 0.81). In this study, the internal various fit indices were used, including chi-square, consistency reliability was adequate except for psy- SRMR, RMSEA, TLI, and CFI (Hu & Bentler, 1999). The chopathy (Machiavellianism α = 0.78, psychopathy α figures were plotted using the “lavaanPlot” package = 0.58, and narcissism α = 0.85). (Lishinski, 2020). The Corruption Propensity Scale (Agbo & Iwundu, 2015) is a 18-item instrument designed to measure corruption intent. The scale is scored on a 7-point Results Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 The results of the socio-demographic characteristics of (strongly agree). Thus, total possible scores range the sample and the results of the ANOVAs are summar- between 18 and 126. Higher scores indicate greater ized in Table 1. propensity to engage in corruption. The scale includes The descriptive statistics for the main study vari- items like “I do not mind favouring a client for a bribe” ables are summarized in Table 2. The mean score was and “If I have the opportunity of handling any money 8.43 (SD = 5.64, range = 4–36) for Machiavellianism, that belongs to this country, I will make sure I benefit 9.56 (SD = 5.17, range = 4–36) for psychopathy, 20.06 from it”. The scale exhibited an adequate internal con- sistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.91). In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.90. Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the sample and ANOVA tests. The Financial Anxiety Scale (Archuleta et al., 2013) is Variable n % Mean (SD) Corruption a 7-item scale that is used to assess an individual’s finan - Gender p = 0.886 Male 192 27.5 38.5 (19.6) cial anxiety. The scale is scored on a 7-point Likert scale, Female 507 72.5 38.3 (15.6) ranging from 1 (never) to 7 (always). Possible scores Academic level p = 0.05 range between 7 and 49. Higher scores indicate greater 1 207 29.6 40.7 (16.2) 2 170 24.3 37.8 (15.1) financial anxiety. The scale includes items like “I feel 3 322 46.1 37.2 (17.9) anxious about my financial situation” and “I feel fatigued Marital status p<0.05 Single 542 77.5 38.6 (15.6) because I worry about my financial situation”. The scale Married 114 16.3 36.4 (22.3) was found to have excellent internal consistency reliabil- Divorced 39 5.6 42.4 (13.3) Widowed 4 0.6 21 (3.4) ity (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.94) (Archuleta et al., 2013). In Mother’s education p<0.05 this study, the Cronbach’s alpha was 0.92, indicating Uneducated 93 13.3 41.8 (14.9) Less than high school 119 17 35.5 (12.9) excellent internal consistency reliability for the scale. High school 260 37.2 39.6 (19.3) University degree 178 25.5 36.9 (14.1) Master’s degree/PhD 49 7 37 (21.7) Procedure Father’s education p<0.001 Uneducated 45 6.4 40.8 (14.9) This study used a cross-sectional design and was con- Less than high school 98 14 39.9 (14.9) High school 341 48.8 37.5 (15.8) ducted online. All procedures performed in this study University degree 176 25.2 37.4 (15.3) were in line with the ethical standards of King Abdulaziz Master’s degree/PhD 39 5.6 50.2 (29.5) Parental marital status p = 0.109 University and the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later Parents are deceased 10 1.4 25 (3.1) amendments or comparable ethical standards. The Divorced 84 12 36.9 (16) Parents live together 533 76.4 38.6 (16.9) respondents completed the demographic questionnaire Mother is widowed 58 8.3 39.4 (18.9) first, and then completed the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen Father is widowed 14 2 40.7 (10.7) questionnaire, the Corruption Propensity Scale, and the Income (per month) p = 0.363 Less than 5000RS 151 21.6 36 (16.9) Financial Anxiety Scale. Before beginning, respondents 5000 - less than SR 8000 155 22.1 41.3 (19.1) were given instructions and only upon consent could 8000 - less than SR 11,000 113 16.2 38.2 (11.3) 11000 SR and more 280 40.1 37.9 (17.5) they move on to the questionnaires. 6 R. M. HAMIDIDIN AND M. E. S. EL KESHKY Table 2. Mean, SD, skewness, kurtosis, and Cronbach’s alpha. Variable Mean SD Range Skewness Kurtosis α 1. Machiavellianism 8.43 5.64 4–36 1.71 3.25 0.78 2. Psychopathy 9.56 5.17 4–36 1.06 1.09 0.58 3. Narcissism 20.06 8.65 4–36 −0.01 −0.85 0.85 4. Financial anxiety 17.1 10.2 7–49 1.21 0.72 0.92 5. Corruption 38.3 16.8 18–126 1.48 3.27 0.90 Table 3. Bivariate correlations. Variable 1 2 3 4 5 1. Machiavellianism 1 2. Psychopathy 0.41*** 1 3. Narcissism 0.29*** 0.17*** 1 4. Financial anxiety 0.15*** 0.11*** 0.25*** 1 5. Corruption 0.37*** 0.41*** 0.20*** 0.23*** 1 Column heading numbers correspond to the numbered variables in the row headings. (SD = 8.65, range = 4–36) for narcissism, 17.1 (SD = final model, the explained variance was 32%. This final 10.2, range = 7–49) for financial anxiety, and 38.3 (SD model is shown in Figure 2. = 16.8, range = 18–126) for corruption propensity. The bivariate correlations between the variables are displayed in Table 3. Corruption was positively Discussion correlated with Machiavellianism (r = 0.37, p < 0.001), Corruption is a socio-political problem that is detri- with psychopathy (r = 0.41, p < 0.001), with narcissism mental to the wellbeing of people, organizations, and (r = 0.20, p < 0.001), and with financial anxiety (r = nations, and it is therefore important to examine the 0.23, p < 0.001). Financial anxiety was positively cor- antecedents and pathways of corruption. The aim of related with Machiavellianism (r = 0.15, p < 0.001), this study was to investigate the relationship between with psychopathy (r = 0.11, p < 0.001), and with nar- the dark triad and corruption and to investigate cissism (r = 0.25, p < 0.001). a possible mediation role of financial anxiety. The For the mediation analysis, two models of structural main results indicated that psychopathy was asso- equation models were run. The first model estimated ciated with corruption propensity, but narcissism and the dark triad traits as predictors of corruption propen- Machiavellianism were not directly associated with sity directly and indirectly through financial anxiety. This corruption propensity. Thus, hypothesis 1 was partially model had acceptable fit indices (X = 367.16, p < 0.001; supported. Only narcissism and Machiavellianism were RMSEA = 0.07; SRMR = 0.05; CFI = 0.90; TLI = 0.97). in this related to financial anxiety. Hypothesis 2 was also par- mode, the explained variance was 23%. However, the tially supported. Financial anxiety fully mediated the direct paths from narcissism to corruption and from relationships of both Machiavellianism and narcissism Machiavellianism to corruption, and the path from psy- with corruption propensity. Hypothesis 3 was also par- chopathy to financial anxiety were not statistically sig- tially supported. nificant. This means that narcissism and Machiave- The results of this study partly corroborate previous llianism did not directly predict corruption, however studies. In this study, only psychopathy was directly they did so through financial anxiety; financial anxiety related to corruption propensity. However, Zhao et al. did not mediate the relationship between psychopathy (2016) found that all three dimensions of the dark triad and corruption; and psychopathy predicted corruption positively predicted intentions to corrupt. This was also directly. Consequently, these paths were deleted in found in a sample of Indonesian state civil servants, the second model in order to improve the fit indices. where dark triad was reported to be related to corrup- Model 2 exhibited better fit indices (X = 3.72.23, p < tion (Putri et al., 2021). Related results were reported 0.001; RMSEA = 0.05; SRMR = 0.3; CFI = 0.92; TLI = 0.90). by Azizli et al. (2016), where only psychopathy signifi - In this model, only psychopathy directly predicted cor- cantly supported the prediction of misconduct beha- ruption (β = 0.50, p < 0.001), Machiavellianism predicted viours. Although narcissists and Machiavellians use corruption only through financial anxiety (β = 0.20, p manipulative and exploitative strategies (Birkás et al., ind < 0.05), and narcissism also predicted corruption 2015; Emmons, 1987), psychopaths are the only ones through financial anxiety (β = 0.34, p < 0.001). In this who do not feel guilt or remorse for their unethical ind AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 7 Figure 2. Final SEM model. Note: * p < 0.05; *** p < 0.001. The numbers on the arrows represent the standardized regression coefficients, and the numbers on the double-sided arrows represent the covariance. behaviours or for hurting others (Harrison et al., 2018). corrupt behaviours. Others had reported that narcissists This might explain why only psychopathy was directly can engage in corrupt behaviours when their boredom is high (Gu et al., 2021). It has been postulated that indivi- related to corruption propensity. duals scoring high on narcissism tend to be self-centred Previous studies have shown that Machiavellians, with and can be eager to seek profits at the price of others their manipulativeness and exploitative tendencies, are (DuBrin, 2012). We argue that for individuals who are likely to engage in unethical behaviour (Birkás et al., 2015; manipulative in nature and have a sense of superiority Gunnthorsdottir et al., 2002). Narcissists on the other hand to others, when they are desperate for money, they can have a high sense of grandiosity and are also willing to do anything possible including corruption in order to exploit others, which makes them susceptible to enga- compensate for the desperation. The relationship ging in unethical