Personality and Individual Differences 149 (2019) 214–219
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Personality and Individual Differences
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid
Dark personality traits and problematic smartphone use: The mediating role T
of fearful attachment
Sabah Baltaa, Peter Jonasonb, Amanda Denesc, Emrah Emirtekind, Şule Betül Tosuntaşe,
Kagan Kircaburunf,⁎, Mark D. Gri gffiths
a School of Applied Sciences, Yaşar University, İzmir, Turkey
b School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University, Australia
c Department of Communication, University of Connecticut, CT, USA
d The Centre for Open and Distance Learning, Yaşar University, İzmir, Turkey
e Educational Sciences Department, Uludağ University, Bursa, Turkey
f Educational Sciences Department, Düzce University, Düzce, Turkey
g International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Recently, empirical research has shown dark personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism,
Problematic smartphone use sadism, spitefulness) to be associated with problematic and addictive online behaviors. However, their direct
Attachment relationships with problematic smartphone use (PSU) have yet to be examined. The present study investigated
Machiavellianism the direct and indirect associations of dark personality traits with PSU via fearful and dismissing attachment
Psychopathy styles among 546 participants. Results indicated that men had higher scores on measures assessing dark per-
Narcissism
Sadism sonality traits and women had higher PSU. Narcissism and spitefulness were directly associated with PSU in the
Spitefulness total sample, men, and women. Machiavellianism was indirectly associated with PSU via fearful attachment
among men and sadism was directly and indirectly associated with PSU via fearful attachment among women.
Findings suggest that dark personality traits may play a contributory role in higher PSU (with different traits
having different effects among men and women), and that attachment styles partially explain the relationship
between dark traits and PSU.
1. Introduction psychological elements that can help explain individuals' problematic
and addictive use of mobile phones. Recent studies suggest that dark
Despite its facilitating uses, smartphone use can be problematic and personality traits are positively associated with problematic use of
harmful for a minority of individuals (Billieux, 2012; Billieux, Maurage, specific and nonspecific online activities (e.g., Sindermann, Sariyska,
Lopez-Fernandez, Kuss, & Griffiths, 2015). Problematic smartphone use Lachmann, Brand, & Montag, 2018). However, the associations be-
(PSU) has been defined as the excessive and increasingly uncontrolled tween such traits and PSU have yet to be empirically examined. In-
use of smartphones that cause daily-life disturbance (Kwon, Kim, Cho, dividuals with dark personality traits are more likely to engage in PSU
& Yang, 2013). Empirical research has indicated that PSU can lead to because it co-occurs with the other problematic online behaviors
serious psychological and physical impairments for individuals, in- (Salehan & Negahban, 2013). Moreover, given that individuals with
cluding elevated depression, anxiety, stress, lower sleep quality, and dark personality traits posess different adult attachment styles (Brewer
decreased physical activity (Demirci, Akgönül, & Akpinar, 2015; Haug et al., 2018; Ináncsi, Láng, & Bereczkei, 2015) and adult attachment
et al., 2015; Xie, Dong, & Wang, 2018). It is therefore of critical im- styles are associated with PSU (Chiara D'Arienzo, Boursier, & Griffiths,
portance that the predictors of PSU should be investigated in helping 2019; Kim & Koh, 2018; Monacis, De Palo, Griffiths, & Sinatra, 2017a;
develop intervention and prevention strategies. According to the Yuchang, Cuicui, Junxiu, & Junyi, 2017), investigating the mediating
pathway model of problematic mobile phone use (Billieux et al., 2015), role of attachment style on the association between dark personality
personality traits and adult attachment are among the core traits and PSU is likely provide further understanding of this
⁎ Corresponding author at: Faculty of Education, Duzce University, Konuralp Campus, 81620 Duzce, Turkey.
E-mail addresses: sabah.balta@yasar.edu.tr (S. Balta), pkjonason@gmail.com (P. Jonason), amanda.denes@uconn.edu (A. Denes),
emrah.emirtekin@yasar.edu.tr (E. Emirtekin), kircaburunkagan@gmail.com (K. Kircaburun), mark.griffiths@ntu.ac.uk (M.D. Griffiths).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.06.005
Received 19 April 2019; Received in revised form 31 May 2019; Accepted 4 June 2019
Available online 11 June 2019
0191-8869/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Balta, et al. Personality and Individual Differences 149 (2019) 214–219
relationship. Consequently, the present study examined the role of stable into adulthood (McNally, Palfai, Levine, & Moore, 2003).
antisocial personality traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, psy- Ainsworth, Blehar, Water, and Wall (1978) characterized attachment in
chopathy, sadism, and spitefulness) as distal predictors of PSU and terms of secure, anxious/ambivalent, and avoidant styles. However,
avoidant attachment styles (i.e., fearful, dismissing) as proximal pre- other researchers have further expanded these categories to better un-
dictors of PSU. derstand how mental models of attachment develop into adolescence
and adulthood and influence adult romantic attachments. For instance,
1.1. Dark personality traits and problematic smartphone use Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) specified four attachment styles
based on individuals' mental models of self (representing dependence or
According to pathway model of PSU (Billieux et al., 2015), anti- anxiety) and other (representing avoidance). These styles are secure
social personality is among the impulsive pathway characteristics that (positive model of self and other), preoccupied (positive model of other,
may lead to addictive, antisocial, and/or risky use of smartphones. but negative model of self), fearful (negative model of self and other),
Recently, increasing attention has been given to the role of dark per- and dismissing (positive model of self, but negative model of other).
sonality traits in the problematic use of online technologies. For ex- The present study specifically focused on individuals with negative
ample, problematic internet use and problematic online gaming are models of others (i.e., high avoidance) because the extent to which
associated with Machiavellianism, spitefulness, and psychopathy individuals report possessing such mental models was predicted to
(Kircaburun & Griffiths, 2018; Sindermann et al., 2018), problematic mediate the association between dark personality traits and PSU. As
online gambling is associated with psychopathy (Sindermann et al., noted above, Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) suggest that in-
2018), problematic online communication is associated with Machia- dividuals with negative views of others can be either dismissing or
velianism and narcissism (Kircaburun, Jonason, & Griffiths, 2018a), fearful, depending upon their model of self. Both fearfully and dis-
and problematic online pornography use is associated with all Dark missively attached individuals are avoidant and distrustful of others,
Triad traits (Sindermann et al., 2018). Other studies have reported that but fearful individuals have a poor self-image, whereas dismissively
Machiavellianism is both directly and indirectly associated with pro- attached individuals have a positive self-image (Bartholomew &
blematic internet use via online gambling and online gaming, spite- Horowitz, 1991). Individuals with a negative model of others (as in-
fulness is directly and indirectly related to it via online gambling and dicated by higher scores on measures of avoidant attachment) engage in
online shopping, and narcissism is indirectly associated with proble- fewer real-life social interactions and feel less belongingness because of
matic internet use via online social networking (Kircaburun & Griffiths, their social reluctance (Hart, Nailling, Bizer, & Collins, 2015). Avoidant
2018). Despite the empirical evidence associating dark personality attachment is associated with maladaptive emotional regulation stra-
traits with problematic technology use, their potential role in smart- tegies and problematic technology use (Beyderman & Young, 2016; Kim
phone use specifically has yet to be investigated. Consequently, the & Koh, 2018), which may be a compensatory behavior to deal with
association between dark personality traits and PSU warrants further their limited social interaction (McNally et al., 2003). Indeed, avoidant
investigation. attachment is associated with PSU (Blackwell, Leaman, Tramposch,
There are both common and unique features that individuals with Osborne, & Liss, 2017; Kim & Koh, 2018), which may indicate that
dark traits possess that may result in PSU. For instance, narcissists may individuals higher in avoidant attachment are compensating for a lack
be more prone to PSU given their desire for approval and admiration, of social connection by interacting in controlled and safe contexts
which manifests in biased online self-presentations (Casale & (Monacis, De Palo, Griffiths, & Sinatra, 2017b).
