ABSTRACT
Background: Dark triad refers to a set of traits that include the tendency to seek admiration and specialtreatment (otherwise known as Narcissism), to be callous and insensitive (Psychopathy) and to manipulateothers (Machiavellianism). The purpose of this study was to study the difference in dark triad amongstindividuals with different age groups and gender.Methods: Convenient sampling was used to collect the data. A total of 90 participants (44 males and 46females) participated in the study with consent. The respondents belonged to three age groups: earlyadulthood (20-34), midlife (35-49) and mature adulthood (50-64). A 27-item version of The Short DarkTriad (SD3) was used for the assessment of dark triad.Results: Descriptive statistics, t-test and one way ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The findingsindicate that there is no significant difference in Narcissism and Machiavellianism between males andfemales however there is a significant difference in Psychopathy between males and females. Also, the Fvalue indicate that there is a significant difference in the three personality traits in reference to different agegroups. Post hoc analysis indicates a significant difference in psychopathic behavior between 20-35yrs(early adulthood) and 36-49 (mid life adulthood) age groups and between 20-35yrs and 50-64yrs (matureadulthood) age groups. However there is no significant difference in psychopathic behavior between 36-49yrs and 50-64yrs age group.Conclusion: Males score higher on psychological tendencies as compared to females. Secondly,psychopathic tendencies are more in participants who are in early adulthood (20-34) than people in midlife(35-49) and mature adulthood (50-64).