The Dark Side of Success: A Study of Dark Tetrad Traits and Subjective Entrepreneurial Success-Achievement

The research investigated the relationship between Dark Tetrad personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism) (Paulhus et al., 2021) and subjective perceptions of entrepreneurial success (Wach et al., 2020). Our hypothesis stated that these dark personality traits would positively correlate with subjective entrepreneurial success-achievement among the entrepreneurs. It was also hypothesized that Dark Tetrad traits would differ between genders. The research utilized quantitative methods with convenience-based non-probability sampling to gather survey responses from 200 entrepreneurs, 100 males and 100 females. The analysis showed two dark personality traits linked positively to subjective entrepreneurial success (Machiavellianism and narcissism). The independent samples t-test demonstrated how Dark Tetrad traits differ between genders. Women obtained significantly lower scores in Machiavellianism compared to men. Similarly, males displayed higher scores in the narcissism trait than females. Finally, males exhibited higher psychopathy levels when compared to female participants. In sadism, results were not statistically significant. Therefore, data shows partial evidence for hypotheses and findings are discussed in the context of entrepreneurs.