When does awe protect? The moderating roles of awe and dark triad traits in the association between preference for solitude and problematic short video use

Preference for solitude has been linked to mobile phone addiction, yet its prospective association with problematic short video use (PSVU) and the boundary conditions of this association remain unclear. Drawing on the I-PACE framework, the present study examined whether trait awe buffers, and Dark Triad traits amplify, the prospective link between preference for solitude and PSVU among adolescents, and whether awe and Dark Triad traits jointly moderate this association. A two-wave panel design was employed. At Time 1 (March 2025), 256 Chinese adolescents (121 boys; M age = 16.08 years, SD = 0.43) completed self-report measures of preference for solitude, trait awe, Dark Triad traits, and PSVU. At Time 2 (December 2025, approximately nine months later), 253 participants completed the PSVU measure again. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted in four steps. Significant interactions were probed using simple slope analyses. Separate models were estimated for the Dark Triad composite and each sub-dimension (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy). After controlling for covariates, higher T1 preference for solitude significantly predicted higher T2 PSVU. Awe significantly moderated this association, such that the solitude–PSVU link was significant at low awe but nonsignificant at high awe. Dark Triad traits also significantly moderated the association, with the solitude–PSVU link stronger at high DT. Critically, the three-way interaction was significant, indicating that the buffering association of awe varied across levels of Dark Triad traits. Trait-level analyses revealed that the three-way interaction was significant for Machiavellianism and psychopathy, but not for narcissism. Awe may buffer the association between preference for solitude and PSVU, and this buffering pattern varies across adolescents’ Dark Triad traits. The buffering association of awe was more evident at lower levels of Dark Triad traits, although the magnitude of this conditional effect was modest. These findings underscore the importance of jointly considering positive emotional dispositions and dark personality traits when modeling vulnerability to problematic short video use.