ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 1
Assortative Mating for Dark Triad Traits:
Evidence of Positive, Initial, and Active Assortment
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 2
Abstract
Assortative mating for Dark Triad (DT) traits was examined in a sample of 100 heterosexual
dating couples. Three hypotheses regarding positive versus negative assortment, initial
assortment versus convergence, and active assortment versus social homogamy were tested.
All hypotheses were examined using both variable-centered approaches (VCA) and couplecentered approaches (CCA). Both approaches found modest to moderate degrees of positive
assortment for all DT measures, suggesting the highest positive assortment for
Machiavellianism, followed by psychopathy and Narcissism. Structural modelling also
suggested moderate degrees of positive assortment for men's and women's latent DT
constructs. As expected, results supported the initial assortment hypothesis, meaning that
couples were already similar in DT at the beginning of their relationships and did not
converge during their relationship. Similarity was not due to background variables such as age
and education (e.g., social homogamy), supporting active assortment or preferences for
mating with a partner who is similar in personality. Overall, the results converged with other
findings documenting that in mate selection contexts similarity in personality appears to be
more important than complementarity, even for socially undesirable traits such as
Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and psychopathy.
Keywords: Assortative mating, Dark Triad traits, initial assortment versus convergence, active
assortment versus social homogamy, variable-centered approach, couple-centered approach
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 3
Assortative Mating for Dark Triad Traits:
Evidence of Positive, Initial, and Active Assortment
Assortative mating is defined as nonrandom coupling of individuals based on their
resemblance to each other on one or more characteristics (Buss, 1984). Research in this
domain typically examines the degree of similarity (i.e., positive assortment) versus
complementarity (i.e., negative assortment) of partner characteristics, and whether different
types of assortment influence romantic relationship outcomes. Positive assortment for
numerous characteristics such as intelligence, attitudes, interests, and personality traits has
been found, often being linked to positive relationship outcomes such as satisfaction and
quality (Blum & Mehrabian, 1999; Decuyper, De Bolle & De Fruyt, 2012; Luo, Chen, Yue,
Zhang, Zhaoyang, & Xu, 2008; Luo & Klohnen, 2005; Morry, Kito, & Ortiz, 2011; Schmitt,
2002), though not always (Dyrenforth, Kashy, Donnellan, & Lucas, 2010). Additional
scientific rationale for examining romantic relationship assortment and its consequences
exists in domains related to human genetics. For instance, assortative mating may increase
genetic variance in populations with offspring differing more from the average than they
would if mating were random (Domingue, Fletcher, Conley, & Boardman, 2014).
Furthermore, assortment affects estimates of heritability because it increases correlations for
first degree relatives, and if not taken into account, could inflate heritability estimates in
behavioral genetics research (Plomin, DeFries, Knopik, & Neiderhiser, 2013).
Previous studies show the strongest evidence of positive assortment for age (Verbakel
& Kalmijn, 2014), followed by political and religious attitudes, education, intelligence,
values, and personality traits (Watson et al., 2004). For personality traits, many studies have
examined assortment across the comprehensive dimensions of the Big Five (or five-factor
model). McCrae (1996) reported significant positive assortment in married couples for
Openness and Conscientiousness, whereas Botwin, Buss and Shackelford (1997) found low
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 4
levels of positive assortment for Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Intellect-Openness.
Watson, Hubbard, and Wiese (2000) obtained similarity correlations on the Big Five traits
ranging from 0.07 for Conscientiousness to 0.36 for Openness in the dating couples, and from
0.06 for Neuroticism to 0.23 for Extraversion in the married couples. In contrast, Watson et
al. (2004) found some evidence of complementarity for Big Five traits in a sample of
newlywed couples. Extraversion, for instance, displayed significant negative assortment for
both the self-ratings (-0.17) and spouse-ratings (-0.14). Additional analyses on the level of
latent variables showed evidence of modest positive assortment for Neuroticism, Openness,
and Agreeableness. Examining cultural influences on assortative mating, McCrae et al. (2008)
found generally small positive assortment effects across cultures, with correlations greater
than 0.40 for Openness and Agreeableness domains. In a sample of newlyweds, Luo and
Klohnen (2005) found little or lack of assortment for five-factor personality traits. Overall,
most studies show low to moderate positive assortment (i.e., similarity) for Big Five
personality traits with the strongest and most consistent evidence of similarity for Openness.
Positive assortment also has been found for various socially undesirable psychological
attributes, such as antisocial behaviors (Krueger, Moffit, Caspi, Bleske, & Silva, 1998),
substance use disorders (Low, Cui, & Merikangas, 2007), bipolar disorder and major
depression (Mathews & Reus, 2001), as well as “Dark Triad” (DT) personality traits such as
psychoticism (Dubuis-Stadelmann, Fenton, Ferrero, & Preisig, 2001). Indeed, all three of the
DT personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and psychopathy; Paulhus &
Williams, 2002) have been linked to antisocial interpersonal behaviors generally (e.g.,
bullying; Chabrol, Van Leeuwen, Rodgers, & Séjourné, 2009) and specifically to negative
romantic relationship dynamics and outcomes (Jonason, Li, & Buss, 2010). If DT traits are
associated with negative romantic relationship outcomes, it might seem maladaptive for
people to actively choose to assort along these dimensions. In terms of friendships, evidence
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 5
suggest DT individuals help each other enact exploitative social strategies (Jonason &
Schmitt, 2008), but within the same romantic relationship the adaptive rationale of choosing a
partner high in DT traits remains unclear.
There have been few studies on assortative mating for individual DT traits, but extant
evidence suggests that romantic partners assort positively for these traits. Savard, Sabourin
and Lussier (2011), for instance, found positive assortative mating for global (0.32), primary
(0.33) and secondary (0.18) psychopathy among a sample of 140 married and cohabiting
young couples. Veronica Smith et al. (2014) found positive assortment for Machiavellianism
(0.28), psychopathy (0.39), and the overall level of DT (0.28), with a slight negative
assortment for narcissism (-0.23) among a sample of 45 heterosexual exclusive dating
couples. Asquith, Lyons, Watson and Jonason (2013) found positive assortment preferences
for all DT traits in long-term mating contexts, and for Machiavellianism and psychopathy in
short-term mating contexts among a sample of women who rated fictional males described as
high or low on DT traits. Overall, it appears that romantic partners seek out and eventually
mate with partners who are similar to themselves in DT traits.
One of the most important questions left unanswered by previous investigations is
whether the significant assortative mating observed for DT traits is due to initial assortment
(i.e., couples are already similar in DT in the beginning of their relationship) or convergence
(i.e., couples become more similar in DT over time). A related question is whether similarity
correlations reflect active assortment (i.e., a preference for mating with a partner who is
similar on a particular DT characteristic) or social homogamy (i.e., indirect influences on
partner similarity due to common social environment; see Watson et al., 2004).
Current evidence for most personality traits provides stronger support for initial
assortment rather than convergence (Gonzaga, Carter, & Galen Buckwalter, 2010). For
example, similarity for various personality traits has been documented among samples of
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 6
newly dating couples and newlyweds who have yet had time enough for their personalities to
converge (Bleske-Rechek, Remiker, & Baker, 2009; Luo & Klohnen, 2005; Watson et al.,
2004). It also has been shown that the length of relationship among established couples does
not moderate the degree of couple similarity for personality traits (Humbad, Donnellan,
Iacono, McGue, & Burt, 2010). Moreover, relatively few longitudinal studies have found any
evidence of convergence for personality traits such as Agreeableness, Conscientiousness,
Openness (Rammstedt & Schupp, 2008), as well as, self-esteem (Bleske-Rechek et al., 2009).
Regarding active assortment versus social homogamy as the key driving force behind couple
similarity, previous research have shown that similarity in personality traits between partners
is not due to the indirect background variables such as age and education (Luo & Klohnen,
2005; Nagoshi & Johnson, 1994; Watson et al., 2004).
There are two methodological approaches concerning assortative mating, variablecentered approaches (VCA) and couple-centered approaches (CCA; Luo & Klohnen, 2005).
VCA is based on correlation between partners’ scores on the same characteristic (e.g., values,
personality traits, intelligence) across all couples in a sample. This approach has some
important limitations (Luo & Klohnen, 2005). Namely, the correlations obtained tell us about
the similarity of the samples of men and women, but not about the similarity of any specific
couple. Consequently, it is difficult to examine weather couple similarity or complementarity
is related to various relationship outcomes, which is possible by using CCA.
In this study, assortative mating for DT traits was investigated on the sample of 100
heterosexual dating couples using both VCA and CCA approaches. Additionally, three
hypotheses (positive versus negative assortment; initial assortment versus convergence; and
active assortment versus social homogamy) were tested. On the basis of previous results on
assortative mating for personality traits, Hypothesis 1 states that we expect modest positive
assortment (i.e., similarity) for all DT measures. Hypothesis 2 expects that initial assortment
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 7
(and not convergence) in DT will be observed across couples. This second hypothesis was
based on past research showing little evidence of convergence in personality traits and the fact
that DT traits in particular are especially stable over time (e.g., Lyman et al., 2009).
Hypothesis 3 states we expect stronger support for active assortment rather than social
homogamy. In all cases, we expected confirmation of hypotheses using both VCA and CCA
analytic techniques.
Method
Participants and procedure
A total of 100 heterosexual romantic couples were recruited by snowball sampling.
The inclusion criteria for the study required that couples had been in romantic relationship no
less than 6 months. At the time of assessment the relationship lengths ranged from 6 months
to 11 years (M = 3.5 years; SD = 3.76 years), and 23% of couples were currently living
together.
The participants' age ranged from 18 to 31 years (M = 24.57 years, SD = 3.16 for men;
M = 23.20 years, SD = 2.57 for women). The sample was fairly well educated: 55% of men
and 67% of women had university degree, 8% of men and 13% of women had college
education, while 37% of men and 20% of women had high school education. Out of the whole
sample, 13% of men and 11% of women were employed, 43% of men and 66% of women
unemployed, while 44% of men and 23% of women were university students.
All participants provided informed consent and then completed a series of
questionnaires. Each assessment session lasted from 35 to 45 minutes and included one
couple. To ensure independent responding while completing the questionnaires, each
participant sat at a separate desk.
Measures
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 8
Psychopathy was measured by the 31-item Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-III
(Paulhus, Hemphill, & Hare, 2012; Williams, Paulhus, & Hare, 2007). Participants rated how
much they agreed with each statement (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).
Narcissism was measured with the 40-item Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin
& Terry, 1988). For each item participants chose one of two statements they felt applied to
them more. The total number of narcissistic statements the participants endorsed was used as
an index of narcissism.
Machiavellianism was assessed with the 20-item MACH-IV (Christie & Geis, 1970).
Participants indicated how much they agreed with each statement (-3 = strongly disagree, +3
= completely agree).
A DT composite was computed by standardizing overall scores on each measure and
then averaging all three together (Jonason, Li, Webster, & Schmitt, 2009). All three measures
loaded well (> 0.75) on a single factor that accounted for 61.65% of the variance (Eigen =
1.85).
Results
The results of VCA analyses are presented first. Descriptive statistics for DT traits,
age, and years of education for women and men are presented in Table 1. Men scored
significantly higher on psychopathy (d = 0,74), Narcissism (d = 0,36), Machiavellianism (d =
0,35), and the overall DT composite (d = 0,61). Men also were older than women and
somewhat less educated.
The relationship between DT traits and their correlations with age, years of education,
and relationship length on women and men are presented in Table 2. Correlations between DT
traits were positively and mainly moderately related in both samples, supporting Hypothesis
1. Years of education and relationship length were not related to any of the DT traits, while
men's age was positively related with psychopathy.
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 9
Similar to previous research (Watson et al., 2004), high positive assortment was found
for age (r(98) = 0.74; p < 0.001), and to a lesser degree for years of education (r(98) = 0.28; p
< 0.01). Further, in order to assess assortative mating, the correlations between men and
women for DT traits were computed. The initial assortment versus convergence hypothesis
was tested by partialling out the effects of the length of relationship, while active assortment
versus social homogamy hypothesis was tested by partialling out the effects of six variables:
age and years of education of men and women as well as interaction terms of these two
variables computed from centered values (Watson et al., 2004). The correlations and partial
correlations obtained are presented in Table 3.
The results showed significant positive assortative mating for all DT measures, the
lowest for Narcissism (r(98) = 0.20, p < .05), and the highest for Machiavellianism (r(98) =
0.40, p < .001). As expected, results supported initial assortment rather than convergence
(supporting Hypothesis 2) as partialling out the length of relationship led to almost identical
cross-partner correlations between men and women. Partialling out six variables related to age
and years of education also led to minimal changes in the correlations between men and
women, which confirmed active assortment rather than social homogamy as the source of
why people tend to assort in romantic partnerships (supporting Hypothesis 3).
Considering the patterns across specific DT traits, the only statistically significant nondiagonal correlations were those between psychopathy in men and Machiavellianism in
women. The size of these correlations were almost the same as those indicating positive
assortment for psychopathy. These results suggest that couples did not match only according
to similarity in specific traits, but sometimes according to other DT traits.
The degree of assortative mating was also assessed by computing the relationship
between two latent constructs (men's and women's DT) using structural equation modelling
(LISREL 8.30; Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1999). Two models were tested, both of them
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 10
hypothesizing that three DT traits are saturated by the same latent variable. The first model
hypothesized that men's and women's latent DT constructs are orthogonal (no assortative
mating), while the second model hypothesized that they are obliquely related (assortative
mating). Goodness-of-fit indices for both tested models are presented in Table 4.
Indications of the good model fit are normed fit index (NFI), comparative fit index
(CFI) and goodness of fit index (GFI) ≥ .90, root mean square error of approximation
(RMSEA) ≤ .08 and root mean square residual (RMR) ≤ .10 (Hu & Bentler, 1999; Kline,
1998; Schermelleh-Engel, Moosbrugger, & Müller, 2003). Because the chi-square statistic is
conservative and sensible to sample size, it is therefore rarely nonsignificant in larger
samples. Several authors suggest that χ2/df can also be calculated (normed χ2; NC), and values
of less than 3 are considered favorable (Kline, 1998).
Generally, goodness-of-fit indices suggested that oblique model was better than
orthogonal, which was also confirmed by the quantitative comparison of the two models (∆χ2
= 6.80; df = 1; p < 0.01). However, Δχ2 as the index of difference in fit has been criticized
because of its sensitivity to sample size. There is evidence that ΔCFI is not prone to this
problem and some authors suggest that a ΔCFI value higher than 0.01 is indicative of a
significant drop in fit (Hu & Bentler, 1990). The obtained ΔCFI is 0.07, which also speaks in
favor of oblique model and confirms the hypothesis of assortative mating. The oblique model
is presented in Figure 1.
To test whether there was evidence of assortative mating by using CCA, we computed
intra-pair correlation coefficients across all items on each of the DT personality measures.
Because of different factors such as shared cultural values, social desirability and response
bias that influence the individuals' tendency to be more similar than dissimilar, there is a need
for careful evaluation of the actual degree of couples' similarity (Luo & Klohnen, 2005).
Therefore, we computed intra-pair correlations on each of the three DT questionnaire on 300
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 11
male-female random generated couples, and tested the statistical difference in similarity
means between real and random couples using one sample t-test. The mean of 300 randomly
paired couples similarities served as the population mean against which the real couple
similarity was compared. The sample of 300 couples was chosen because recent research
indicate that correlations stabilize on minimum of 250 participants (Schönbrodt & Perugini,
2013). Table 5 presents descriptive statistics obtained for real and randomly generated couples
and the results of one-sample t-tests.
One-sample t-tests show significantly higher mean intra-pair similarity in real
compared to random couples for each DT traits. Generally, medium effect sizes were
obtained, the greatest was for Machivellianism. In order to examine how many real and
random couples mated assortatively, we analyzed the percent of significant correlations on
each trait. None of the real couples showed negative assortative mating on DT traits, and only
for psychopathy was there one significant negative correlation for random couples. There
were 76.8% of real couples with positive assortment for psychopathy and 63% of random
couples (χ2 = 5.99; df = 1; p = 0.014). For narcissism, 31% of real couples, and 15% of
random couples showed positive assortative mating (χ2 = 9.35; df = 1; p < 0.001). For
Machiavelianism, 38% of real couples and 25% of random couples showed positive
assortment (χ2 = 5.62; df = 1; p = 0.018).
Relationship length was not significantly correlated with any of the similarity indices
for each DT trait, which is in accord with the initial assortment hypothesis (supporting
Hypothesis 2). In order to test active assortment versus social homogamy (Hypothesis 3), we
computed correlations of similarity indices for DT traits with age and years of education of
men and women as well as with interaction terms of these two variables on men and women.
Only two significant correlations were obtained, one between the men's age and similarity in
psychopathy (r(98) = -0.20; p = 0.049), and the other between women's age and similarity in
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 12
psychopathy (r(98) = -0.28; p = 0.004), suggesting that similarity in psychopathy is somewhat
greater in younger participants. Notwithstanding the two correlations in line with social
homogamy hypothesis, the vast bulk of our results using CCA supported the active assortment
prediction of Hypothesis 3.
Discussion
The results of this study show modest to moderate degree of positive assortment for all
DT measures using both VCA and CCA. Both approaches suggest the highest positive
assortment for Machiavellianism, followed by psychopathy and Narcissism. Structural model
with two latent variables, men's and women's DT, also suggests moderate degree of positive
assortment (see Figure 1), thus giving the best support of positive assortment for DT. These
findings once again suggest that in mate selection similarity in personality is clearly more
important than complementarity, even when undesirable traits are concerned. As previous
studies have shown, DT traits, and especially psychopathy, are related to short-term mating
strategies (Jonason, Luevano, & Adams, 2012), including various mate poaching experiences
(Jonason, Li, & Buss, 2010; Kardum, Hudek-Knezevic, Schmitt, & Grundler, 2015), and
extra-partner variables such as sexual desire and recreational sex (Carter, Campbell, &
Muncer, 2014). Also, there is evidence that people high on DT traits create favorable
environments for short-term mating by having lower set of standards when choosing mates,
thus insuring themselves a supply of potential short-term mates (Jonason, Valentine, Li, &
Harbeson, 2011). It seems that DT traits, especially in men, lead to increased reproductive
success through relationship strategies rooted in minimal emotional investment and obtaining
large numbers of partners. On the other hand, persons high on DT traits may, themselves, be
less desirable as mating partners on a dating market, so perhaps it is the case that that they are
able to choose only those mates who are similar to them. Although high scores on DT traits
can increase men's reproductive success, positive assortment for these traits could have
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 13
negative consequences for men’s fitness because women high on DT traits may be lower in
maternal investment (Jonason et al., 2013; McDonald, Donnellan, & Navarrete, 2012).
As expected, the initial assortment rather than convergence, and active assortment
rather than social homogamy, were largely confirmed by both VCA and CCA. It should be
noted that this study was performed on the couples whose relationship lengths were relatively
short (mean average of only 3.5 years), which is more likely to support the initial assortment
than convergence hypothesis. Furthermore, a certain degree of similarity obtained even
among randomly generated couples may also suggest a higher probability of initial assortment
(see Table 5). These similarities could be seen as a consequence of various factors such as
social desirability, response bias (see Luo & Klohnen, 2005), or sampling technique, but they
might also suggest that people in the same community are similar across some dimensions
that can facilitate initial assortment.
Although the results show positive assortment for two key background variables, age
(r(98) = 0.74) and education (r(98) = 0.28), there is a weak evidence for social homogamy.
Namely, only negative correlations of men's and women's age with the similarity in
psychopathy may to some extent indicate social homogamy. These results could be a
consequence of positive correlation between psychopathy and age in the sample of men (see
Table 2). Therefore, with the increase of age the psychopathy in men is higher, and they
become less similar to women on this trait. Relatively restrictive operationalization usually
including only age and education, may be the reason why this hypothesis is not supported.
Namely, social homogamy includes similar or common social milieu (Reynolds, Baker, &
Pedersen, 2000) and therefore, it should be measured by additional variables such as social
class, economic status, ethnicity, religious affiliation, type of families, occupation etc.
This research represents one of the first systematic studies addressing assortative
mating for DT traits, and contains the largest sample of romantic couples yet to do so. One
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 14
strength of this research is that assortment was assessed in several ways using both VCA and
CCA. Both approaches have been also used to test two additional hypotheses, initial
assortment versus convergence and active assortment versus social homogamy.
Three limitations of this study should be mentioned. First, it would be better if we
used partners' ratings along with self-report measures because the analyses on the level of
latent variables as well as testing additional hypotheses, such as the role of assumed similarity
could be performed. Second, cross-sectional design is not optimal for testing some hypotheses
(e.g. convergence) and it would be more appropriate if longitudinal design and longer
relationship length were used. The third limitation regards the examining of assortative
mating in a relatively narrow personality domain. The evaluation of obtained similarities is
possible only by comparing them to similarities in different personality/psychological
domains found in other studies. However, as Watson et al. (2004) emphasized, in this case the
observed differences in assortment between various studies may reflect differences in
sampling or other characteristics related to study design rather than true differences in
similarity between couples. Future studies should address these limitations as well as the
relations between the similarity for DT traits and some relationship outcomes.
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 15
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ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 20
Table 1. Descriptive statistics for Dark Triad traits, age, and years of education on women and
men.
Variables
Women
Men
t
d
α
α
M
SD
M
SD
Psychopathy
0.82
66.07 10.96
0.87
75.53 14.28 5.26*** 0.74
Narcissism
0.73
12.57
5.10
0.88
14.91
7.76
2.52*
0.36
Machiavellianism
0.77
62.81 12.36
0.79
67.16 12.58
2.47*
0.35
DT composite
0.86
-0.23
0.64
0.91
0.23
0.85
4.38*** 0.61
Age
23.20
2.57
24.57
3.16
3.36*** 0.47
Education
15.74
1.99
14.99
2.36
2.43*
0.34
* = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001; α = Cronbach's alpha; M = mean; SD = standard
deviation; t = t-test: d = Cohen's d.
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 21
Table 2. Relationship between Dark Triad traits and their correlations with age, years of
education and relationship length on women and men.
Variables
Women
P
N
Men
M
DT
P
N
M
DT
0.42*** 0.42*** 0.80***
0.47*** 0.48*** 0.82***
P
0.20*
0.68***
0.36*** 0.80***
N
0.77***
0.75***
M
-0.15
0.10
0.07
0.01
0.28**
-0.04
0.01
0.10
Age
-0.12
0.06
0.09
0.02
-0.15
-0.02
0.01
-0.07
Education
-0.12
0.00
0.11
0.01
-0.06
-0.18
-0.05
-0.13
Length of
relation
* = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001; P = psychopathy; N = Narcissism; M =
Machiavellianism; DT = Dark Triad composite
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 22
Table 3. Correlations and partial correlations between women and men on Dark Triad measures.
Women
P
N
M
DT
0.26**
0.12
0.24*
0.28**
0.25*
0.12
0.25*
0.28**
0.24*
0.08
0.23*
0.24*
N
0.19
0.20*
0.01
0.17
0.18
0.21*
0.03
0.17
0.16
0.20*
0.01
0.15
M
0.14
0.00
0.40***
0.27**
0.13
0.00
0.41***
0.27**
0.11
-0.01
0.39***
0.24*
DT
0.25*
0.14
0.26**
0.30**
0.24*
0.15
0.28**
0.30**
0.21*
0.12
0.24*
0.26*
Note: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; P – psychopathy; N – Narcissim; M –
Machiavellianism; DT – Dark Triad composite; first raw – correlations between women and
men; second raw – partial correlations (controlling for relationship length); third raw – partial
correlations (controlling for age and years of education for each partner)
Men
P
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 23
Table 4. Goodness-of-fit indices for both models.
Goodness-of-fit indices
Chi-square
Normed Chi-square (NC)
Normed Fit Index (NFI)
Comparative Fit Index (CFI)
Goodness of Fit Index (GFI)
Root Mean Square Error of
Approximation (RMSEA)
Root Mean Square Residual
(RMR)
Orthogonal model
χ2 = 30.69
df = 9
p = 0.0003
3.41
0.73
0.77
0.91
0.16
Oblique model
χ2 = 23.89
df = 8
p = 0.002
2.99
0.80
0.84
0.93
0.14
0.14
0.08
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 24
Table 5. Descriptive statistics for real and randomly generated couples and the results of onesample t-tests.
Variable
Psychopathy
Couples
Min.
Max.
M
SD
T
d
real
0.11
0.84
0.48
0.17
3.84***
0.40
random
-0.44
0.82
0.41
0.18
Narcissism
real
-0.22
0.81
0.20
0.20
3.84***
0.42
random
-0.31
0.54
0.12
0.18
Machiavelianism
real
-0.21
0.93
0.39
0.25
4.83***
0.49
random
-0.42
0.79
0.27
0.24
* = p < 0.05; ** = p < 0.01; *** = p < 0.001; Min. = minimum; Max. = maximum; t = t-value;
d = Cohen's d.
ASSORTATIVE MATING FOR DARK TRIAD TRAITS 25
Figure 1, Structural model of the relationship between men's and women's DT.
0.35
0.65
Psychopathy
Narcissism
0.80
0.59
0.60
0.65
Machiavellianism
0.83
Men's
Dark
Triad
0.39
Women's
Dark
Triad
0.48
Psychopathy
Narcissism
0.30
0.77
0.51
Machiavellianism
0.74