The Dark Triad Traits and Suicide Risk in Turkish University Students

Abstract: Aim: It is important to identify the factors associated with suicide risk. This study examines how depression mediates the relationship between the Dark Triad personality traits and suicide risk. Methods: We collected data from 448 Turkish university students (mean age=21.14 ± 1.97; female...

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Main Authors: Gülçin Güler Öztekin, Hülya Örki, Abdulmohsen Mohammed Abdullah Alkhulayfi, Murat Yıldırım
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hogrefe Publishing Group 2025-07-01
Series:European Journal of Psychology Open
Subjects:
Online Access:https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1024/2673-8627/a000083
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author Gülçin Güler Öztekin
Hülya Örki
Abdulmohsen Mohammed Abdullah Alkhulayfi
Murat Yıldırım
author_facet Gülçin Güler Öztekin
Hülya Örki
Abdulmohsen Mohammed Abdullah Alkhulayfi
Murat Yıldırım
author_sort Gülçin Güler Öztekin
collection DOAJ
description Abstract: Aim: It is important to identify the factors associated with suicide risk. This study examines how depression mediates the relationship between the Dark Triad personality traits and suicide risk. Methods: We collected data from 448 Turkish university students (mean age=21.14 ± 1.97; females 72.8%) using an online survey that included the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen Scale, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, and the Suicide Probability Scale. Results: The findings indicated that Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism positively correlated with depression, low self-perception, anger/impulsivity, hopelessness/loneliness, and suicidal ideation. Depression was more associated with Machiavellianism and psychopathy than with suicide ideation. Depression was found to have a significant positive relationship with suicide probability and acted as a mediator between the Dark Triad personality traits and suicide risk. There were stronger direct pathways from psychopathy to suicide ideation than to impulsivity. Discussion/conclusion: These results suggest that the combination of the Dark Triad traits and depression could increase the probability of suicide. Our study highlights the importance of addressing both Dark Triad traits and psychological distress, such as depression, in efforts to reduce suicide risk among university students.
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publishDate 2025-07-01
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series European Journal of Psychology Open
spelling doaj-art-f8a042a016bb45faab8236054cee854b2025-08-20T03:14:47ZengHogrefe Publishing GroupEuropean Journal of Psychology Open2673-86272025-07-0110.1024/2673-8627/a000083The Dark Triad Traits and Suicide Risk in Turkish University StudentsGülçin Güler Öztekin0Hülya Örki1Abdulmohsen Mohammed Abdullah Alkhulayfi2Murat Yıldırım3Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Agri Ibrahim Cecen University, Ağrı, TurkeyDepartment of Sociology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Agri Ibrahim Cecen University, Ağrı, TurkeyDepartment of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administration, King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Science and Letters, Agri Ibrahim Cecen University, Ağrı, TurkeyAbstract: Aim: It is important to identify the factors associated with suicide risk. This study examines how depression mediates the relationship between the Dark Triad personality traits and suicide risk. Methods: We collected data from 448 Turkish university students (mean age=21.14 ± 1.97; females 72.8%) using an online survey that included the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen Scale, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, and the Suicide Probability Scale. Results: The findings indicated that Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism positively correlated with depression, low self-perception, anger/impulsivity, hopelessness/loneliness, and suicidal ideation. Depression was more associated with Machiavellianism and psychopathy than with suicide ideation. Depression was found to have a significant positive relationship with suicide probability and acted as a mediator between the Dark Triad personality traits and suicide risk. There were stronger direct pathways from psychopathy to suicide ideation than to impulsivity. Discussion/conclusion: These results suggest that the combination of the Dark Triad traits and depression could increase the probability of suicide. Our study highlights the importance of addressing both Dark Triad traits and psychological distress, such as depression, in efforts to reduce suicide risk among university students.https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1024/2673-8627/a000083Dark Triaddepressionsuicide probabilityuniversity students
spellingShingle Gülçin Güler Öztekin
Hülya Örki
Abdulmohsen Mohammed Abdullah Alkhulayfi
Murat Yıldırım
The Dark Triad Traits and Suicide Risk in Turkish University Students
European Journal of Psychology Open
Dark Triad
depression
suicide probability
university students
title The Dark Triad Traits and Suicide Risk in Turkish University Students
title_full The Dark Triad Traits and Suicide Risk in Turkish University Students
title_fullStr The Dark Triad Traits and Suicide Risk in Turkish University Students
title_full_unstemmed The Dark Triad Traits and Suicide Risk in Turkish University Students
title_short The Dark Triad Traits and Suicide Risk in Turkish University Students
title_sort dark triad traits and suicide risk in turkish university students
topic Dark Triad
depression
suicide probability
university students
url https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1024/2673-8627/a000083
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