Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 4:16:1588364.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1588364. eCollection 2025.

The Dark Triad traits in the South African workplace: moderators of career interests and success

Denise Oldewage  1 , Petronella Jonck  1
Affiliations

The Dark Triad traits in the South African workplace: moderators of career interests and success

Denise Oldewage et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Numerous studies have been conducted on the nexus between the Dark Triad personality traits and the influence thereof within the context of work. However, a paucity of studies underscores the interaction between these traits with career interests and success, particularly within the South African context. This study aimed to investigate the direct and indirect effect of the Dark Triad traits on career interest and career success.

Methods: A quantitative approach utilizing a cross-sectional design collected 406 responses from economically active participants using convenience sampling. The structured self- reported survey included the South African Career Interest Inventory (SACII-Short), The Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD) and the Subjective Career Success Inventory (SCSI). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and moderation analysis were performed to examine the data.

Results: Psychopathy had a statistically significant negative effect on both career interests and career success. Contrarily, narcissism did not have a statistically significant impact on either career interest or career success. Machiavellianism had a detrimental effect on career success but not career interest. The moderation analysis supported the hypothesis that psychopathy moderates the relationship between investigative career interest and career success negatively, underscoring the disruptive nature of this trait on career outcomes.

Discussion: Organizations should practice caution when hiring or promoting individuals with Dark Triad traits, particularly in positions requiring collaboration, trust and long-term success. This could be achieved by integrating personality assessments such as the DTDD into leadership development, talent development and HR policies interventions to reduce the negative consequences of the mentioned attributes to career success.

Keywords: Dark Triad traits; Machiavellianism; career interests; career success; moderation analysis; narcissism; psychopathy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Significant direct path results for the SEM analysis CI, Career Interest; β, standardized beta coefficient; R2, R-square thus proportion variance explained. *, Does not include zero.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Slope analysis with psychopathy as moderator.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Abele A. E., Spurk D., Volmer J. (2010). The construct of career success: Measurement issues and an empirical example. Z. Arbeitsmarktforsch. 43, 195–206. doi: 10.1007/s12651-010-0034-6, PMID: - DOI
    1. Aboramadan M., Turkmenoglu M. A., Dahleez K. A., Cicek B. (2020). Narcissistic leadership and behavioral cynicism in the hotel industry: The role of employee silence and negative workplace gossiping. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag. 33, 428–447. doi: 10.1108/ijchm-04-2020-0348, PMID: - DOI
    1. Adachi T. (2004). Career self-efficacy, career outcome expectations and vocational interests among Japanese university students. Psychol. Rep. 95, 89–100. doi: 10.2466/pr0.95.1.89-100, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adam A. M. (2020). Sample size determination in survey research. J. Sci. Res. Rep. 26, 90–97. doi: 10.9734/jsrr/2020/v26i530263, PMID: - DOI
    1. Aguirre-Urreta M. I., Hu J. (2019). Detecting common method bias. ACM SIGMIS Database 50, 45–70. doi: 10.1145/3330472.3330477 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources