engleski

Empathy of the devil: Sex differences in the Dark Tetrad and empathy

The aim of this research was to examine the mediating role of different types of empathy in explaining sex differences in the Dark Tetrad traits. Data were collected online, on a convenience sample of 144 students (age: M = 22.18, SD = 2.26, 43% male). The Dark Tetrad was measured using Short Dark Triad and The Assessment of Sadistic Personality, while empathy was measured using Affective and Cognitive Measure of Empathy assessing cognitive empathy, affective resonance and affective dissonance. Mediation was examined using single model path analysis, where all four dark traits were simultaneously treated as outcome variables, and all three types of empathy as mediators in the relationship between sex and the dark traits. Sex and three types of empathy explained 10.8% of narcissism variance, 26.4% of Machiavellianism variance, 42.0% of psychopathy variance, and 70.6% of sadism variance. Affective dissonance was significant mediator of sex differences in Machiavellianism, as well as in sadism. Sex differences in psychopathy were mediated by both affective resonance and dissonance. These results further clarify sex differences in Dark Tetrad traits in terms of sex differences in empathy, highlighting specificities of each of these traits which are discussed

Dark Tetrad ; empathy ; sex differences

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