Examination of the Correlation Between Ethical Attitudes and Dark Triad Personality Traits Among University Students

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7160/eriesj.2023.160301

Keywords:

Behavior, Exploratory factor analysis, Juvenile attitudes, Linear regression, Questionnaire survey

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is to examine the relationship between the ethical attitudes of university students and their Dark Triad personality traits. Research has suggested that the juvenile attitudes of people predict their later behaviour. Therefore, it is worth exploring this area for future aspects. Both topics are at the center of research, both individually and in terms of the correlations between them. In the present paper, we examined the relationship between ethical attitudes and the Dark Triad personality traits through questionnaires used in international research with background variables. We found that the most unethical behaviour is ‘Divulging confidential information,’ ‘Passing blame for your errors to an innocent co-worker,’ and ‘Claiming credit for someone else's work.’ The least unethical behaviour is ‘Eating snacks while at your workstation’. Factor analysis and linear regression analysis were used. Despite our expectations, the revealed relationships between ethical attitudes and Dark Triad personality traits were not clearly positive. According to the regression model, the dark triad personality score is lower if the respondent is female, studies at the commerce-marketing major, and has higher values at the following factors: ‘physiological unethicalness’, ‘overcharge’, and ‘other ethical attitudes’ factors.

References

Adhikary, B. K. and Mitra, R. M. (2015) ‘Perceptions of Ethics in Business: A Study of Business Students in Bangladesh’, Journal of Business Theory and Practice, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 252–265. https://doi.org/10.22158/jbtp.v3n2p252

Ahmad, A. M., Hussin, Z., Yusof, F., Ridhuan, M., Jamil, M., Shahri, M. H. and Ishak, M. K. (2017) ‘Level of Ethical Behavior among Engineering Students: Polytechnic Malaysia’, Journal of Human Development and Communication, Vol. 6, pp. 1–14.

Alonso-Almeida, M. D. M., Fernández De Navarrete, F. C. and Rodriguez-Pomeda, J. (2015) ‘Corporate social responsibility perception in business students as future managers: A multifactorial analysis’, Business Ethics, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12060

Aznar, H. (2019) ‘Information Disorder and Self-Regulation in Europe: A Broader Non-Economistic Conception of Self-Regulation’, Social Sciences, Vol. 8, No. 10, 280. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci8100280

Barizsné, H. E. and Ujhelyi, M. (2017) ‘University Students Dark Triad Traits and Ethical Attitudes’, Annals of the University of Oradea: Economic Science, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 739–747.

Barnes, E. (1904) ‘Student honor: A study in cheating’, International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 481–488. https://doi.org/10.1086/intejethi.14.4.2376257

Baughman, H. M., Jonason, P. K., Lyons, M. and Vernon, P. A. (2014) ‘Liar liar pants on fire: Cheater strategies linked to the Dark Triad’, Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 71, pp. 35–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.07.019

Berkovich, I., and Eyal, O. (2018) ‘Ethics education in leadership development: Adopting multiple ethical paradigms’, Educational Management Administration & Leadership, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 270–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143218792914

Berstler, S. (2019) ‘What’s the good of language? On the moral distinction between lying and misleading’, Ethics, Vol. 130, No. 1, pp. 5–31. https://doi.org/10.1086/704341

Blais, J. and Pruysers, S. (2017) ‘The power of the dark side: personality, the dark triad, and political ambition’, Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 113, pp. 167–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.03.029

Cannon, M., Vedel, A. and Jonason, P. K. (2020) ‘The dark and not so humble: School-type effects on the Dark Triad traits and intellectual humility’, Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 163, 110068. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110068

Carroll, A. B. (1979) ‘A Three-Dimensional Conceptual Model of Corporate Performance’, The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 497–505. https://doi.org/10.2307/257850

Carroll, A. B. (1991) ‘The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders’, Business Horizons, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 39–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813(91)90005-G

Carter, T. M. (1929) ‘Cheating as seen by college students’, International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 341–355.

