The Dark Triad and the seven deadly sins
Livia Veselka, Erica A. Giammarco, Philip A. Vernon
The present study reports on the development and validation of the Vices and Virtues Scales (VAVS), which assesses individual differences in the propensity to engage in the seven deadly sins. Item-level analyses, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted on two independent samples of adults. Results indicated that all items composing the scale are psychometrically sound, and some evidence was found in support of the measure’s seven-factor structure. Further analyses of the VAVS subscales and the Dark Triad traits revealed significant positive correlations between nearly all traits assessed. Implications of these findings for the Dark Triad cluster and the overall comprehensiveness of contemporary personality frameworks are discussed.
