The present study examined the personality traits of those who are attracted to dark visual art, in an attempt to understand whether their attraction to this dark genre indicates any of the dark traits. The study examined a sample of 241 participants from a specific forum of dark visual art fans (80% women and 20% men), aged between 18–65. Participants completed three online personality questionnaires: the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire (ZKA-PQ / SF), examining the five traits of Extraversion, Neuroticism, Activity, Aggressiveness and Sensation Seeking; the SD3, assessing the Dark Triad traits of Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy; and the Empathy Quotient (EQ-Short). The fan of Dark Art, on average, scores higher than relevant controls on Machiavellianism (but not higher on Narcissism or Psychopathy); scores higher on Aggressiveness (but not higher on Sensation Seeking), but lower on Activity; and scores lower on Extraversion while scoring higher on Neuroticism.
AlujaA.GarcíaL. F.RossierJ.OstendorfF.GlicksohnJ.OumarB.HansenneM. (2022). Dark triad traits, social position, and personality: A cross-cultural study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 53(3–4), 380–402. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221211072816
2.
AlujaA.LucasI.BlanchA.GarcíaO.GarcíaL. F. (2018). The Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire shortened form (ZKA-PQ/SF). Personality and Individual Differences, 134, 174–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.06.015
3.
AlujaA.Martí-GuiuM.BlancoE.BlanchA. (2016). Dimensional assessment of normal and abnormal personality in adults of the general population: Comparison of “five” and “alternative five” personality models. Personality and Individual Differences, 89, 6–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.036
4.
AlujaA.RossierJ.OumarB.GarcíaL. F.BellajT.OstendorfF.GlicksohnJ. (2020). Multicultural validation of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire Shortened Form (ZKA-PQ/SF) across 18 countries. Assessment, 27(4), 728–748. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191119831770
5.
AndrewJ.CookeM.MuncerS. J. (2008). The relationship between empathy and Machiavellianism: An alternative to empathizing–systemizing theory. Personality and Individual Differences, 44(5), 1203–1211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.11.014
6.
BillingtonJ.Baron-CohenS.WheelwrightS. (2007). Cognitive style predicts entry into physical sciences and humanities: Questionnaire and performance tests of empathy and systemizing. Learning and Individual Differences, 17, 260–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2007.02.004
7.
BloxsomC. A.FirthJ.KibowskiF.EganV.SumichA. L.HeymN. (2021). Dark shadow of the self: How the dark triad and empathy impact parental and intimate adult attachment relationships in women. Forensic Science International: Mind and Law, 2, Article 100045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiml.2021.100045
EerolaT.VuoskoskiJ. K.KautiainenH. (2016). Being moved by unfamiliar sad music is associated with high empathy. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, Article 1176. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01176
10.
ErcegovacI. R.DobrotaS.KuščevićD. (2015). Relationship between music and visual art preferences and some personality traits. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 33(2), 207–227. https://doi.org/10.1177/0276237415597390
11.
EysenckH. J. (1995). Creativity as a product of intelligence and personality. In SaklofskeD. H.ZeidnerM. (Eds.), International handbook of personality and intelligence (pp. 231–247). New York: Plenum Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5571-8_12
12.
FaynK.KuppensP. (2017). Individual differences in embracing negatively valenced art: The roles of openness and sensation seeking. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, 26–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X17001686
FurnhamA.RichardsS. C.PaulhusD. L. (2013). The Dark Triad of personality: A 10 year review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7(3), 199–216. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12018
GazitT.MassH.BronsteinJ. (2023). Examining Facebook groups engaging in Reading experiences: The interactive therapeutic process perspective. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 41(1), 259–283. https://doi.org/10.1177/02762374221118522
17.
GergerG.IshizuT.PelowskiM. (2017). Empathy as a guide for understanding the balancing of distancing-embracing with negative art. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, 27–28. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X17001698
18.
GjermundsN.BrechanI.JohnsenSÅKWattenR. G. (2020). Personality traits in musicians. Current Issues in Personality Psychology, 8(2), 100–107. https://doi.org/10.5114/cipp.2020.97314
19.
GlicksohnJ.Golan-SmoohaH.Naor-ZivR.AlujaA.ZuckermanM. (2018). Uncovering the structure of personality space, with a focus on the ZKA-PQ. International Journal of Personality Psychology, 4(1), 13–24. https://doi.org/http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/62820
20.
GlicksohnJ.YanivH. (2016). Visual hybrids induce anxiety: A microgenetic approach. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 3(3), 239–257. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000085
GreenbergD. M.Baron-CohenS.StillwellD. J.KosinskiM.RentfrowP. J. (2015). Musical preferences are linked to cognitive styles. PLoS ONE, 10, Article e0131151. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0131151
23.