Clot-Garrell, A. and Griera, M. (2019) ‘Beyond Narcissism: Towards an Analysis of the Public, Political and Collective Forms of Contemporary Spirituality’, Religions, Vol. 10, No. 10, 579. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10100579

Cohen, A. (2015) ‘Are they among us? A conceptual framework of the relationship between the dark triad personality and counterproductive work behaviours (CWBs)’, Human Research Management Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 69–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2015.07.003

Csillag, S., Géring, Z., Király, G., Chandler, N. and Miskolczi, P. (2017) ‘Párhuzamos univerzumok. A hallgatói csalással kapcsolatos percepciók vizsgálata oktatók és hallgatók körében’, Educatio, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 639–648. https://doi.org/10.1556/2063.26.2017.4.10

Cygler, J. and Sroka, W. (2017) ‘Coopetition disadvantages: The case of the high tech companies’, Engineering Economics, Vol 28, No. 5, pp. 494–504. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.28.5.16421

Deshpande, S. P., Joseph, J. and Maximov, V. V. (2000) ‘Perceptions of Proper Ethical Conduct of Male and Female Russian Managers’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 24, pp. 179–183. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006002030496

Diochon, P. F., Defiebre-Muller, R., and Viola, F. (2018) ‘Toward an ‘Ethics of Serendipity’: Disrupting normative ethical discourses in organizations’, Human Resource Development Review, Vol. 17, No. 4. pp. 373–392. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484318796321

Do, B. R. and Dadvari, A. (2017) ‘The influence of the dark triad on the relationship between entrepreneurial attitude orientation and entrepreneurial intention: A study among students in Taiwan University’, Asia Pacific Management Review, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 185–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2017.07.011

Dudycha, G. J. (1933) ‘The moral beliefs of college students’, International Journal of Ethics, Vol. 43, No. 2, pp. 194–204.

Emmerich, N. (2009) ‘On the ethics committee: the expert member, the lay member and the absentee ethicist’, Research Ethics Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 9–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/174701610900500103

Fisher, C., Lovell, A. and Valero-Silva, N. (2013) Business ethics and values : individual, corporate and international perspectives, Harlow: Pearson Education.

Fox, J. and Rooney, M. C. (2015) ‘The Dark Triad and trait self-objectification as predictors of men’s use and self-presentation behaviours on social networking sites’, Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 76, pp. 161–165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.12.017

Furnham, A. (2010) The Elephant in the Boardroom: The Causes of Leadership Derailment, London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Furnham, A., Richards, S. C. and Paulhus, D. L. (2013) ‘The Dark Triad of Personality: A 10Year Review’, Social and Personality Psychology Compass, Vol. 3, No. 7, pp. 199–216. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12018

Gastmans, C. (1999) ‘Care as a moral attitude in nursing’, Nursing ethics, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 214–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/096973309900600304

Giammarco, E. A. and Vernon, P. A. (2014) ‘Vengeance and the Dark Triad: The role of empathy and perspective taking in trait forgivingness’, Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 67, pp. 23–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.02.010

Glasgow, J. (2009) Racism as disrespect. Ethics, Vol. 120, No.1, pp. 64–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/648588

Guo, J., Zhang, J., De Fruyt, F. and Pang, W. (2023) ‘The bright and dark personality correlates of creative potentials, creative activities, and creative achievements’, Current Psychology, Vol. 42, pp. 3689–3700. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01710-x

Gwinner, T., Ludlum, M. and Steelman, B. (2019) ‘An analysis of ethical standards of business and higher education students: A case study of Taiwan’, Journal of Business and Behavioural Sciences, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 59–73.

