Dark personality and emotional abuse in intimate relationships: the role of gender, jealousy and attitude for violence

The Dark Personality (DP) refers to a combination of three specific traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy—characterized by a focus on self-centered goals, lack of empathy, manipulative behavior, and a tendency for abusive conduct in interpersonal relationships. Recently, sadism has been added to these traits and seems to play a key role in the development of abusive behaviors. DP has been linked to various forms of intimate partner violence (IPV), but the relationship between DP, jealousy, violence tolerance and emotional abuse in the general population is still poorly studied. Objectives. The aim is to investigate the role of DP, jealousy and attitude toward IPV on the development of emotional abuse in intimate relationships, highlighting gender differences, if any. Methods. 491 participants (52% female; age 18-62) recruited from social networks, completed an online survey. Participants were provided with socio-demographic information and self-report measures assessing DP, attitudes toward IPV, perpetrated emotional abuse, and jealousy. Results. Correlational analyses revealed positive associations between DP and emotional abuse, jealousy, and attitude toward IPV. Gender differences in the study variables suggested that men showed higher levels of DP and tolerance for violence, while women scored higher in the jealousy, denigration, and restrictive engulfment scales. Regression Analysis showed that female gender, age, DP, and jealousy accounted for 29% of the variance of the perpetrated emotional abuse. Conclusion. Our findings emphasize the need for prevention and intervention programs tailored to individual characteristics such as DP, jealousy and the individual’s operational functioning, addressing IPV concerns in both women and men.