Cross-sectional study reveals that Dark Triad traits reduce gratitude in adolescents, indicating that just-world beliefs and life history strategies mediate these negative associations.
Introduction Grounded in belief in a just world theory and life history theory, this study examined the associations between Dark Triad traits and gratitude among Chinese adolescents. Methods A total of 734 middle school students (M = 13.71, SD = 1.03; 361 males, 373 females) were recruited via a cross-sectional design, and all participants completed the Short Dark Triad (SD3), Mini-K Scale, Adolescent Gratitude Scale (AGS), and Belief in a Just World Scale (BJWS). Results Correlation analyses indicated that Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism were all negatively correlated with gratitude. Regression-based mediation analyses further showed that: belief in a just world mediated the associations of Machiavellianism and psychopathy with gratitude, respectively; life history strategy only mediated the association between psychopathy and gratitude; furthermore, belief in a just world and life-history strategy chain-mediated the associations of Machiavellianism and psychopathy with gratitude. Conclusion These findings delineate the differing patterns of gratitude associated with distinct Dark Triad traits and illuminate the indirect pathways underlying these associations.
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Geng et al. (2026) studied this question.
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