Hare, R. D. and Neumann, C. S. (2009) ‘Psychopathy: Assessment and Forensic Implications’, The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 54, No. 12, pp. 791–802. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370905401202

Harrison, A., Summers, J. and Mennecke, B. (2018) ‘The Effects of the Dark Triad on Unethical Behaviour’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 153, No. 1, pp. 53–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3368-3

Haski-Leventhal, D. (2013) MBA Students Around the World and Their Attitudes Towards Responsible Management, Macquarie Graduate School of Management.

Hernando, A., Diez-Vega, I., Lopez del Hierro, M., Martínez-Alsina, N., Diaz-Meco, R., Busto, M. J., Martiañez, N. L. and González-Cuevas, G. (2018) ‘Ethical values in college education: a mixed-methods pilot study to assess health sciences students’ perceptions’, BMC Medical Education, Vol. 18, 289. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-018-1396-7

Holcomb, J., Grove, H. and Clouse, M. (2019) ‘Does the existence of ethics and compliance committees improve stock market and financial performance?’, Corporate Board: Role, Duties and Composition, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 8–16. https://doi.org/10.22495/cbv15i1art1

Im, C. and Nam, G. (2019) ‘Does ethical behaviour of management influence financial reporting quality?’, Sustainability, Vol. 11, No. 20, 5765. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205765

Jonason, P. K., Slomski, S. and Partyka, J. (2012) ‘The Dark Triad at work: How toxic employees get their way’, Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 449–453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.008

Jonason, P. K., Strosser, G. L., Kroll, C. H., Duineveld, J. J. and Baruffi, S. A. (2015) ‘Valuing myself over others: The Dark Triad traits and moral and social values’, Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 81, pp. 102–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.10.045

Jonason, P. K. and Webster, G. D. (2010) ‘The dirty dozen: A concise measure of the dark triad’, Psychological Assessment, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 420–432. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019265

Jones, D. N. and Paulhus, D. L. (2009) ‘Machiavellianism’, Handbook of Individual Differences in Social Behaviour, in Leary M. R. and Hoyle R. H. (eds.), New York: Guilford., pp. 93–108.

Jordan, A. E. (2001) ‘College student cheating: The role of motivation, perceived norms, attitudes, and knowledge of institutional policy’, Ethics and Behaviour, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 233–247. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327019EB1103_3

Karácsony, P. (2020) ‘Analyzing the relationship between leadership style and corporate social responsibility in Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises’, Acta Spolytechnica Hungarica, Vol. 17, No. 7, pp. 183–198. https://doi.org/10.12700/aph.17.7.2020.7.10

Kaifi, A., Khanfar M., Noor O. and Poluka (2014) ‘International Business Students’ Understanding, Perception, and Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility: A Study Based Upon Gender, Generational Affiliation, and Culture’, Business and Management Research, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 34–42. https://doi.org/10.5430/bmr.v3n3p34

Kim, B. H. (2018) ‘Is narcissism sustainable in CEO leadership of state-owned enterprises?’, Sustainability, Vol. 10, No. 7, 2425. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072425

Király, G., Géring, Z., Chandler, N., Miskolczi, P., Kovács, K., Lovas, Y. and Csillag, S. (2018) ‘Csalással az élre? A hallgatói csalás vizsgálata az üzleti felsőoktatásban’, Vezetéstudomány / Budapest Management Review, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 28–40. https://doi.org/10.14267/veztud.2018.03.04

Kircaburun, K., Süral, Í., March, E., Balta, S., Emirtekin E. and Griffiths, M. D. (2021) ‘Study addiction and ‘dark’ personality traits: a cross-sectional survey study among emerging adults’, Journal of Addictive Diseases, Vol. 39, No. 3, 307–315, https://doi.org/10.1080/10550887.2021.1872469

Lašáková, A., Remišová, A. and Bohinská, A. (2021) ‘Best practices in ethics management: Insights from a qualitative study in Slovakia’, Business Ethics: A European Review, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 54–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12316

López-Miguens, M. J., Caballero, G. and Álvarez-González, P. (2021) ‘Responsibility of the university in the employability: Development and validation of a measurement scale across five studies’, Business Ethics: A European Review, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 143–156. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12319

Ludlum, M. and Moskaloinov, S. (2009) ‘Identifying Russia’s Corruption Problem: A College Student Survey’, Proceedings of the Academy for Studies in International Business, pp. 17–21.

