The Core of Aversive Personality and Crime

Research from the past few decades has pointed to a clear link between both basic and so-called aversive personality traits – such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy – and crime. Across two studies, we herewith contribute to the literature on personality and crime by providing evidence on how the Dark Factor of Personality (D) – the common core underlying all aversive traits – relates to criminal behavior. We examined this relation not only through self-reported criminal prosecutions (Study 1, n = 7,026) but also by linking D to a broad range of officially registered criminal convictions recorded over a 41-year period (Study 2, n = 11,979). Results from both studies provide clear and consistent evidence of a positive association between D and crime. In brief, this research highlights the relevance of D in accounting for not only self-reported criminal behavior but also actual convictions.