behaviours (Duchon & Drake, 2009; between psychopathy and corruption was not mediated Johnson et al., 2013), including corruption. However, by financial anxiety, thus it seems that psychopaths do results of this study suggested that Machiavellians and not have to be financially anxious to engage in corrup- narcissists would not engage in corruption unless they tion. This is rooted in their inability to empathize and to have high levels of financial anxiety. This means that feel guilt or remorse (Harrison et al., 2018). In previous financial anxiety would push Machiavellians and narcis- research, psychopathy was claimed as an explanation for sists to have corruption intentions. Examining the impor- socially malicious behaviours such as internet fraud, tance of the dark triad on corruption beyond the embezzlement, and mortgage fraud (Babiak et al., 2010). contribution of the HEXACO model, (Szabó et al., 2021) Glenn et al. (2010) went further and reported that psy- reported that Machiavellianism and psychopathy were chopaths engage in unethical behaviours because they related to corruption intention whereas narcissism was do not have moral principles in their sense of identity. unrelated to corruption. This study has some limitations that must be Financial anxiety fully mediated the relationship acknowledged. First, this study used a cross- between narcissism and corruption and between sectional design and we cannot conclude any causal- Machiavellianism and corruption. This is in line with pre- ity or direction of the relationships. Future research vious research that reported that the association between should use longitudinal designs. Second, the sample dark triad personality traits and corruption was fully was determined using convenience sampling meth- mediated by anxiety (Hajhoseiny et al., 2019). ods and random sampling should be used in future Machiavellians are typically manipulative and exploitative research. Third, this study used self-reported mea- in order to reach their goals (Gunnthorsdottir et al., 2002), sures. Objective measures should also be used in and when they happen to experience financial anxiety, future research. Fourth, this study’s sample was dis- this drives them to engage in corrupt behaviours. It has proportionate, with more than 72% of respondents been argued that Machiavellians can perform hostile being females, and future research should use a more behaviours when they have something special in mind proportionate sample. Further, the correlations to achieve (Wu & Lebreton, 2011). 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Stress in America: Saudi Arabia. Psychopathy was associated with corrup- Paying with our health. http://www.apa.org/news/press/ tion, and narcissism and Machiavellianism were asso- releases/stress/2014/stress-report.pdf ciated with corruption only through financial anxiety. Archuleta, K. L., Dale, A., & Spann, S. M. (2013). College In other words, in the absence of financial anxiety, only students and financial distress exploring debt. Financial Counseling and Planning Education, 24(2), 50–62. those students who scored high on psychopathy Azizli, N., Atkinson, B. E., Baughman, H. M., Chin, K., exhibited corrupt intentions. It is important to under- Vernon, P. A., Harris, E., & Veselka, L. (2016). Lies and stand the antecedents and pathways through which crimes: Dark triad, misconduct, and high-stakes corruption operates in order to better inform proper deception. Personality and Individual Differences , 89, policy against it. 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Evolutionary Behavioral Disclosure statement Sciences, 12(1), 32–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000096 Besser, A., & Zeigler-Hill, V. (2011). Pathological forms of No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). narcissism and perceived stress during the transition to the university: The mediating role of humor styles. International Journal of Stress Management, 18(3), 197– Funding 221. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024826 Birkás, B., Csathó, Á., Gács, B., & Bereczkei, T. (2015). Nothing The Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), at King Abdulaziz ventured nothing gained: Strong associations between University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia has funded this reward sensitivity and two measures of Machiavellianism. Project under grant no.(G: 266-246-1443). Personality and Individual Differences , 74, 112–115. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.09.046 Birkás, B., Gács, B., & Csathó, Á. (2016). 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Journal
Australian Journal of Psychology
– Taylor & Francis
Published: Dec 31, 2023
Keywords: Machiavellianism; psychopathy; narcissism; dark triad; corruption; financial anxiety