Ludlum, M., Moskalionov, S. and Ramachandran, V. (2013) ‘Examining Ethical Behaviours by Business Students’, American International Journal of Contemporary Research, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 13–21.

Ludlum, M., Xu, W., Ramachandran, V. and Teeman, J. (2015) ‘Maturity, Gender, Parenthood And Ethical Orientation: A Three Campus Survey’, Mustang Journal of Business and Ethics, Vol. 8, pp. 67–78.

Luthar, H. K. and Karri, R. (2005) ‘Exposure to ethics education and the perception of linkage between organizational ethical behaviour and business outcomes’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 61, No. 4, pp. 353–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-1548-7

Mahmood, Z., Alonazi, W. B., Baloch, M. A. and Lodhi, R. N. (2021) ‘The dark triad and counterproductive work behaviours: A multiple mediation analysis’, Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Vol 34, No. 1, pp. 3321–3342. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2021.1874463

Maneiro, L., López-Romero, L., Gómez-Fraguela, J. A., Cutrín, O. and Romero, E. (2019) ‘Pursuing the Dark Triad: Psychometric properties of the Spanish Version of the Dirty Dozen’, Journal of Individual Differences, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 36–44. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/A000274

McCabe, D. L. and Bowers, W. J. (1996) ‘The Relationship between Student Cheating and College Fraternity or Sorority Membership’, NASPA Journal, Vol. 34, No. 4, pp. 280–291. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.1996.11072416

McCabe, D. L. and Trevino, L. K. (1993) ‘Academic Dishonesty: Honour Codes and Other Contextual Influences’, The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 64, No. 5, pp. 522–538. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.1993.11778446

McCabe, D. L. and Trevino, L. K. (1996) ‘What We Know About Cheating In College Longitudinal Trends and Recent Developments ’, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 28–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.1996.10544253

McCabe, D. L., Trevino, L. K. and Butterfield, K. D. (2001) ‘Cheating in academic institutions: A decade of research’, Ethics and Behaviour, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 219–232. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327019EB1103_2

Moore, C., Detert, J. R., Klebe Treviño, L., Baker, V. L. and Mayer, D. M. (2012) ‘Why Employees Do Bad Things: Moral Disengagement and Unethical Organizational Behavior’, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 65, No. 1, pp. 1–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1744-6570.2011.01237.X

Moosavi, S., Borhani, F. and Mohsenpour, M. (2016) ‘Ethical attitudes of nursing students at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran’, Indian journal of medical ethics, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 14–19. https://doi.org/10.20529/ijme.2017.003

Myung, J. K., Choi, Y. H. and Kim, J. D. (2017) ‘Effects of CEOs’ negative traits on corporate social responsibility’, Sustainability, Vol. 9, No. 4, 543. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9040543

Nishant, U. (2021) ‘What are you rating? Moderation effects of teachers’ traitedness and students’ agreeableness on curvilinear relationship between teachers’ Dark Triad and student’s rating of instructions’, Studies in Higher Education, Vol. 46, No. 4, pp. 796–806. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1652812

O’Boyle, E. H., Forsyth, D. R., Banks, G. C. and McDaniel, M. A. (2012) ‘A meta-analysis of the Dark Triad and work behaviour: A social exchange perspective’, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 97, No. 3, pp. 557–579. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025679

Olthuis, G. and Dekkers, W. (2003) ‘Medical education, palliative care and moral attitude: some objectives and future perspectives’, Medical education, Vol. 37, No. 10, pp. 928–933. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2003.01635.x

Olthuis, G. J. (2007) Who cares? An ethical study of the moral attitude of professionals in palliative care practice, Nijmegen: The Radboud University Nijmegen.

