Dark Empaths and Intimate Partner Violence: A Latent Profile Analysis of Dark Tetrad Traits and Empathy Dimensions in Face-to-Face and Cyber Violence Perpetration

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been consistently linked to Dark Tetrad traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism), typically associated with reduced empathy. However, cognitive empathy may be used instrumentally rather than protectively, giving rise to a “dark empath” profile—elevated dark traits alongside preserved empathetic mechanisms—which remains understudied in IPV perpetration. The present study used latent profile analysis to identify personality profiles based on Dark Tetrad traits and empathy and examined differences in face-to-face and cyber IPV perpetration. Participants (N = 324; 70.4% women; 82.1% based in Spain) completed measures of the Dark Tetrad, empathy, and face-to-face and cyber IPV perpetration. Four profiles emerged: Empathic Non-Dark, Typical, Dark Cognitive Empath, and Dark Non-Empathic. The Dark Non-Empathic profile showed the clearest elevations in face-to-face physical and psychological violence. For cyber monitoring/control, the Dark Cognitive Empath profile showed the highest estimated score and was significantly higher than the Empathic Non-Dark and Typical profiles, but did not differ significantly from the Dark Non-Empathic profile. These findings provide preliminary evidence that preserved cognitive empathy alongside elevated dark traits may be associated with elevated cyber monitoring/control, although this pattern was not unique to the Dark Cognitive Empath profile. The findings further suggest that cognitive and affective empathy should be distinguished when examining IPV perpetration.