Date of Award
Fall 12-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department/Program
Forensic Psychology
Language
English
First Advisor or Mentor
Diana Falkenbach
Second Reader
Sean Murphy
Third Advisor
Erin Williams
Abstract
The Dark Triad is used to describe three distinct yet related personality traits: psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, which share several characteristics such as manipulation, exploitation, emotional coldness, and lack of empathy. The Dark Triad has been associated with several negative behaviors including infidelity and risky sexual behavior, however most of the current research focuses only on males high on the Dark Triad traits. The present study seeks to expand the literature by studying how the Dark Triad traits and online dating usage relate to the composite score of risky sexual behaviors. Further, we seek to examine if gender moderates this relationship. Participants consist of a community sample recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Participants were given an online survey that collected demographic information (age, gender, race, and sexual orientation), and measured the levels of the Dark Triad traits, online dating usage, and risky sexual behaviors. Results indicated that the Dark Triad traits and online dating were associated with more risky sexual behaviors. The implications will be discussed.
Recommended Citation
Boudreau, Rebecca, "Bumbling in the Dark: The Effect of the Dark Triad, Online Dating, and Gender on Risky Sexual Behaviors" (2018). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/jj_etds/96
Included in
Clinical Psychology Commons, Other Psychology Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons