Personality and Individual Differences 194 (2022) 111618

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Personality and Individual Differences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid

Beyond the role of the dark triad in accounting for psychological

maladjustment in adults: Does perfectionism still matter?
Abigael G. Lucas *, Edward C. Chang *
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, United States of America

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The present study was conducted to identify the extent to which the Dark Triad and perfectionism account for
Perfectionism variations in psychological maladjustment outcomes (i.e., social interaction anxiety, suicidal ideation, depressive
Dark Triad symptoms, and negative affect) in a sample of 283 college students. Specifically, this study was designed to
Psychological maladjustment
explore whether perfectionism, above and beyond the Dark Triad, would account for additional variance in the
prediction models of psychological maladjustment outcomes. Results suggest that perfectionism did account for a
significant amount of additional variance in the prediction model for each psychological maladjustment outcome
explored, above and beyond the Dark Triad. Some interesting and nuanced findings were identified regarding
both perfectionism and the Dark Triad and implications of such findings are discussed.

1. Introduction researchers to argue that perfectionism may represent a proximal

Over the past almost two decades, the Dark Triad has received
growing attention in research as a set of three related and socially-
aversive personality variables (i.e., psychopathy, narcissism, Machia­
vellianism; Furnham et al., 2013; Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Prior
research on the Dark Triad has primarily focused on the relationship
between these personality variables and a range of maladaptive social
outcomes (e.g., interpersonal dysfunctions, counterproductive work
behaviors; Jonason & O'Connor, 2017; Stead et al., 2012). However,
much less attention has been given to the relationships between the Dark
Triad and variables of internal experiences. Some prior research in­
dicates that the Dark Triad is associated with greater psychological
maladjustment outcomes. For example, findings from recent studies
have indicated that psychopathy is associated with greater depressive
symptoms (e.g., Shih et al., 2019). Therefore, there is some reason to
expect that the Dark Triad is involved in psychological maladjustment.
Importantly, however, over three decades of research has pointed to
perfectionism as a maladaptive personality variable (e.g., Smith et al.,
2019) that has consistently been associated with an array of malad­
justment outcomes (e.g., depressive symptoms, suicidality; Wheeler
et al., 2011). This pattern has been most pronounced when researchers
have used measures predicated on pathological models of perfectionism
(e.g., Frost et al., 1990; cf. Chang, 2006). Research based on these
maladaptive models and measures of perfectionism has led some
determinant of a wide array of psychopathologies (e.g., Limburg et al.,
2017). One prominent model of perfectionism was proposed by Frost
et al. (1990) and defines this construct as critical self-evaluation related
to high performance standards. This model of perfectionism consists of
six dimensions (i.e., Concern over Mistakes, Personal Standards,
Parental Expectations, Parental Criticism, Doubts about Action, and
Organization). Indeed, Marcus and Zeigler-Hill (2015) have suggested
that measures of perfectionism ought to be considered alongside studies
examining the Dark Triad, given that perfectionism is associated with
maladaptive outcomes and that an association has been found between
the Dark Triad and perfectionism (e.g., Sherry et al., 2006). Therefore,
given that perfectionism is a strong, reliable correlate of psychological
maladjustment outcomes and it has been suggested that perfectionism
ought to be considered alongside dark personality variables, it would be
interesting to examine whether, beyond the Dark Triad, perfectionism
may offer additional predictive value in accounting for psychological
maladjustment outcomes.
1.1. Purpose of the present study
Given the above considerations, the present study was conducted to
(a) examine the associations between the Dark Triad, the dimensions of
the Frost model of perfectionism, and psychological maladjustment
outcomes (i.e., social interaction anxiety, suicidal ideation, depressive

* Corresponding authors at: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States of America.
E-mail addresses: aglu@umich.edu (A.G. Lucas), changec@umich.edu (E.C. Chang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111618
Received 26 April 2021; Received in revised form 14 March 2022; Accepted 15 March 2022
Available online 31 March 2022
0191-8869/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A.G. Lucas and E.C. Chang
symptoms, and negative affect), and (b) examine the extent to which
perfectionism, beyond the Dark Triad, adds to the prediction model of
psychological maladjustment outcomes.
Based on Frost et al.'s (1990) model of perfectionism, we expected
some dimensions of perfectionism to be positively related to psycho­
logical maladjustment outcomes (e.g., Concern over Mistakes), and
others to be negatively related to psychological maladjustment out­
comes (e.g., Personal Standards). Prior research using Frost et al.'s
(1990) model of perfectionism has identified that Concern over Mistakes
and Doubts about Actions are the two dimensions most consistently
associated with greater psychological maladjustment (e.g., O'Connor,
2007; Shafran & Mansell, 2001). As such, we expected both Concern
over Mistakes and Doubts about Actions to emerge as significant positive
predictors of psychological maladjustment in the present study. Given
findings from prior research (e.g., Shih et al., 2019), we expected to find
positive relations between the Dark Triad personality variables and
psychological maladjustment outcomes. As noted above, while the
explanatory power of the Dark Triad has been explored in relation to
various maladaptive social outcomes (e.g., Jonason & O'Connor, 2017),
much less attention has been given to exploring the association between
the Dark Triad and psychological maladjustment outcomes. Therefore,
this raises the possibility that the Dark Triad might sufficiently account
for psychological maladjustment and perfectionism may not add further
variance to the explanatory model. However, whether the Dark Triad is
an important predictor of a wide range of maladjustment outcomes (e.g.,
social anxiety, general negative affect) and whether perfectionism, as a
robust, maladaptive personality variable (e.g., Wheeler et al., 2011),
continues to represent an important predictor of such outcomes even
after accounting for the Dark Triad remains to be determined.
2. Method
2.1. Participants
A total of 283 undergraduate students (188 female, 86 male, and 9
gender non-binary) were recruited for participation from a public uni­
versity in the Midwestern United States. Participants ranged in age from
18 to 47 years, with a mean age of 19.95 years (SD = 2.87). The eth­
noracial distribution of the sample was 50.9% White, 22.6% Asian/
Asian American, 13.4% multiethnoracial, 4.6% Latinx, 4.2% Black/Af­
rican American, and 4.2% Middle Eastern.
2.2. Measures
2.2.1. Dark Triad
The Dark Triad (i.e., psychoticism, narcissism, and Machiavel­
lianism) was assessed using the Dirty Dozen scale (DD; Jonason &
Webster, 2010). This is a 12-item measure, in which there are four items
each that are used to formulate subscales of Machiavellianism (e.g., “I
tend to manipulate others to get my way”), psychopathy (e.g., “I tend to
lack remorse”), and narcissism (e.g., “I tend to want others to admire
me”). Participants are asked to rate the extent they agree with each item
on a seven-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7
(strongly agree). Evidence for the validity and reliability of the DD has
been presented by Jonason and Webster (2010). Higher scores on each
subscale reflect greater identification with each Dark Triad variable.
2.2.2. Perfectionism
The Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (FMPS; Frost et al.,
1990) was used to assess perfectionism. This is a 35-item measure that
assesses an individual's perfectionism across six dimensions, namely,
Concern over Mistakes (e.g., “I should be upset if I make a mistake”),
Personal Standards (e.g., “I have extremely high goals”), Parental Ex­
pectations (e.g., “My parents set very high standards for me”), Parental
Criticism (e.g., “My parents never tried to understand my mistakes”),
Doubts about Action (e.g., “It takes me a long time to do something
2
Personality and Individual Differences 194 (2022) 111618
‘right’”), and Organization (e.g., “I am a neat person”). Participants are
asked to rate the extent to which they agree with each item on a five-
point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree). Evidence for the reliability and validity of the FMPS is presented
by Frost et al. (1990). Higher scores on the FMPS reflect greater
perfectionism.
2.2.3. Social Interaction Anxiety Scale
The Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS; Mattick & Clarke, 1998)
is a 20-item measure of distress when interacting with other people in
social situations (e.g., “When mixing with others, I am uncomfortable”).
Participants are asked to rate each item to the extent it is true of
themselves on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 0 (not at all
characteristic or true of me) to 4 (extremely characteristic or true of me).
Evidence for the reliability and validity of the SIAS is presented by
Mattick and Clarke (1998). Higher scores on the SIAS suggest greater
anxiety when engaging in social interactions.
2.2.4. Suicidal ideation
The Frequency of Suicidal Ideation Inventory (FSII; Chang & Chang,
2016) is a 5-item measure of the frequency of suicidal thoughts over the
past year (e.g., “Over the past year, how often have you thought about
hurting yourself?”). Participants are asked to rate each item on a 5-item
Likert-type scale from 1 (never) to 5 (almost every day). Evidence for the
validity and reliability of the FSII is presented by Chang and Chang
(2016). Higher Scores on the FSII suggest greater frequency of suicidal
thoughts over the past year.
2.2.5. Depressive symptoms
Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depressive In­
ventory, short form (BDI-13; Beck & Beck, 1972), which is a 13-item
measure of depressive symptoms (e.g., Sadness). Each item has a list
of four statements that are ranked from 0, indicating no experience with
the symptom (e.g., “I do not feel sad”), to 3, indicating significant
experience of the symptom (e.g., “I am so sad or unhappy that I can't
stand it”). Participants are asked to select the response that best de­
scribes the way they feel that day. Evidence for the reliability and val­
idity of the BDI-13 is presented by Reynolds and Gould (1981). Higher
scores on the BDI-13 indicate greater depressive symptoms.
2.2.6. Negative affect
Negative affect was measured using the Positive and Negative Affect
Schedule (PANAS; Watson et al., 1988), which is a measure of both
positive and negative affect. Participants are asked to rate their general
affect based on individual terms (e.g., “Distressed”) on a 5-point Likert
scale from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely). The negative
affect subscale was used for the purposes of the present study. Evidence
for the reliability and validity of the PANAS is presented by Watson et al.
(1988). Higher scores on this subscale indicate greater negative affect.
2.3. Procedure
Approval for the present study was obtained from the Institutional
Review Board prior to data collection. Participants were recruited via an
email sent out by the Registrar's Office and were offered the chance to
win a gift card for their participation in the study. All participants
provided informed consent prior to taking the online Qualtrics survey
and were informed that all data would be kept strictly confidential.
Given that the present study asked about psychological maladjustment,
all participants were provided a list of campus and national mental
health and suicide prevention resources.
3. Results
Correlations between demographics variables (i.e., age and gender)
and all study measures are presented in Table 1. Correlations, means,
A.G. Lucas and E.C. Chang Personality and Individual Differences 194 (2022) 111618

Table 1 Table 3
Correlations of Dirty Dozen, Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, and Results of hierarchical regression analyses showing amount of variance in social
measures of psychological maladjustment with age and gender. interaction anxiety and suicidal ideation accounted for by perfectionism, after
Measures Age Gender
accounting for Dark Triad personality variables.
Outcomes β R2 Δ R2 F p
1. DD-M − 0.02 0.03
2. DD-P 0.02 0.03 Social interaction anxiety
3. DD-N − 0.06 0.01 Step 1
4. FMPS-CM 0.00 0.22*** Demographics – 0.05 – 7.16 <.001
5. FMPS-PS − 0.05 0.10 Age 0.05
6. FMPS-PE 0.01 0.17** Gender 0.21***
7. FMPS-PC 0.07 0.20*** Step 2
8. FMPS-D 0.05 0.22*** Dark Triad – 0.09 0.04 3.78 <.05
9. FMPS-O − 0.06 0.23*** Machiavellianism − 0.19*
10. SIAS 0.06 0.21*** Psychopathy 0.22**
11. FSII 0.01 0.14* Narcissism 0.02
12. BDI-13 0.09 0.22*** Step 3
13. PANAS-NA 0.11 0.24*** Perfectionism – 0.35 0.26 18.06 <.001
Concern over Mistakes 0.38***
Note. N = 283. DD = Dirty Dozen, M = Machiavellianism, P = Psychopathy, N =
Personal Standards − 0.12*
Narcissism. FMPS = Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, CM = Concern Parental Expectations − 0.06
over Mistakes, PS = Personal Standards, PE = Parental Expectations, PC = Parental Criticism − 0.03
Parental Criticism. D = Doubts about Action, O = Organization. SIAS = Social Doubts about Actions 0.28***
Interaction Anxiety Scale. FSII = Frequency of Suicidal Ideation Inventory. BDI- Organization − 0.09
13 = Beck Depressive Inventory, Short Form. PANAS-NA = Positive and Nega­
tive Affect Schedule, Negative Affect. Gender (1=male, 2=female, 3=non- Suicidal ideation
binary). Step 1
*
p < .05. Demographics – 0.02 – 2.88 n.s.
**
p < .01. Age 0.00
*** Gender 0.14*
p < .001.
Step 2
Dark Triad – 0.13 0.11 11.62 <.001
standard deviations, and reliability estimates, as measured by Cron­ Machiavellianism 0.09
bach's alpha, for all study measures are presented in Table 2. To examine Psychopathy 0.28***
the roles of the Dark Triad and perfectionism in predicting psychological Narcissism − 0.04
Step 3
maladjustment outcomes (i.e., social interaction anxiety, suicidal idea­
Perfectionism – 0.19 0.06 3.28 <.01
tion, depressive symptoms, and negative affect), we conducted a series Concern over Mistakes 0.05
of hierarchical regression analyses. To determine whether perfectionism Personal Standards − 0.11
was a predictor of psychological maladjustment outcomes above and Parental Expectations − 0.11
beyond the Dark Triad, we entered age and gender as controls in Step 1 Parental Criticism 0.23**
Doubts about Actions 0.11
of the prediction model, the Dark Triad variables in Step 2, followed by
Organization 0.00
the dimensions of perfectionism in Step 3. For each of the prediction
models, demographic variables accounted for a small proportion of Note. N = 283. Gender (1=male, 2=female, 3=non-binary).
*
variance in each maladjustment outcome and gender emerged as a sig­ p < .05.
**
p < .01.
nificant predictor of each outcome. ***
p < .001.
Results of hierarchical regression analyses in the prediction of social
interaction anxiety and suicidal ideation are presented in Table 3. In the
prediction model of social interaction anxiety, the Dark Triad in Step 2
accounted for a small (f2 = 0.04) proportion of the variance in social