HalpernD.ValenzuelaS.KatzJ. E. (2016). Selfie-ists” or “narci-selfiers”?: A cross-lagged panel analysis of selfie taking and narcissism. Personality and Individual Differences, 97, 98–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.03.019
24.
HarounD.AmramY.GlicksohnJ. (2023). Seeing the darkness: Identifying the Dark Triad from emotionally neutral faces. Current Psychology, 43(8), 6699–6712. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04867-9
25.
HeymN.FirthJ.KibowskiF.SumichA.EganV.BloxsomC. A. (2019). Empathy at the heart of darkness: Empathy deficits that bind the Dark Triad and those that mediate indirect relational aggression. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 10, Article 95. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00095
26.
HeymN.KibowskiF.BloxsomC. A.BlanchardA.HarperA.WallaceL.SumichA. (2021). The Dark Empath: Characterising dark traits in the presence of empathy. Personality and Individual Differences, 169, Article 110172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110172
27.
Janik McErleanA. B.BanissyM. J. (2017). Assessing individual variation in personality and empathy traits in self-reported autonomous sensory meridian response. Multisensory Research, 30(6), 601–613. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134808-00002571
28.
JonasonP. K.KrauseL. (2013). The emotional deficits associated with the Dark Triad traits: Cognitive empathy, affective empathy, and alexithymia. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(5), 532–537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.04.027
29.
JonesD. N.FigueredoA. J. (2013). The core of darkness: Uncovering the heart of the Dark Triad. European Journal of Personality, 27(6), 521–531. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1893
30.
JonesD. N.PaulhusD. L. (2014). Introducing the Short Dark Triad (SD3) a brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment, 21(1), 29–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113514105
31.
JonesD. N.PaulhusD. L. (2017). Duplicity among the Dark Triad: Three faces of deceit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(2), 329–342. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000139
32.
JovanovićT.MijatovM.ŠuligojM. (2021). Does a visitor of dark tourism sites have a dark personality? A study of potential visitors of dark tourism sites in Serbia. Primenjena Psihologija, 14(4), 407–442. https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.2021.4.407-442
33.
KarinenA. K.ÇınarÇTyburJ. M.de VriesR. E. (2023). Who likes the grotesque? Mapping individual differences in liking of grotesque artworks. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 18(5), 815–828.https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000539
34.
KidronR.KaganovskiyL.Baron-CohenS. (2018). Empathizing-systemizing cognitive styles: Effects of sex and academic degree. PLoS ONE, 13(3), Article e0194515. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194515
35.
KöviZ.AlujaA.GlicksohnJ.BlanchA.MorizotJ.WangW.DesrichardO. (2019). Cross-cultural analysis of Alternative Five Factor personality trait patterns. Personality and Individual Differences, 143, 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.01.042
36.
MartinG. N. (2019). (Why) do you like scary movies? A review of the empirical research on psychological responses to horror films. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 2298. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02298
37.
MenninghausW.WagnerV.HanichJ.WassiliwizkyE.JacobsenT.KoelschS. (2017). The distancing-embracing model of the enjoyment of negative emotions in art reception. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, 1–63. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X17000309
38.
MillerJ. D.HyattC. S.Maples-KellerJ. L.CarterN. T.LynamD. R. (2017). Psychopathy and Machiavellianism: A distinction without a difference?Journal of Personality, 85(4), 439–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12251
39.
Mohammadi-ZarghanS.AfhamiR. (2019). Memento Mori: The influence of personality and individual differences on aesthetic appreciation of death-related artworks by Damien Hirst. Mortality, 24(4), 467–485. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2019.1567483
40.
Naor-ZivR.Bernaz LaviA.GlicksohnJ. (2021). Empathizing-systemizing: From style to intent. Personality and Individual Differences, 179, Article 110922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110922
41.
Naor-ZivR.GlicksohnJ.AlujaA. (2022). Locating the Dark Triad in a multidimensional personality space. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 25, Article e14. https://doi.org/10.1017/SJP.2022.11
42.
Naor-ZivR.GlicksohnJ. (unpublished). Hebrew version of the Empathy Quotient (EQ-Short).
43.
Naor-ZivR.LeviE.GlicksohnJ. (2024). The radex of the ZKA-PQ personality space. In ShyeS. (Ed.), Selected empirical facet-theoretical studies from the 18th international facet theory conference (pp. 71–77). bepress Fordham University. http://fordham.bepress.com/ftc.
OrtliebS. A.FischerU. C.CarbonC.-C. (2016). Enquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful: Is there a male gaze in empirical aesthetics?Art & Perception, 4(3), 205–224. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134913-00002051
RawlingsD. (2000). The interaction of openness to experience and schizotypy in predicting preference for abstract and violent paintings. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 18(1), 69–91. https://doi.org/10.2190/71CT-AA49-XRMG-C842
48.
RawlingsD. (2003). Personality correlates of liking for ‘unpleasant’ paintings and photographs. Personality and Individual Differences, 34(3), 395–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00062-4
49.
RawlingsD.Barrantes i VidalN.FurnhamA. (2000). Personality and aesthetic preference in Spain and England: Two studies relating sensation seeking and openness to experience to liking for paintings and music. European Journal of Personality, 14(6), 553–576. https://doi.org/10.1002/1099-0984(200011/12)14:6<553::AID-PER384>3.0.CO;2-H
50.
RawlingsD.BastianB. (2002). Painting preference and personality, with particular reference to Gray's behavioral inhibition and behavioral approach systems. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 20(2), 177–193. https://doi.org/10.2190/73UQ-50QU-UATW-RY5E
51.
RentfrowP. J.GoldbergL. R.ZilcaR. (2011). Listening, watching, and Reading: The structure and correlates of entertainment preferences. Journal of Personality, 79(2), 223–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00662.x
52.
RobertsN.BeathA.BoagS. (2021). Autonomous sensory meridian response: Individual differences and consciousness correlates. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 8(1), 27–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000243
53.
RossierJ.AlujaA.BlanchA.BarryO.HansenneM.CarvalhoA.KaragonlarG. (2016). Cross-cultural generalizability of the alternative five-factor model using the Zuckerman-Kuhlman-Aluja Personality Questionnaire. European Journal of Personality, 30, 139–157. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2045
54.
RuchW.MalcherekJ. (2009). Sensation seeking, general aesthetic preferences, and humor appreciation as predictors of liking of the grotesque. Journal of Literary Theory, 3(2), 333–351. https://doi.org/10.1515/JLT.2009.018
55.
ScrivnerC. (2021). The psychology of morbid curiosity: Development and initial validation of the Morbid Curiosity Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 183, Article 111139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111139
56.
ScrivnerC.JohnsonJ. A.Kjeldgaard-ChristiansenJ.ClasenM. (2021). Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic. Personality and Individual Differences, 168, Article 110397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110397
57.
TucakovićL.MarkovićS. (2021). The Dark Tetrad and aesthetic preferences: The role of the dark side of personality in the aesthetic preference for paintings. Primenjena Psihologija, 14(4), 443–463. https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.2021.4.443-463
58.
TurnerI. N.FosterJ. D.WebsterG. D. (2019). The Dark Triad's inverse relations with cognitive and emotional empathy: High-powered tests with multiple measures. Personality and Individual Differences, 139, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.10.030
59.
WakabayashiA.Baron-CohenS.WheelwrightS.GoldenfeldN.DelaneyJ.FineD.WeilL. (2006). Development of short forms of the Empathy Quotient (EQ-short) and the Systemizing Quotient (SQ-short). Personality and Individual Differences, 41(5), 929–940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2006.03.017
60.
Weisman OpenhaimE.AmramY.GlicksohnJ. (2024). Empathy and the Dark Triad: A difference of 180 degrees. Journal of Individual Differences, 45(3), 176–184.https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000422
61.
YanivH.GlicksohnJ. (2021). Perception and aggressive ideation: A microgenetic approach. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 8(4), 311–334. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000289
62.
ZuckermanM. (1989). Personality in the third dimension: A psychobiological approach. Personality and Individual Differences, 10(4), 391–418. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(89)90004-4
63.
ZuckermanM. (2005). Psychobiology of personality (Second edition, revised and updated ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
64.
ZuckermanM. (2008a). Personality and sensation seeking. In BoyleG. J.MatthewsG.SaklofskeD. H. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment. Vol 1: Personality theories and models (pp. 379–398). London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849200462.n18
65.
ZuckermanM. (2008b). Zuckerman-Kuhlman personality questionnaire (ZKPQ): An operational definition of the alternative five factorial model of personality. In BoyleG. J.MatthewsG.SaklofskeD. H. (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment. Vol 2: Personality measurement and testing (pp. 219–238). London: Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849200479.n11
66.
ZuckermanM.GlicksohnJ. (2016). Hans Eysenck's personality model and the constructs of sensation seeking and impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 103, 48–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.003
67.
ZuckermanM.LitleP. (1986). Personality and curiosity about morbid and sexual events. Personality and Individual Differences, 7(1), 49–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(86)90107-8
