Applied criminology research

Applied criminology research

Predicting Youth Criminal Propensity Based on Dark Triad Personality Traits with Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Fatemeh Mohammadi 1
Mahdi Chegeni 2
Shima Sharifi 3
1 Affiliated Faculty Member, Islamic Studies Department, Tehran Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. Email: f_mohammadi1390@yahoo.com
2 Assistant Professor Department of Law Faculty of Humanities Ayatollah Borujerdi Universit, Borujerd, Iran. Email: chegeni_isu@yahoo.com
3 Master of Social Planning, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author). Email:Shima.sharify@ut.ac.ir
10.22034/aqcr.2025.2056574.1059
Abstract
Field and Aims: Since the dark triad of personality traits is an important personality trait that affects mental health, psychological well-being, and deviant tendencies, in the present study, the relationship between the dark triad of personality traits and mental health, psychological well-being, and youth crime tendency among Tehrani youth was investigated.
Method: The statistical population of the study was young people aged 15 to 30 in Tehran, from whom 380 people were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. The research method is correlational. To collect research data, questionnaires for the dark triad of personality traits (Johnson and Webster, 2010), mental health (Goldberg and Hiller, 1979), psychological well-being (Reif, 1989), and the Attitudes to Crime Questionnaire (Khaznipour, 2014) were used in three behavioral, emotional, and cognitive dimensions. Data analysis was performed using SPSS and Amos statistical software and descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings and Conclusions: Based on the findings of the model, the mental health variable has an inverse effect on the tendency to commit crime with a coefficient of (-0.58). This means that with increasing mental health, the tendency to commit crime decreases. In examining the next relationship, psychological well-being was able to have an inverse effect on the tendency to commit crime with a coefficient of (-0.81). Finally, the dark triad of personality has a direct effect on the tendency to commit crime with a coefficient of (0.77). These results were also consistent with a slight change in the structural equation model.The results of the study showed that in order to reduce the dark triad of personality and control crimes among young people, attention should be paid to mental health and develop psychological well-being.
Keywords
Dark Triad
mental health
psychological well-being
criminal tendency
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  • Receive Date 24 March 2025
  • Revise Date 09 July 2025
  • Accept Date 08 March 2025
  • First Publish Date 08 March 2025
  • Publish Date 21 December 2024