Are Those with Darker Personality Traits more Willing to Corrupt When They Feel Anxious?

Abstract

This unprecedented research endeavors to investigate the relationship between dark personality traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy) and corruption intention through the mediation of anxiety. Based on the resource conservation theory, it is hypothesized that those higher in dark personality traits are more inclined to corrupt when they feel anxious. Having collected data in the south of Iran from 273 employees of various organizations at two-time points in 2017 and 2018, five months apart, the authors conducted confirmatory factor analysis and used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to acquire the results. In Formative SEM, sub-constructs are considered separately since they may have diverse effects and causes, and hence, require to be considered as disparate variables (Srivastava et al. 2001) and this method is used in various studies in high-quality journals (e.g., Tang et al., 2018; Gentina et l., 2018; Gentina & Tang, 2018). In the formative SEM model, based on the data analysis, Dark Triad was formed through high narcissism and Machiavellianism and low psychopathy. The findings revealed that the Dark Triad bears a significant indirect positive relationship with corruption intention through anxiety. Anxiety acts as a full mediator between Dark Triad and corruption intention. All in all, this study extended previous research by providing evidence that anxiety can contribute to corruption intention for those with Dark Triad traits.