Exploring dark tetrad personality traits of Thailand tourist attractions

This study addresses the underexplored area of dark personality traits in tourism attractions. While research on Dark Tetrad Personality Traits is expanding in psychology and related disciplines, tourism literature continues to focus predominantly on positive or light traits. The research process begins with relevant literature, focus group insights, and expert validity evaluations, followed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with international tourist samples visiting Thailand. The Dark Attraction Personality Scale (DAPS), a concise 26-adjective-based trait scale, was developed and validated, demonstrating reliability and validity using adjectives instead of lengthy personality questionnaires typically applied to humans. The DAPS enables the identification of dark traits in attractions, offering a valuable tool for tourism stakeholders. Cluster analysis further grouped attractions into distinct dark tetrad types, enriching understanding of attraction personality. This study contributes theoretically by applying psychological personality constructs to the tourism domain and offers managerial implications for attraction management and marketing strategies.