The present study aims to examine the mediating role of the Dark Triad in the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and hostile behavior in adulthood. Using a correlational design, 280 employees of the Iranian Oil Terminals Company were selected through convenience sampling in the year 2025. Data were collected using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD) scale, and the Aggression Questionnaire (AQ). Path analysis indicated that the proposed model demonstrated good fit. The results showed that the direct effects of childhood emotional abuse on hostile behavior and Dark Triad were significant. Additionally, the direct effects of each Dark Triad on hostile behavior were also significant (P<0.05). The Dark Triad played a mediating role in the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and hostile behavior (P<0.05). Based on these findings, it can be inferred that childhood emotional abuse contributes to hostile behavior in adulthood both directly and indirectly through the influence of Dark Triad.
Baćak, V., Štulhofer, A., & Bright, K. (2023). The role of mental health and delinquent behaviors in the cycle of sexual violence among Croatian adolescents: A longitudinal exploration with replication. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 52(7), 2735-2747. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02606-6
Bafandeh Qaramaleki, H., & Ghaffari Shoja, Z. (2023). Comparison of emotional neurotic personality and dark personality traits in successful and unsuccessful couples. Rooyesh-e-Ravanshenasi Journal (RRJ), 12(10), 69-78)In Persian).URL:http://frooyesh.ir/article-1-4792-fa.html
Bernstein, D. P., Stein, J. A., Newcomb, M. D., Walker, E., Pogge, D., Ahluvalia, T., ... & Zule, W. (2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27(2), 169-190.https://doi.org/10.1016/s0145-2134(02)00541-0
Beshkoufeh, M., Gholamzadeh, M., Sodani, M. (2022). The effectiveness of “Behavior Management Training” for mothers on aggression and oppositional defiant of their teenage children. Journal of Health Promotion Management, 11(2), 34-44 (In Persian). URL: http://ijpn.ir/article-1-1947-fa.html
Brown, S. M., Faw, M. H., Lucas-Thompson, R. G., Pettigrew, J., & Quirk, K. (2023). Relations between stress-adapted communication skills and toxic social networks among young adults with childhood adversity. Adversity and Resilience Science, 4(3), 259-271.https://doi.org/10.1007/s42844-023-00093-1
Ceroni, D. B., & Yalch, M. M. (2024). Influence of Childhood Maltreatment on Machiavellianism. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 33(9), 1045-1054. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2024.2358870
Chaudhary, A., & Islam, T. (2023). Unravelling the mechanism between despotic leadership and psychological distress: The roles of bullying behavior and hostile attribution bias. Kybernetes, 52(12), 5829-5848. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-10-2021-0987
Fan, L., & Meng, W. (2022). The relationship between childhood adversity and problem behavior of new street corner youth on campus: A moderate mediation model. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1036773.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1036773
Fares-Otero, N. E., Alameda, L., Pfaltz, M. C., Martinez-Aran, A., Schäfer, I., & Vieta, E. (2023). Examining associations, moderators and mediators between childhood maltreatment, social functioning, and social cognition in psychotic disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 53(13), 5909-5932.https://doi:10.1017/S0033291723001678
Garofalo, C., Delvecchio, E., Bogaerts, S., Sellbom, M., & Mazzeschi, C. (2025). Childhood trauma and psychopathy: The moderating role of resilience. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 17(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113089
Ghaffari, C. M., Mohammadipour, M., & Azizi, A. (2023). Effectiveness of Dialectical Behavior Therapy on The Difficulty of Emotional Regulation and Aggression in Female Adolescents with Depressive Symptoms. Islamic Lifestyle with a Focus on Health, 6(4), 392-402(In Persian). URL: http://islamiclifej.com/article-1-1671-fa.html
Herrenkohl, T. I., Fedina, L., Roberto, K. A., Raquet, K. L., Hu, R. X., Rousson, A. N., & Mason, W. A. (2022). Child maltreatment, youth violence, intimate partner violence, and elder mistreatment: A review and theoretical analysis of research on violence across the life course. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 23(1), 314-328.https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838020939119