Onyedire, N. G., Chukwuorji, J. C., Orjiakor, T. C., Onu, D. U., Aneke, C. I. and Ifeagwazi, C. M. (2021) ‘Associations of Dark Triad traits and problem gambling: Moderating role of age among university students’, Current Psychology, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. 2083–2094. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-0093-3

Özeltürkay, E., Bozyiğit, S. and Gülmez, M. (2018) ‘Analyzing College Students’ Ethics Perceptions: A Pilot Study at A Foundation University in Turkey’, Çukurova Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 229–243.

Özsoy, E. (2018) ‘Dark Triad and Counterproductive Work Behaviors: Which of the Dark Triad Traits is More Malevolent?’, Journal of Business Research - Turk, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 742–756.

Paulhus, D. L. and Williams, K. M. (2002) ‘The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy’, Journal of Research in Personality, Vol. 36, No. 6, pp. 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6

Robbins, S. P. and Judge, T. A. (2013) Organizational Behaviour, 15th Edition, Boston: Parson.

Robbins, S. P. and Judge, T. A. (2019) Organizational Behaviour, 18th Global edition, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Rodzalan, S. A. and Saat, M. M. (2016) ‘Ethics of Undergraduate Students: A Study in Malaysian Public Universities’, International Journal of Information and Education Technology, Vol. 6, No. 9, 672–678. https://doi.org/10.7763/ijiet.2016.v6.772

Roeser, K., McGregor, V. E., Stegmaier, S., Mathew, J., Kübler, A. and Meule, A. (2016) ‘The Dark Triad of personality and unethical behaviour at different times of day’, Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 88, pp. 73–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.002

Ruch, W. A. and Newstrom, J. W. (1975) ‘How Unethical are We?’, Supervisory Management, pp. 16–21.

Sadaf, R., Oláh, J., Popp, J. and Máté, D. (2018) ‘An investigation of the influence of the worldwide governance and competitiveness on accounting fraud cases: A cross-country perspective’, Sustainability, Vol. 10, No. 3, 588. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030588

Schwartz, M. S. (2017) ‘Teaching behavioral ethics: Overcoming the key impediments to ethical behavior’, Journal of Management Education, Vol. 41, No. 4. pp. 297–513. https://doi.org/10.1177/1052562917701501

Selvalakshmi, M. and Mutharasi, P. (2017) ‘Ethical Perceptions of Business Management Students and the Role of Gender and Educational Background’, International Journal of Business Ethics in Developing Economies, Vol. 6, No. 1.

Sims, R. L. (1993) ‘The Relationship Between Academic Dishonesty and Unethical Business Practices’, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 68, No. 4, pp. 207–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/08832323.1993.10117614

Solomon, H. M. (2001) ‘Origins of the ethical attitude’, The Journal of Analytical Psychology, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1111/1465-5922.00256

Szegedi, K. (2001) A magyar vállalatok etikai értékenysége, [PhD thesis], Miskolc: University of Miskolc.

Vedel, A. and Thomsen, D. K. (2017) ‘The Dark Triad across academic majors’, Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 116, pp. 86–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.030

Vize, C. E., Lynam, D. R., Collison, K. L., Miller, J. D. (2018) ‘Differences among dark triad components: A meta-analytic investigation’, Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 101–111. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000222

Additional Files

Published

2023-09-23

How to Cite

Barizsné Hadházi, E., Filep, R., Kőmíves, P. M., Kun, A. I., Ujhelyi, M. and Dajnoki, K. (2023) ’Examination of the Correlation Between Ethical Attitudes and Dark Triad Personality Traits Among University Students ’, Journal on Efficiency and Responsibility in Education and Science, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 159–172. https://doi.org/10.7160/eriesj.2023.160301

Issue

Section

Research Paper