Fioravanti, 2018). Machiavellianism is associated with interpersonal Given that dark personality traits are related to attachment dys-
manipulation and deceptive self-promotion, which can lead to cyber- functions (Jonason, Lyons, & Bethell, 2014), the present study hy-
bullying, cybertrolling, and cyberstalking (Kircaburun et al., 2018a; pothesized that avoidant attachment (i.e., fearful, dismissing) would
Ladanyi & Doyle-Portillo, 2017) which can make individuals suscep- mediate the association between dark personality traits and PSU.
tible to smartphone preoccupation. Psychopathy is associated with Avoidant attachment is correlated with higher Machiavellianism and
impulsivity, recklessness, and emotion dysregulation (Jonason, Lyons, psychopathy and fewer social skills (Jonason, Baughman, Carter, &
Bethell, & Ross, 2013; Zeigler-Hill & Vonk, 2015), making psychopaths Parker, 2015), which may mean that individuals high in these traits
struggle to control their urges to spend long hours on their smartphones may try to avoid intimate interactions and close relationships via
for pleasure and/or sensation seeking purposes (Lin & Tsai, 2002). forming avoidant attachment systems (Rauthmann, 2011; Schimmenti
Sadistic individuals have a tendency to enjoy humiliating others, et al., 2014). In contrast, narcissism is associated with less avoidant
cruelty, and malevolent behaviors (O'Meara, Davies, & Hammond, attachment and more social skills (Jonason et al., 2014, 2015), im-
2011). Spiteful individuals struggle to regulate their emotions (Zeigler- plying that not all dark personality traits promote adverse social re-
Hill & Vonk, 2015) and are more detached from real-life social sur- lationships. Consequently, whether the goal is to avoid intimate social
roundings (Zeigler-Hill & Noser, 2018). Spiteful individuals may not be relations or to have controlled interactions with others, individuals
able to fulfill the need for social interaction in real life, and may with dark personality traits may engage in problematic use of virtual
therefore attempt to compensate in virtual contexts via their smart- communication via their smartphones, which may be explained by
phones (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014). However, consistently using smart- avoidant attachment because individuals characterized with dark traits
phones for mediated social interaction may lead to the development may engage in greater avoidance of emotions and intimacy and have an
and maintenance of PSU (Kircaburun, Jonason, & Griffiths, 2018b). As elevated inability to form strong attachment bonds in adulthood
aforementioned, an additional factor that may help explain the devel- (Schimmenti et al., 2014).
opment and maintenance of PSU is an individuals' attachment style.
1.3. Gender and problematic technology use
1.2. The mediating role of adult attachment
Empirical literature suggests different patterns of gender differences
According to pathway model of PSU (Billieux et al., 2015), adult in PSU, different online activities, and dark personality traits. Studies
attachment is among the reassurance pathway characteristics, and poor report that dark personality traits are found more among males than
self-models of adult attachment can be a risk factor for PSU. Attachment females in relation to problematic technology use (e.g., Kircaburun &
refers to “the lasting psychological connectedness between human Griffiths, 2018). Studies have also found higher PSU and use of online
beings” (Bowlby, 1969, p. 194). Attachment theory posits that in- activities that can be engaged via smartphones (e.g., social media,
dividuals develop an attachment style via their interactions with care- shopping) in women (Billieux, 2012; Emirtekin et al., 2019; Kircaburun
givers in early childhood and that such patterns of attachment remain & Griffiths, 2018). Even though no consistent gender differences have
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S. Balta, et al. Personality and Individual Differences 149 (2019) 214–219
Table 1
Pearson's correlations of the study variables among the total sample (N=546).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1. Problematic smartphone use –
2. Fearful attachment 0.21⁎⁎⁎ –
3. Dismissing attachment 0.06 0.48⁎⁎⁎ –
4. Machiavellianism 0.21⁎⁎⁎ 0.21⁎⁎⁎ 0.20⁎⁎⁎ –
5. Psychopathy 0.10⁎ 0.15⁎⁎ 0.27⁎⁎⁎ 0.64⁎⁎⁎ –
6. Narcissism 0.25⁎⁎⁎ 0.07 0.15⁎⁎⁎ 0.49⁎⁎⁎ 0.39⁎⁎⁎ –
7. Sadism 0.26⁎⁎⁎ 0.17⁎⁎⁎ 0.18⁎⁎⁎ 0.42⁎⁎⁎ 0.38⁎⁎⁎ 0.27⁎⁎⁎ –
8. Spitefulness 0.29⁎⁎⁎ 0.13⁎⁎ 0.19⁎⁎⁎ 0.52⁎⁎⁎ 0.46⁎⁎⁎ 0.35⁎⁎⁎ 0.50⁎⁎⁎ –
M 2.46 4.04 4.67 2.52 2.70 3.73 1.15 1.47
SD 1.05 1.11 1.02 1.65 1.68 2.25 0.14 0.64
⁎ p < .05.
