Donald Trump viewed as higher in Dark Tetrad traits than Joe Biden, study finds [View all]

A new study published in the Journal of Research in Personality highlights how perceptions of dark tetrad traits—Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism—in politicians influence voter behavior, focusing on the 2020 U.S. presidential election, comparing perceptions of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

While prior research has studied voters’ personalities, this study centered on the perceived traits of political leaders. Monika Prusik was motivated by global political trends, including the rise of populism and the personalization of politics, to investigate how these traits might affect electoral outcomes.

The study included 456 American participants recruited from MTurk (ages 20-70, 42.2% Democrats, 45.7% Republicans). Participants rated the dark tetrad traits of Trump and Biden using an adapted version of the Short Dark Tetrad scale, assessing each trait separately for both candidates. This 28-item scale included questions such as “This presidential candidate believes it’s unwise to let people know his secrets” for Machiavellianism and “This presidential candidate likes to show off every now and then” for narcissism. Participants rated each item for both candidates on a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. They also reported their willingness to vote for each candidate. Sociodemographic information, such as political affiliation and education, were also collected.

Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden were perceived as exhibiting dark tetrad traits, though the degree and nature of these traits varied between candidates. Trump was rated significantly higher than Biden on narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism, whereas Machiavellianism was attributed to both candidates at similar levels. These perceptions were strongly influenced by political affiliation.

https://www.psypost.org/donald-trump-viewed-as-higher-in-dark-tetrad-traits-than-joe-biden-study-finds/