The Dark Triad Traits and Fame Interest: Do Dark Personalities Desire Stardom?

Abstract

Popular media has become increasingly flooded with material concerning fame and celebrities. Although the fascination with fame is not a new phenomenon, the emergence of YouTube.com and reality television has led to the perception that fame is something that seemingly anyone can achieve. Researchers have examined the characteristics that are associated with the desire for fame and have found that narcissism is one of the most consistent predictors of fame interest. The goal of the present study was to extend previous research by examining how the additional two Dark Triad personality traits (i.e., psychopathy and Machiavellianism; Paulhus and Williams 2002) and another conceptualization of narcissism (i.e., grandiose and vulnerable forms of pathological narcissism) relate to aspects of fame interest among 569 undergraduate students. Facets of psychopathy and narcissism were associated with multiple aspects of fame interest, whereas Machiavellianism was negatively associated with desiring fame for altruistic purposes only. Discussion focuses on possible explanations for the associations that the Dark Triad personality traits had with the six dimensions of fame interest.

Appendices

Appendix A

Path Model Accounting for Shared Variance Between Dimensions of Fame Interest by Extracting a Common “Fame-Seeking” Factor

The model is displayed in Fig. 2 and the standardized path coefficients are presented in Table 4.

Fig. 2

Path model of the associations that the Dark Triad personality features had with dimensions of fame interest. Note: Rectangles indicate measured variables and circles indicate disturbance terms. The positive significant associations are indicated by solid black arrows, negative significant associations are indicated by dashed black arrows, and nonsignificant associations are indicated by dashed grey arrows. The significant correlations among the predictor variables (i.e., the Dark Triad personality features) and outcome variables (i.e., dimensions of fame interest) are indicated by solid curved bidirectional arrows and nonsignificant correlations are represented by dashed curved bidirectional arrows

Table 4 Standardized path coefficients predicting dimensions of fame interest using Dark Triad personality features

Appendix B

Separate Path Analyses for Men and Women Predicting Dimensions of Fame Interest Using the Dark Triad

In order to account for shared variability between the dimensions of fame interest, we allowed the error terms associated with each dimension of fame interest to be correlated in each of these three models. Our first model included interaction terms between each dark personality feature and sex of participant in order to investigate possible differences between men and women. Standardized path coefficients for these interactions are presented in Table 5. Significant interactions emerged between sex and secondary psychopathy for the perceived suitability, intensity, drive, and vulnerability dimensions of fame interest. No other interactions between dark personality features and participant sex were significant. Next, in order to probe these interactions and examine any other differences between men and women in the relationships between dark personality features and dimensions of fame interest, we conducted separate path analyses for men and women. These models are displayed in Panels A and B of Fig. 3 and standardized path coefficients are presented in Table 6.

Table 5 Standardized path coefficients for interactions between dark personality features and participant sex predicting dimensions of fame interest

Fig. 3

Path models of the associations that the dark personality features had with dimensions of fame interest. Note: Panel A depicts associations for women and Panel B depicts associations for men. Rectangles indicate measured variables and circles indicate disturbance terms. The positive significant associations are indicated by solid black arrows, negative significant associations are indicated by dashed black arrows, and nonsignificant associations are indicated by dashed grey arrows. The significant correlations among the predictor variables (i.e., dark personality features) and outcome variables (i.e., dimensions of fame interest) are indicated by solid curved bidirectional arrows and nonsignificant correlations are represented by dashed curved bidirectional arrows

Table 6 Standardized path coefficients predicting dimensions of fame interest using dark personality features

Secondary psychopathy was positively related to the celebrity lifestyle dimension of fame interest for both men and women, suggesting that individuals high in secondary psychopathy desire the celebrity lifestyle regardless of biological sex. The association between secondary psychopathy and the intensity dimension of fame interest was positive for both men and women, although this association was stronger for men suggesting that both men and women higher in secondary psychopathy intensely desire fame, but this desire is stronger for men. Finally, secondary psychopathy was positively associated with the perceived suitability, drive, and vulnerability dimensions of fame interest in men only. These results may suggest that, although both men and women higher in secondary psychopathy are similar in their desire for the flashy aspects of the celebrity lifestyle and also intensely desire fame, only men higher in this dark personality feature view themselves are possessing characteristics suitable for fame, report working to achieve fame status, and desire this status for reasons of enhancing feelings of self-worth. Perhaps women are attracted to the lifestyle of celebrities and find it desirable, but doubt that they would ever be able to achieve fame status because they do not view themselves as possessing suitable characteristics for fame. This doubt could potentially be a reason that women higher in secondary psychopathy did not report working hard to achieve fame or desiring fame for reasons of improving feelings of self-worth.

Another possibility for the sex difference in patterns of association between secondary psychopathy and dimensions of fame interest could possibly be related to sex differences in the value of risk-taking. Following evolutionary accounts of secondary psychopathy (e.g., Mealey 1995), individuals high in this dark personality feature may adopt a fast life history strategy and may be more likely to engage in risk-taking (Lyons 2015; McDonald et al. 2012). Further, men have been found to be more likely to take risks in a number of domains to achieve higher status and attract mates, possibly because they may stand to benefit more, reproductively speaking, from these risks (Wang et al. 2009). If striving to achieve fame status can be considered a form of risk-taking, as the vast majority of individuals to seek fame status do not achieve it, then the current results are in line with previous research finding that men are more likely to take these sorts of risks (e.g., Wang et al. 2009). It is important to note that these explanations are purely speculation.