Hussain, Z., Kircaburun, K., Savcı, M., & Griffiths, M. D. (2023). The role of aggression in the association of cyberbullying victimization with cyberbullying perpetration and problematic social media use among adolescents. Journal of Concurrent Disorders.https://doi.org/10.54127/AOJW5819
Jain, N., Kowalski, C. M., Johnson, L. K., & Saklofske, D. H. (2023). Dark thoughts, dark deeds: An exploration of the relationship between the Dark Tetrad and aggression. Current Psychology, 42(21), 18017-18032.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02993-4
Jahangir, M., Shah, S. M., Zhou, J. S., Lang, B., & Wang, X. P. (2025). Machiavellianism: Psychological, Clinical, and Neural Correlations. Journal of Psychology, 159(3), 155-168. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2024.2382243
Jia, X., Wang, Q., & Lin, L. (2020). The relationship between childhood neglect and malevolent creativity: The mediating effect of the dark triad personality. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 613695.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.613695
Jonason, P. K., & Webster, G. D. (2010). The dirty dozen: a concise measure of the dark triad. Psychological Assessment, 22(2), 420. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019265
Kabir, I., Gunu, U., & Gwadabe, Z. L. (2023). Decent work environment and work-life balance: Empirical analysis of banking sector of hostile environments. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 44(2), 297-312.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-022-09843-2
Kasım Can, C., Gokhan, C., & Arif, O. (2025). Dark personality traits and soccer fanaticism: the mediating role of attachment styles. Soccer & Society, 26(1), 19-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2024.2358825
Kermanian, S., Golshani, F., Baghdasarians, A., & Jomehri, F. (2023). Explaining the Model of Narcissism Personality Based on early life traumas, Family Functioning, and Mother's Conceptual Mentality Perceived Parenting Styles with The Mediating Role of Perfectionism and Emotion Regulation Difficulties. Social Psychology Research, 13(50), 93-109 (In Persian). https://doi.org/10.22034/spr.2023.394200.1834
Khan, F. M., Khan, A., Ahmed, S. S., Naz, A., Salim, M., Zaheer, A., & Rashid, U. (2025). The Machiavellian, Narcissistic, and Psychopathic Consumers: A Systematic Review of Dark Triad. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 49(2), e70018.https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.70018
Khawaja, S., Sokić, K., Qureshi, F. H., & Nikolić, H. (2025). Machiavellianism and Aggression as Predictors of Emotional Manipulation. Business Systems Research: International Journal of the Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy, 16(2), 1-14. URL: https://hrcak.srce.hr/327874
Liu, B., Xu, M., & Yao, J. (2024). Suffered from deep-seated childhood shadows: Linking childhood emotional abuse to interpersonal conflict at work and workplace ostracism. Personality and Individual Differences, 229, 112771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2024.112771
Liu, F., Yu, T., Xu, Y., & Che, H. (2023). Psychological maltreatment and aggression in preadolescence: Roles of temperamental effortful control and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies. Child Abuse & Neglect, 135, 105996.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.10599622-
Massa, A. A., Sippel, L., Kirby, C. M., Melkonian, A. J., Back, S. E., & Flanagan, J. C. (2023). Childhood Maltreatment and Use of Aggression among Veterans with Co-occurring PTSD and Alcohol Use Disorder: The Mediating Role of Hostile Cognitions. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 32(4), 574-591. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2022.2151961
Pacheco, E. C., Bártolo, A., Rodrigues, F., Pereira, A., Duarte, J. C., & Silva, C. F. (2021). Impact of psychological aggression at the workplace on employees’ health: a systematic review of personal outcomes and prevention strategies. Psychological Reports, 124(3), 929-976.https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294119875598
Palma, V. H. G., Pechorro, P., Prather, J., Matavelli, R., Correia, A., & Jesus, S. N. (2021). Dark Triad: Associations with juvenile delinquency, conduct disorder and trauma. Análise Psicológica, 39(2), 247-261.https://doi.org/10.14417/ap.1814
Pourshahriar, H., Alizade, H., & Rajaeinia, K. (2018). Childhood emotional abuse and borderline personality disorder features: the mediating roles of attachment style and emotion regulation. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, 24(2), 148-163.URL: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-18473-004
Rosander, M., & Salin, D. (2023). A hostile work climate and workplace bullying: reciprocal effects and gender differences. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 45(7), 46-61.https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-03-2022-0127
Schindeler, E. (2021). Workplace: Hostile Environment. In: Shapiro, L.R., Maras, MH. (eds) Encyclopedia of Security and Emergency Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70488-3_256
Schwarzer, N. H., Nolte, T., Fonagy, P., & Gingelmaier, S. (2021, January). Mentalizing and emotion regulation: Evidence from a nonclinical sample. In International forum of psychoanalysis (Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 34-45). Routledge.https://doi.org/10.1080/0803706X.2021.1873418
Shardhana, D. (2023). The impact of a hostile working environment on work-life balance (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin, National College of Ireland).URL: https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/6793
Wang, X., & Wang, H. (2024). Childhood Psychological Maltreatment and Chinese Adolescents’ Bullying Perpetration: A Moderated Mediation Model of Angry Rumination and Empathy. Journal of Family Violence, 39(8), 1525-1537.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-023-00546-2
Wilson, K., Van Doorn, G., & Dye, J. (2023). Vulnerable dark traits mediate the association between childhood adversity and suicidal ideation. Personality and Individual Differences, 202, 111959.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111959
Ye, Z., & Chung, M. C. (2022). The impact of child abuse, posttraumatic cognitions, machiavellianism and emotional suppression on interpersonal sensitivity and psychiatric comorbidity: A latent profile analysis. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 31(10), 1299-1317. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2022.2052388
Yuan Liu, F., Zhang, X., Zhang, L., Hui Liu, Y., Fan Yuan, X., & Cheng Qiao, J. (2025). Childhood trauma and aggression of young women serving a prison term in China: Dark personality as a mediator. Social Behavior and Personality: An international Journal, 53(4), 1-10.https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.14549
Zarrati, I., Bermas, H., & Sabet, M. (2020). Correlation between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation by mediation of mental pain and object relations. Journal of Health Promotion Management, 9(3), 34-48 (In Persian). URL: http://jhpm.ir/article-1-1143-en.html
Zahlquist, L., Hetland, J., Notelaers, G., Rosander, M., & Einarsen, S. V. (2023). When the going gets tough and the environment is rough: The role of departmental level hostile work climate in the relationships between job stressors and workplace bullying. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), 4464.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054464
Gharibi,L and Amini,N . (2026). The Mediating Role of the Dark Triad in the Relationship Between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Hostile Behavior in Adulthood. Recent Innovations in Psychology, 3(2), 93-108. doi: 10.22034/rip.2025.524293.1103
MLA
Gharibi,L , and Amini,N . "The Mediating Role of the Dark Triad in the Relationship Between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Hostile Behavior in Adulthood", Recent Innovations in Psychology, 3, 2, 2026, 93-108. doi: 10.22034/rip.2025.524293.1103
HARVARD
Gharibi L, Amini N. (2026). 'The Mediating Role of the Dark Triad in the Relationship Between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Hostile Behavior in Adulthood', Recent Innovations in Psychology, 3(2), pp. 93-108. doi: 10.22034/rip.2025.524293.1103
CHICAGO
L Gharibi and N Amini, "The Mediating Role of the Dark Triad in the Relationship Between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Hostile Behavior in Adulthood," Recent Innovations in Psychology, 3 2 (2026): 93-108, doi: 10.22034/rip.2025.524293.1103
VANCOUVER
Gharibi L, Amini N. The Mediating Role of the Dark Triad in the Relationship Between Childhood Emotional Abuse and Hostile Behavior in Adulthood. Recent Innovations in Psychology. 2026;3(2):93-108 (In Persian). doi: 10.22034/rip.2025.524293.1103