Table 2
Correlations between the Dirty Dozen, Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, and measures of psychological maladjustment.
Measures 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

1. DD-M –
2. DD-P 0.57*** –
3. DD-N 0.49*** 0.29*** –
4. FMPS-CM 0.25*** 0.29*** 0.23*** –
5. FMPS-PS 0.04 0.02 0.20*** 0.35*** –
6. FMPS-PE 0.17** 0.24*** 0.16** 0.38*** 0.22*** –
7. FMPS-PC 0.20*** 0.31*** 0.15** 0.48*** 0.21*** 0.72*** –
8. FMPS-D 0.09 0.11 0.10 0.55*** 0.15** 0.18** 0.33*** –
9. FMPS-O − 0.10 − 0.14* 0.09 0.08 0.42*** 0.02 0.01 0.08 –
10. SIAS − 0.05 0.13* − 0.01 0.45*** 0.01 0.10 0.19*** 0.46*** − 0.05 –
11. FSII 0.24*** 0.33*** 0.09 0.23*** − 0.04 0.14* 0.28*** 0.22*** − 0.06 0.35*** –
12. BDI-13 0.26*** 0.33*** 0.09 0.57*** 0.03 0.24*** 0.42*** 0.50*** − 0.07 0.59*** 0.66*** –
13. PANAS-NA 0.18*** 0.14* 0.17** 0.54*** 0.17** 0.21*** 0.40*** 0.54*** 0.03 0.53*** 0.40*** 0.68*** –
M 2.76 2.24 4.01 27.14 26.43 17.00 10.76 12.92 22.89 34.07 8.98 10.33 26.24
SD 1.50 1.25 1.43 7.61 4.57 4.54 4.58 3.45 4.87 17.16 4.66 7.36 8.42
α 0.84 0.78 0.82 0.89 0.78 0.85 0.89 0.75 0.93 0.94 0.93 0.90 0.89

