Bright lights, big city: The Dark Triad traits and geographical preferences

There are many niches people can occupy and some people may fit better in certain niches than others as a function of their personality. Two simple questions were considered presently. Are people characterized by the Dark Triad traits also characterized by a bias towards living in the city and if so as they are, what features of the city-living draw them towards such geographical preferences? Study 1 (N = 753, students) assessed the correlations between population density and size and the Dark Triad traits. Study 2 (N = 270, MTurk) asked participant's where they lived and compared rates of the Dark Triad traits. Study 3 (N = 273, MTurk) assessed where people wish they lived based on location (e.g., city, suburbia) and features of that environment and related that to the Dark Triad traits. Across three studies, there was a tentative-yet-methodologically robust bias of those who are high in the Dark Triad traits—especially psychopathy—towards city life. In Study 3, sex differences in the features people want in where they live and how the Dark Triad traits correlated with the featural preferences were examined and suggested effects consistent with life history theory. Results are discussed using life history and selection-evocation-manipulation paradigms.