Psychometric validation of Dark Tetrad at Work scale in an Indian context

Dark Tetrad at Work (DTW) scale is a relatively new instrument used for assessing four dark personality traits, namely; Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy and Sadism. In an attempt to psychometrically validate and check its suitability for exploring dark traits among Indian employees, we carr...

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Main Authors: Akash Dubey, Rajneesh Choubisa, Jerin V. Philipose
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Acta Psychologica
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825002318
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author Akash Dubey
Rajneesh Choubisa
Jerin V. Philipose
author_facet Akash Dubey
Rajneesh Choubisa
Jerin V. Philipose
author_sort Akash Dubey
collection DOAJ
description Dark Tetrad at Work (DTW) scale is a relatively new instrument used for assessing four dark personality traits, namely; Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy and Sadism. In an attempt to psychometrically validate and check its suitability for exploring dark traits among Indian employees, we carried out this two phased study. In the first phase, a total of N = 526 participants working in the government run businesses responded to the scale that was distributed via an online and offline approach. We performed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on the phase one dataset to test the factor structure and additionally ran correlations and multiple regressions to check the criterion-related validity with organizational constructs such as job burnout and flourishing. We resumed data collection after a small gap and initiated second phase of data collection acquiring a new dataset of N = 222 respondents. We performed Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on this dataset to examine and validate the factor structure obtained through exploratory factor analysis. The results from the first phase suggested a four-factor solution with best fit and significant factor loadings for all the four factors of the scale, including acceptable convergent and discriminant validity ratios. Our second phase results validated the four-factor solution highlighting good fit indices and suggesting the dark tetrad at work scale can be used to check dark traits in Indian milieu. We highlight limitations of this research and provide future research recommendations advocating translations, cross-cultural, multi-sectoral, exhaustive explorations of the scale to better comprehend the phenomenon.
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spelling doaj-art-e95a263ed14e45c4a2ee9bd4848092bc2025-08-20T02:11:57ZengElsevierActa Psychologica0001-69182025-05-0125510491810.1016/j.actpsy.2025.104918Psychometric validation of Dark Tetrad at Work scale in an Indian contextAkash Dubey0Rajneesh Choubisa1Jerin V. Philipose2Corresponding author at: 6168-P, New Academic Building, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Rajasthan, India.; Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, IndiaDepartment of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, IndiaDepartment of Humanities and Social Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, IndiaDark Tetrad at Work (DTW) scale is a relatively new instrument used for assessing four dark personality traits, namely; Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy and Sadism. In an attempt to psychometrically validate and check its suitability for exploring dark traits among Indian employees, we carried out this two phased study. In the first phase, a total of N = 526 participants working in the government run businesses responded to the scale that was distributed via an online and offline approach. We performed Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on the phase one dataset to test the factor structure and additionally ran correlations and multiple regressions to check the criterion-related validity with organizational constructs such as job burnout and flourishing. We resumed data collection after a small gap and initiated second phase of data collection acquiring a new dataset of N = 222 respondents. We performed Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on this dataset to examine and validate the factor structure obtained through exploratory factor analysis. The results from the first phase suggested a four-factor solution with best fit and significant factor loadings for all the four factors of the scale, including acceptable convergent and discriminant validity ratios. Our second phase results validated the four-factor solution highlighting good fit indices and suggesting the dark tetrad at work scale can be used to check dark traits in Indian milieu. We highlight limitations of this research and provide future research recommendations advocating translations, cross-cultural, multi-sectoral, exhaustive explorations of the scale to better comprehend the phenomenon.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825002318Dark TetradPersonalityIndian organizationsExploratory factor analysisConfirmatory factor analysis
spellingShingle Akash Dubey
Rajneesh Choubisa
Jerin V. Philipose
Psychometric validation of Dark Tetrad at Work scale in an Indian context
Acta Psychologica
Dark Tetrad
Personality
Indian organizations
Exploratory factor analysis
Confirmatory factor analysis
title Psychometric validation of Dark Tetrad at Work scale in an Indian context
title_full Psychometric validation of Dark Tetrad at Work scale in an Indian context
title_fullStr Psychometric validation of Dark Tetrad at Work scale in an Indian context
title_full_unstemmed Psychometric validation of Dark Tetrad at Work scale in an Indian context
title_short Psychometric validation of Dark Tetrad at Work scale in an Indian context
title_sort psychometric validation of dark tetrad at work scale in an indian context
topic Dark Tetrad
Personality
Indian organizations
Exploratory factor analysis
Confirmatory factor analysis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825002318
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