Note. N = 283. Gender (1=male, 2=female, 3=non-binary).

*
p < .05.
**
p ≤ .01.
***
p ≤ .001.

3
A.G. Lucas and E.C. Chang Personality and Individual Differences 194 (2022) 111618

interaction anxiety. Within the set, Machiavellianism and psychopathy depressive symptoms. Within the set, the Concern over Mistakes, Per­
emerged as significant predictors of social interaction anxiety. In Step 3, sonal Standards, Parental Criticism, and Doubts about Action di­
perfectionism was found to account for a large (f2 = 0.35) proportion of mensions of perfectionism emerged as a significant predictor of
the variance in social interaction anxiety. Within the set, Concern over depressive symptoms. The total prediction model was found to account
Mistakes, Personal Standards, and Doubts about Actions dimensions of for a large (f2 = 0.84) proportion of the variance in depressive
perfectionism emerged as significant predictors of social interaction symptoms.
anxiety. The total prediction model was found to account for a large (f2 In the prediction model of negative affect, the Dark Triad in Step 2
= 0.53) proportion of the variance in social interaction anxiety. accounted for a small (f2 = 0.04) proportion of the variance in negative
In the prediction model of suicidal ideation, the Dark Triad in Step 2 affect. In Step 3, perfectionism was found to account for a large (f2 =
accounted for a small-medium (f2 = 0.12) proportion of the variance in 0.45) proportion of the variance in negative affect. Within the set, the
suicidal ideation. Within the set, psychopathy emerged as a significant Concern over Mistakes, Parental Expectations, Parental Criticism, and
predictor of suicidal ideation. In Step 3, perfectionism was found to Doubts about Action dimensions of perfectionism emerged as a signifi­
account for a small (f2 = 0.06) proportion of the variance in suicidal cant predictor of negative affect. The total prediction model was found
ideation. Within the set, the Parental Criticism dimension of perfec­ to account for a large (f2 = 0.73) proportion of the variance in negative
tionism emerged as a significant predictor of suicidal ideation. The total affect.
prediction model was found to account for a medium (f2 = 0.23) pro­
portion of the variance in suicidal ideation. 4. Discussion
Results of hierarchical regression analyses in the prediction of
depressive symptoms and negative affect are presented in Table 4. In the Given prior research that has indicated the value of looking at
prediction model of depressive symptoms, the Dark Triad in Step 2 perfectionism alongside Dark Triad, the purpose of the present study
accounted for a small-medium (f2 = 0.12) proportion of the variance in was to examine whether perfectionism may be a robust predictor of
depressive symptoms. Within the set, psychopathy emerged as a sig­ psychological maladjustment outcomes, above and beyond the Dark
nificant predictor of depressive symptoms In Step 3, perfectionism was Triad. The results of the present study point to at least three important
found to account for a large (f2 = 0.43) proportion of the variance in and nuanced findings regarding the Dark Triad and perfectionism in
relation to psychological maladjustment outcomes. First, for all the
maladjustment outcomes examined in the present study, perfectionism
Table 4 accounted for significant variance above and beyond what was
Results of hierarchical regression analyses showing amount of variance in
accounted for by the Dark Triad. Given that the Dark Triad has been
depressive symptoms and negative affect accounted for by perfectionism, after
touted as maladaptive personality variables with great explanatory
accounting for Dark Triad personality variables.
power (Furnham et al., 2013), these findings provide support for pre­
Outcomes R2 Δ R2 F p
β
vious research (Marcus & Zeigler-Hill, 2015) that has suggested it may
Depressive symptoms be important to also consider other maladaptive personality variables,
Step 1 namely, perfectionism, alongside the Dark Triad.
Demographics 0.05 7.83
Second, consistent with our expectations and prior literature (e.g.,
– – <.001
Age 0.08
Gender 0.21*** Shafran & Mansell, 2001), Concern over Mistakes and Doubts about
Step 2 Action both emerged as reliable predictors of greater psychological
Dark Triad – 0.16 0.11 12.12 <.001 maladjustment for all outcomes, except for suicidal ideation. Parental
Machiavellianism 0.13
Criticism emerged as the only significant predictor of suicidal ideation
Psychopathy 0.26***
Narcissism − 0.04
within the perfectionism set, which is consistent with prior findings that
Step 3 suggest socially prescribed perfectionism may play an important role in
Perfectionism – 0.47 0.30 25.54 <.001 suicidality (e.g., Smith et al., 2018). Additionally, an interesting pattern
Concern over Mistakes 0.37*** emerged within the perfectionism set in the prediction models of two of
Personal Standards − 0.14*
the psychological maladjustment outcomes in the present study. Spe­
Parental Expectations − 0.11
Parental Criticism 0.20** cifically, the Personal Standards dimension of perfectionism was iden­
Doubts about Actions 0.24*** tified as being positively and non-significantly correlated with social
Organization − 0.05 interaction anxiety and depressive symptoms but emerged within the
perfectionism set of the prediction models as a significant and negative
Negative affect predictor of social interaction anxiety and depressive symptoms,
Step 1 respectively. These findings align with prior research that has identified
Demographics 0.07 10.70
inconsistent findings between the Personal Standards dimension of
– – <.001
Age 0.11
Gender 0.24*** perfectionism and indices of psychological maladjustment (e.g., anxious
Step 2 & depressive symptoms; Stoeber & Joormann, 2001). Interestingly,
Dark Triad – 0.11 0.04 4.23 <.01 some researchers have suggested that there may be both adaptive and
Machiavellianism 0.08 maladaptive aspects of perfectionism (e.g., Bieling et al., 2004), and that
Psychopathy 0.06
Narcissism 0.12
Personal Standards may represent a more adaptive dimension of
Step 3 perfectionism (Frost et al., 1993). However, research from DiBartolo
Perfectionism – 0.42 0.31 24.29 <.001 et al. (2004) has indicated that the original conceptualization of the
Concern over Mistakes 0.28*** Personal Standards dimension in the FMPS (Frost et al., 1990) may be
Personal Standards 0.01
simultaneously capturing both positive and negative features of this
Parental Expectations − 0.15*
Parental Criticism 0.25*** dimension of perfectionism, which could also be contributing to the
Doubts about Actions 0.30*** inconsistencies in results observed with this dimension in the present
Organization − 0.05 study. As such, future research may wish to better understand how Pure
Note. N = 283. Gender (1=male, 2=female, 3=non-binary). Personal Standards (DiBartolo et al., 2004), or personal standards
*
p < .05. focusing solely on the positive features of this dimension, may predict
**
p < .01. psychological maladjustment outcomes, above and beyond the Dark
***
p < .001. Triad.