⁎⁎ p < .01.
⁎⁎⁎ p < .001.
been reported, men may be described as being more avoidant and towards my own end”), psychopathy (e.g., “I tend to be callous or in-
women as being more anxiously attached (Van IJzendoorn & sensitive”), and narcissism (e.g., “I tend to seek prestige or status”). Items
Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2010). Consequently, based on the aforemen- (1= strongly disagree, 9= strongly agree) for each scale were averaged
tioned rationale and the predictions of the pathway model of PSU together to create scores for Machiavellianism (CRS=0.90), psycho-
(Billieux et al., 2015), the mediating role of avoidant attachment styles pathy (CRS= 0.85), and narcissism (CRS= 0.92).
(i.e., fearful, dismissing) in the relationship between dark personality The Turkish form (Kircaburun et al., 2018b) of the Short Sadistic
traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, sadism, and Impulse Scale (O'Meara et al., 2011) was used to assess sadistic im-
spitefulness) and PSU was examined. Also, gender differences in the pulses (e.g., “Hurting people would be exciting”). This scale comprises 10
aforementioned variables and relationships were further examined in dichotomous items, where participants indicate whether the items are
the present study. “like me” or “unlike me.” Items were averaged together to create scores
for sadism (CRS= 0.86).
2. Method The Turkish form (Kircaburun & Griffiths, 2018) of the 17-item
Spitefulness Scale (Marcus, Zeigler-Hill, Mercer, & Norris, 2014) was
2.1. Participants and procedure used to assess spiteful dispositions (e.g., “It might be worth risking my
reputation in order to spread gossip about someone I did not like”). The
The sample comprised 251 men and 295 women who completed an Turkish form comprises 11 items that are compatible with Turkish
online survey that was promoted in Yaşar University's distance learning university students (Kircaburun & Griffiths, 2018). Items (1= never,
center in Turkey. Participation in the study was voluntary and parti- 5= always) were averaged together to create scores for spitefulness
cipants were not compensated or rewarded for their participation. (CRS= 0.90).
Sample sizes for each sex were above the recommended thresholds
(N=250) for obtaining stable correlation estimates (Schönbrodt & 3. Results
Perugini, 2013). Prior to completing the survey, participants had to give
their informed consent that they were aware that participation in the Analysis indicated PSU was positively correlated with fearful at-
study was voluntary and anonymous and that their data would only be tachment and dark personality traits for the total sample, as well as for
used for scientific purposes. If they consented, they proceeded through men and women separately (with the exception that psychopathy was
a series of self-report questions and upon completion they were thanked not associated with PSU for women) with very small (r=0.10) to al-
and debriefed. most moderate (r=0.29) effect sizes (see Table 1). A series of t-tests
(see Table 2) demonstrated that women reported significantly higher
2.2. Measures PSU scores than men, whereas men reported significantly higher scores
for all dark personality traits. Saturated mediation models were tested
The Turkish form (Demirci, Orhan, Demirdas, Akpinar, & Sert, with the total sample, as well as separately for men and women, to
2014) of the 10-item Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (Kwon examine the mediating role of fearful and dismissing attachment styles
et al., 2013) was used to assess PSU (e.g., “I miss planned work due to
smartphone use”). Items (1= strongly disagree, 6= strongly agree) were Table 2
averaged together to create a score for PSU (Composite Reliability Score Comparison of the scores of study variables between men and women.
[CRS]=0.91).
Men Women t-Test Cohen's d
The Turkish form (Sümer & Güngör, 1999) of the Relationship (n=251) (n=295)
Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) was used to assess
adult attachment styles. This questionnaire has four sub-scales (i.e. Problematic smartphone use 2.31 (1.01) 2.59 (1.07) −3.11⁎⁎ 0.27
secure, preoccupied, fearful, dismissing attachment). In line with the Fearful attachment 3.98 (1.11) 4.08 (1.11) −1.03 0.09
Dismissing attachment 4.72 (1.07) 4.62 (0.99) 1.24 0.10
aim of this study, only the four-item fearful (e.g., “I am uncomfortable Machiavellianism 2.93 (1.91) 2.16 (1.29) 5.65⁎⁎⁎ 0.47
getting close to others”) and five-item dismissing (e.g., “I am comfortable Psychopathy 3.01 (1.89) 2.44 (1.42) 3.96⁎⁎⁎ 0.34
without close relationships”) attachment scales were used in the present Narcissism 3.96 (2.28) 3.54 (2.20) 2.18⁎ 0.19
⁎⁎
study. Items (1= absolutely not true, 7= absolutely true) were averaged Sadism 1.17 (0.17) 1.13 (0.11) 2.79 0.28⁎⁎⁎
to create scores for fearful (CRS= 0.75) and dismissing attachment Spitefulness 1.62 (0.74) 1.35 (0.52) 4.93 0.42
(CRS=0.75). Note: M (SD).
The Turkish form (Özsoy, Rauthmann, Jonason, & Ardıç, 2017) of ⁎ p < .05.
the 12-item Dark Triad Dirty Dozen Scale (Jonason & Webster, 2010) ⁎⁎ p < .01.
was used to assess Machiavellianism (e.g., “I tend to exploit others ⁎⁎⁎ p < .001.
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S. Balta, et al. Personality and Individual Differences 149 (2019) 214–219
Table 3 Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. Sadism accounted for
Standardized estimates of total, direct, and indirect effects among total sample, an additional 3% of PSU and spitefulness for an additional 2%.
men, and women.
Effect (S.E.) 4. Discussion
All Men Women The present study, based on the theoretical assumptions of the
pathway model of PSU (Billieux et al., 2015) and extant empirical
Machiavellianism
➔ PSU (total effect) 0.06 (0.06) 0.19⁎ (0.10) 0.03 (0.07) evidence, examined the direct and indirect associations of the dark
➔ PSU (direct effect) 0.02 (0.06) 0.14 (0.10) −0.00 (0.07) personality traits of narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy,
➔ PSU (indirect e ect) 0.04⁎⁎ff (0.02) 0.05⁎⁎ (0.02) 0.03⁎ (0.02) sadism, and spitefulness with PSU via avoidant adult attachment styles
Narcissism of fearful and dismissing attachments. The findings demonstrate em-
➔ PSU (total e ect) 0.17⁎⁎ff (0.05) 0.20⁎⁎ (0.06) 0.13⁎ (0.07) pirical support for the pathway model of PSU that the interaction of
➔ PSU (direct effect) 0.18⁎⁎ (0.04) 0.20⁎⁎ (0.06) 0.16⁎ (0.07) individuals' core characteristics of personality and adult attachment
➔ PSU (indirect effect) −0.01 (0.01) 0.00 (0.01) −0.03⁎ (0.01) may directly and/or indirectly result in PSU. Partially parallel to the
Sadism study's expectations, fearful attachment had a mediating role on the
➔ PSU (total effect) 0.15⁎⁎ (0.05) 0.08 (0.08) 0.21⁎⁎ (0.06)
⁎⁎ ⁎⁎ relationships of Machiavellianism (fully), sadism (partially), and nar-➔ PSU (direct effect) 0.14 (0.05) 0.08 (0.08) 0.18 (0.06)
➔ PSU (indirect effect) 0.01 (0.01) −0.00 (0.01) 0.02⁎ (0.01) cissism (negatively partially) with PSU. Machiavellianism and sadism
were positively associated with fearful attachment, whereas narcissism
Spitefulness
➔ PSU (total e ect) 0.20⁎⁎ (0.06) 0.30⁎⁎⁎ (0.08) 0.17⁎ (0.08) was negatively related to it, and in turn, fearful attachment was posi-ff
➔ PSU (direct e ect) 0.20⁎⁎ff (0.05) 0.30⁎⁎⁎ (0.07) 0.17⁎ (0.08) tively associated with PSU. Furthermore, sadism, narcissism, and spi-
➔ PSU (indirect effect) −0.00 (0.01) 0.00 (0.02) −0.00 (0.01) tefulness were positively directly associated with PSU.
Psychopathy The direct relationship between narcissism and PSU is consistent
➔ PSU (total e ect) −0.16⁎⁎ (0.06) −0.21⁎ ⁎ff (0.09) −0.14 (0.07) with the existing literature, which found that narcissistic individuals
➔ PSU (direct effect) −0.14⁎⁎ (0.06) −0.18 (0.09) −0.13 (0.07) had higher PSU (e.g., Pearson & Hussain, 2015), but the finding also
➔ PSU (indirect effect) −0.02 (0.01) −0.03 (0.02) −0.01 (0.01) contradicts other reported non-significant associations (e.g., Hussain,
Note: PSU=Problematic smartphone use. Only significant pathways are shown Griffiths, & Sheffield, 2017). Individuals with narcissistic traits may use
in the table. Indirect effects of Machiavellianism, narcissism, sadism, and spi- smartphones for self-promotion and self-presentation in virtual plat-
tefulness on PSU are through fearful attachment, and psychopathy through forms (such as social networking platforms) given their proneness to
dismissing attachment. these behaviors (Andreassen, Pallesen, & Griffiths, 2017), and positive
⁎ p < .05. mood modification by obtaining desired gratifications may develop into
⁎⁎ p < .01. problematic use (Kircaburun et al., 2018a). Sadism was directly asso-
⁎⁎⁎ p < .001. ciated with PSU among women. Women with more sadistic impulses
may become problematic smartphone users in attempts to stalk others
on the association between dark traits and PSU. These analyses were in online contexts, which has been associated with problematic social
carried out using the bootstrapping method with 95% bias-corrected media use (Kircaburun et al., 2018a). Sadistic individuals engage in
confidence intervals and 5000 bootstrapped samples in AMOS 23.0 cyberbullying and cyberstalking (Smoker & March, 2017; van Geel,
software. Goemans, Toprak, & Vedder, 2017). These obsessive behaviors may
Table 3 contains the full results of the indirect effects testing. promote preoccupation and fear of missing out that can lead to ex-
Among the total sample, narcissism, sadism, and spitefulness were di- cessive engagement and PSU (Balta, Emirtekin, Kircaburun, & Griffiths,
rectly (positively) associated with PSU, and psychopathy was directly 2018). Even though the present study is the first to provide empirical
(negatively) associated with PSU. Among men, narcissism and spite- evidence for the association between spitefulness and PSU, this result
fulness were directly (positively) associated with PSU, and Machia- was expected. Spiteful individuals are low in self-esteem and high in
vellianism was indirectly (positively) associated with PSU via fearful impulsivity, aggressiveness, and emotion dysregulation (Marcus et al.,
attachment. Among women, narcissism and spitefulness were directly 2014; Zeigler-Hill & Vonk, 2015), which may result in higher vulner-
(positively) associated with PSU, and sadism was both directly and ability for developing problematic use of technology and online activ-
indirectly (positively) related to PSU via fearful attachment. A catego- ities (Andreassen, 2015; Billieux, 2012). Furthermore, spitefulness is
rical moderation was tested using sex as a moderator in the model. associated with problematic internet use via the use of different ap-
There were no statistically significant moderation or moderated med- plications such as online gambling and online shopping (Kircaburun &
iations observed. Psychopathy was not associated with fearful attach- Griffiths, 2018), which may also promote PSU.
ment; dismissing attachment was not associated with any of the per- Fearful attachment mediated the relationships of Machiavellianism,
sonality constructs, except for its association with psychopathy and PSU sadism, and narcissism with PSU. There may be bidirectional relation-
among the total sample. The total tested mediation model explained ships between attachment styles and dark personality traits. An in-
22% of the PSU variance among the total sample (Fig. 1). dividual's adult attachment style is typically shaped by the parental care
Even though psychopathy and dismissing attachment did not cor- received in childhood (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). Given that
relate with PSU negatively in the correlation test, they were negatively being raised with a dysfunctional parent may alter an individual's ap-
related to PSU in the path analysis. This may indicate that a suppressor proach to life and their personality (Parker et al., 1999), dark person-
variable (i.e., a variable correlated with PSU that could have influenced ality traits may be a mediational factor in the transition of an in-
the relationships between PSU, psychopathy, and dismissing attach- dividual's early parental attachment experiences to their development
ment) impacted the analysis conducted such that the direction of the of adult attachment. Individuals may develop antisocial and callous/
relationship observed changed in the path analysis (Ludlow & Klein, unemotional personality traits as an adaptation to insecure and avoi-
2014). Because the possibility that the significant relationship observed dant parenting, and in turn, those with dark personality traits adopt an
in the path analysis is a statistical artifact cannot be excluded, these avoidant approach in social and romantic relationships to protect
findings are not interpreted or discussed. Finally, to examine the ad- themselves from getting hurt (Jonason, Zeigler-Hill, & Baldacchino,
ditional contribution of sadism and spitefulness to the Dark Triad, 2017). Consequently, and consistent with the existing evidence
hierarchical multiple regression analyses predicting PSU were con- (Jonason et al., 2014), fearful attachment was found among Machia-
ducted, while controlling for fearful and dismissing attachment, vellians and sadists, and lower fearful attachment among narcissistics.
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S. Balta, et al. Personality and Individual Differences 149 (2019) 214–219
Fig. 1. Final model of the significant path coefficients among the total sample, men, and women.
For clarity, covariates among independent and mediator variables are not depicted in the figure. The standardized path coefficients outside the brackets belong to the
total sample, whereas values on the left side in the brackets belong to men and the ones on the right belong to women. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.
Partially in line with the hypotheses, fearful attachment, but not qualitative approaches to better understand the aforementioned re-
dismissing attachment, was related to greater PSU. Fearfully attached lationships. Third, data were collected from a single university in
individuals regard themselves as unlovable and believe that others will Turkey, prevents generalizability of the present findings. Therefore,
not be able to meet their needs, indicating that they have both self- future replication studies should utilize samples from other age groups
esteem and self-worth problems (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991). and cultures. Finally, collecting data using self-report surveys has spe-
Consequently, they may prefer avoiding social and romantic encounters cific limitations, including response biases such as memory recall and
and interactions to avoid rejection, which may cause them to spend social desirability.
more time in virtual mediums of communication. Furthermore, in- Despite these limitations, there are several important contributions
dividuals with fearful attachment tend to have adverse psychological offered by the findings presented here. The present study is the first to
health outcomes including depression, rumination, loneliness, and so- consider the predictive role of dark personality traits upon PSU, and to
cial anxiety (Beyderman & Young, 2016; Bifulco et al., 2006), and PSU demonstrate direct and indirect relationships of dark personality traits
is a known maladaptive coping strategy for reducing depressive and with PSU via avoidant (i.e., fearful) attachment. Furthermore, the study
lonely feelings, ruminative thoughts, and social anxiety (Elhai, Dvorak, provides further understanding for sex differences in the relationship
Levine, & Hall, 2017; Elhai, Tiamiyu, & Weeks, 2018). The non-sig- between personality traits and PSU. The study further presents em-
nificant relationship between dismissing attachment and PSU may be pirical evidence for the theoretical assumptions of the pathway model
explained by the fact that fearful attachment has been negatively as- of PSU (Billieux et al., 2015). The present authors suggest that dark
sociated with self-esteem, whereas individuals with dismissing attach- personality-related adult attachment styles may lead individuals to
ment had higher self-esteem (Bylsma, Cozzarelli, & Sumer, 1997). higher problematic dependence on their smartphones and experience
Contrary to fearfully attached individuals, those with dismissing at- potential psychosocial harms from such excessive use. The findings of
tachment have a positive opinion about themselves and their compe- this study have important implications for scholars investigating PSU
tence in life (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991), which may lead them to and its risk factors, although these preliminary results should be re-
spend more time in proving themselves to be successful and attractive plicated more widely before developing possible prevention strategies.
in different life domains such as sports and/or physical attractiveness It appears that those with dark personality traits are prone to devel-
(Bylsma et al., 1997) and less time in online contexts. oping and maintaining PSU and their romantic attachment style has a
partial explanatory and contributory role in this behavior.
5. Limitations and conclusions
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