Do People with High Dark Triad Tend to Litter?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between littering behavior and Dark Triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy). Forty-one college students (average age=19.83 years, SD=1.11; 9 males, 32 females) were assigned randomly into either a clean or a dirty laboratory condition, and participated in an experiment to assess their littering behavior. Results of Bayesian logistic regression analysis that predicted the littering index, indicated that cumulative probabilities that the odds ratio for narcissism and psychopathy exceed 1 in posterior distribution under dirty condition were 84% and 87%, respectively. The results of the present study showed that the Dark Triad personality traits may be related to littering behaviors, while previous studies focused on manipulations of condition.