Relational Aggression Among University Students: The Role of Dark Triad Traits

Abstract

The aim of this research is to examine the extent to which the Dark Triad (Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) personality traits predicted the relational aggression levels of university students. The sample of the study comprised of 725 (457 female, 268 male) undergraduate students from diverse faculties of a state university in Turkey during the 2018-2019 academic year. “Personal Information Form”, “Relational Aggression Scale in Friendship Relations” and “Short Dark Triad Scale” were used in the study. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis were also used to analyze the data. The findings of the study indicated that Machiavellianism and psychopathy significantly predicted the relational aggression levels of university students. Similarly, it is observed that both Machiavellianism and psychopathy are significant predictors of the exclusion factor of relational aggression among university students. The results also revealed that only Machiavellianism predicted the manipulation factor of relational aggression while psychopathy predicted alone the gossip factor of relational aggression among university students. Nevertheless, narcissism did not seem to be a significant predictor of relational aggression levels of university students. The implications of this research were considered and some recommendations were made for practice.

Keywords

• relational aggression
• dark triad
• Machiavellianism
• narcissism
• psychopathy
• university students

Üniversite Öğrencilerinde İlişkisel Saldırganlık: Karanlık Üçlü Kişilik Özelliklerinin Rolü

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Karanlık Üçlü (Makyavelizm, narsisizm ve psikopati) kişilik özelliklerinin üniversite öğrencilerinin ilişkisel saldırganlık (dışlama, manipülasyon, dedikodu) düzeylerini yordayıp yordamadıklarını incelemektir. Araştırmanın örneklemini, 2018-2019 eğitim öğretim yılında, bir kamu üniversitesinde öğrenimlerine devam eden 725 (457 kadın, 268 erkek) lisans öğrencisi oluşturmaktadır. Araştırma kapsamında “Kişisel Bilgi Formu”, “Arkadaşlık İlişkilerinde İlişkisel Saldırganlık Ölçeği” ve “Karanlık Üçlü Ölçeği” kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde çoklu regresyon analizinden yararlanılmıştır. Araştırma bulguları, Makyavelizm ve psikopati kişilik özelliklerinin üniversite öğrencilerinin ilişkisel saldırganlık düzeylerini anlamlı düzeyde yordadıklarını göstermiştir. Benzer şekilde, ilişkisel saldırganlığın alt-boyutları arasında yer alan dışlama eğilimi, Makyavelizm ve psikopati kişilik özellikleri tarafından yordanmaktadır. Diğer yandan, Makyevalizm tek başına üniversite öğrencilerinin arkadaşlık ilişkilerindeki manipülasyon eğilimlerini yordarken, psikopati ise tek başına dedikodu eğilimini yordamaktadır. Narsisizm kişilik özelliğinin ise ilişkisel saldırganlık ve alt-boyutlarının anlamlı bir yordayıcısı olmadığı belirlenmiştir. Araştırma bulguları alanyazın odağında tartışılmış, gelecekteki uygulama ve çalışmalara yönelik öneriler sunulmuştur.

Keywords

• ilişkisel saldırganlık
• karanlık üçlü
• Makyavelizm
• narsisizm
• psikopati

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