The Capitalist Personality: The Association between Adherence to Capitalism-Driven Values and the Dark Triad Personality Traits

This study offers a construct of capitalist cultural values and investigates the association between three of them (materialism, individualism, competitiveness) and the Dark Triad (DT) personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy). Drawing on psychological, sociological, and economic literature, the study proposes a theoretical framework defining capitalist cultural values as a cluster of beliefs aligned with the capitalist economic model. An online sample of 80 participants completed validated psychometric measures to assess their endorsement of selected capitalist cultural values and the DT traits. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were conducted to explore individual and collective predictive effects. Results revealed that materialism was the most consistent predictor, showing strong associations with Machiavellianism and the overall DT score. Competitiveness showed weaker but notable associations with narcissism and the DT composite. Individualism did not significantly predict any DT traits, likely due to measurement limitations. The findings suggest an association between capitalist cultural values and socially aversive traits, supporting the idea that personality is shaped not only by individual factors but also by broader cultural ideologies. The study contributes to a growing body of literature on the psychological consequences of economic systems and calls for more integrative, cross-cultural, and longitudinal research in this domain. Keywords: capitalism, the Dark Triad, personality, materialism, individualism, competitiveness.