ArticleFrontiers in psychology2026
Spiritual well-being and "dark" personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Introduction: The study of human well-being and its contributing factors remains a central concern in psychological science. One under-researched area involves the relationship between spiritual well-being-an integrative indicator of health and life satisfaction-and "Dark Personality" traits: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism. No prior studies have explored this relationship within the Russian population, largely due to the absence of a validated instrument for assessing spiritual well-being. The present study attempts to address this empirical void. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between spiritual well-being and Dark Tetrad traits in a Russian-speaking sample. Materials and methods: The empirical sample consisted of 959 Russian-speaking participants (761 women and 198 men; M age = 38.6, SD = 14). Spiritual well-being was assessed using the Results: The correlational analysis supported the hypothesis of a negative association between spiritual well-being and Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism. However, univariate and multivariate regression analyses revealed more complex interactions. For the RWB subscale measured by the SWBS, analysis indicated a significant shift in the association with psychopathy: from negative ( Conclusion: The spiritual well-being is systematically and negatively associated with the common core of dark personality (D-core). Sadism emerges as the most potent negative predictor, underscoring a fundamental incompatibility between pleasure in cruelty and spiritual health. While Psychopathy and Machiavellianism also reflect this harmful core, Narcissism presents a nuanced picture: its negative association is attributable to its shared variance with the D-core, whereas its residual, agentic components can positively support existential and spiritual well-being. These findings highlight that spiritual well-being is particularly sensitive to the underlying motivational core of dark traits, being eroded by configurations centered on callous self-interest but capable of integrating more adaptive, self-assured qualities.
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