Story perspectives

Dark Personality Undermines Self-Control via Right-Wing Authoritarianism

6/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

Fernanda Otoni and colleagues surveyed 498 Brazilian adults (ages 18-71, mean 33) with gender and political balance.
Path analysis showed the dark personality factor linked to self-control only via right-wing authoritarianism.
Social dominance orientation did not mediate the dark factor’s relationship with self-control or emotional difficulties.
Emotion-regulation difficulties were inversely related to self-control and only weakly tied to authoritarian beliefs, with the study noting self-report bias and a cross-sectional design.

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Story summary

Fernanda Otoni and colleagues surveyed 498 Brazilian adults (ages 18-71, mean 33) with gender and political balance.
Path analysis showed the dark personality factor linked to self-control only via right-wing authoritarianism.
Social dominance orientation did not mediate the dark factor’s relationship with self-control or emotional difficulties.
Emotion-regulation difficulties were inversely related to self-control and only weakly tied to authoritarian beliefs, with the study noting self-report bias and a cross-sectional design.