The Nomological Network of the Short Dark Tetrad Scale (SD4)

Abstract

The present study examined the nomological network of the Short Dark Tetrad scale (SD4). The SD4 measures narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism. We translated the original English SD4 into German and used an online sample (N = 594, 77% women) to investigate its nomological network with regard to the Big Five, honesty-humility, maladaptive personality traits, impulsivity, aggression, motives, values, sociosexual orientation, the octants of the interpersonal circumplex model, and self-esteem. The overall profile similarities between the observed and hypothesized nomological networks were very high. Few correlations differed concerning direction or magnitude. Hence, our study extends the nomological network of the Dark Tetrad in a meaningful way and suggests that the SD4 can be validly interpreted and used for the assessment of narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism.