All scales

Short Dark Triad

SD3
psychologysocial sciencesFree for research use

A 27-item measure of the three dark personality traits: Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy. Nine items per trait. Designed as a brief alternative to full-length Mach-IV, NPI-40, and SRP scales.

Items
27
Response format
5-point Likert scale
Version
1.0
Subscales
3

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Dark personality traits were assessed with the 27-item Short Dark Triad (SD3; Jones & Paulhus, 2014), yielding Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy subscale scores (nine items each, five items reverse-scored) on a 5-point Likert scale.

Reliability & validation

Validation population
US undergraduate and community samples reported in Jones & Paulhus (2014)
Cronbach's α
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Subscales

MachiavellianismNarcissismPsychopathy

Response anchors

Disagree strongly · Disagree · Neither agree nor disagree · Agree · Agree strongly

Known limitations

Three subscales are intercorrelated (r ≈ .30–.50 in validation samples) — interpret each trait as distinct but not orthogonal. Consider controlling for socially desirable responding when administering in high-stakes settings.

Original citation

Jones, D. N., Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the Short Dark Triad (SD3): A brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment, 21(1), 28-41.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113514105

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Library entry verified January 2024. Metadata is provided for reference; item wording is available inside Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing.