Investigating the overlapping concepts of the Dark Core and the General Factor of Personality

The current study explored the relationship between the Dark Core of personality and the General Factor of Personality (GFP), employing two samples. Sample 1 included 1066 adults from three U.S. universities, assessed with the HEXACO-100 and Short Dark Triad, while Sample 2 comprised 1052 Amazon Mechanical Turk workers, evaluated with Dark Triad measures and the IPIP-NEO-120. We used confirmatory factor analysis, principal component analysis, and principal axis factoring to examine the structure of the GFP and Dark Core and their interrelation. Our findings revealed distinct yet interrelated higher-order structures, with negative correlations characterizing the relationship between the Dark Core and GFP. This study aids in understanding complex personality dynamics, highlighting the need to consider adaptive and maladaptive traits in research. The findings have implications for refining personality models and shed light on the coexistence of constructive and destructive traits in individuals. Future research should further investigate these constructs in diverse samples using multifaceted assessment approaches to deepen our grasp of personality structure and its behavioral impact.