4
A.G. Lucas and E.C. Chang
Third, the present study adds to the limited existing literature on
associations between the Dark Triad and psychological maladjustment.
Indeed, of the three Dark Triad variables, psychopathy emerged as a
significant and positive predictor of social interaction anxiety, depres­
sive symptoms, and suicidal ideation, and Machiavellianism emerged as
a significant negative predictor of social interaction anxiety. The present
findings regarding psychopathy and psychological maladjustment out­
comes are consistent with prior research that has identified positive
relations between psychopathy and depressive symptoms (e.g., Jonason
et al., 2015; Shih et al., 2019; Stead et al., 2012). Interestingly, Machi­
avellianism emerged as a significant negative predictor of social inter­
action anxiety in the present study, which is inconsistent with prior
research that has identified that greater Machiavellianism was positively
related to a dimension of anxiety sensitivity, namely, concern of nega­
tive social consequences from anxiety (Birkás et al., 2016). Moreover,
narcissism did not emerge as a significant predictor of any of the psy­
chological maladjustment outcomes in the present study, which is
inconsistent with prior literature that has identified significant negative
associations between narcissism and anxiety sensitivity (Birkás et al.,
2016) and narcissism and depression (e.g., Shih et al., 2019; Stead et al.,
2012). While the present findings regarding the Dark Triad are both
consistent and inconsistent with prior literature on the Dark Triad and
psychological maladjustment outcomes, it ought to be noted that there is
wide variability in measurement of the Dark Triad and psychological
maladjustment variables across studies. For example, the present study
utilized the Dirty Dozen scale to concisely measure the Dark Triad
(Jonason & Webster, 2010), while other studies have used separate
measures to account for narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism
individually (e.g., Stead et al., 2012). Therefore, additional research
using multiple measures of the Dark Triad might prove useful for better
understanding the relations between those variables and psychological
maladjustment outcomes, particularly when considering other mal­
adaptive personality variables (e.g., perfectionism) alongside the Dark
Triad.
4.1. Some limitations of the present study
Although the present study provides important evidence for the role
of the dimensions of perfectionism as important predictors of psycho­
logical maladjustment outcomes above and beyond the Dark Triad, some
limitations of the present study ought to be noted. First, the present
study utilized a young adult sample that predominately identified as
White/European American. Therefore, there may be limited generaliz­
ability of the present study to other age and ethnoracial groups. Second,
there were a greater number of female participants in the present study
than male participants, which may have some influence on the findings
of the present study. As males tend to score higher on Dark Triad than
females (e.g., Muris et al., 2017), future studies ought to explore
whether there are any important sex differences in the relationships
between the study variables.
Third, as noted above there have been limitations identified in the
perfectionism measure utilized in the present study, specifically in the
dimension of Personal Standards. As such, it may be important for future
research to utilize measures that account for Personal Standards as a
positive aspect of perfectionism (e.g., DiBartolo et al., 2004), to better
understand the relations between this dimension of perfectionism and
the study variables. Fourth, and relatedly, it would be important for
future studies to determine whether the findings of the present study
could be replicated using alternate measures and models of both
perfectionism and the Dark Triad. For example, the present study used
the FMPS (Frost et al., 1990), a measure of maladaptive perfectionism
that is self-oriented and socially prescribed. It would be important to
examine alternate measures of perfectionism in future studies, including
measures that incorporate other dimensions or functions of perfec­
tionism. Fifth, and finally, the present study utilized a cross-sectional
design, meaning that cause and effect cannot be determined.
5
Personality and Individual Differences 194 (2022) 111618
Therefore, it may be important for future research to explore whether
perfectionism predicts any changes in psychological maladjustment
outcomes across time, above and beyond the Dark Triad.
5. Concluding thoughts
The present study was the first to test the explanatory value of
multidimensional perfectionism in accounting for psychological mal­
adjustment outcomes, above and beyond the Dark Triad. As noted
above, the results of this study have important and nuanced implications
for both the Dark Triad and perfectionism literatures, suggesting that it
may be valuable for future research to investigate these maladaptive
personality variables concurrently. Future research is warranted,
particularly to better understand how the variability in measurement of
perfectionism, Dark Triad, and psychological maladjustment outcomes
may be related to inconsistencies in findings across studies.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Abigael G. Lucas: Investigation, Formal analysis, Visualization,
Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Edward C. Chang:
Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Supervision, Writing – review &
editing.
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