Violence exposure, negative cognitive processing, and Dark Triad traits as predictors of desensitization to violence in Honduran adults

Abstract Living in highly violent contexts may be associated with psychological desensitization to violence. This cross-sectional study examined whether violence exposure, negative cognitive processing bias, and Dark Triad traits were associated with four dimensions of violence desensitization among Honduran adults ( N = 328; 70% female; M age = 26.39 years). Four hierarchical regression models sequentially entered sociodemographic covariates, negative cognitive processing bias, violence exposure, and Dark Triad traits. Statistical inference incorporated HC3-robust standard errors, a Bonferroni correction across 60 final-model coefficients, and a smallest-effect-size-of-interest threshold. After correction, male sex was associated with emotional habituation (β = 0.24), justification of violence (β = 0.20), and indifference toward victims (β = 0.22). Machiavellianism was associated with justification of violence (β = 0.42) and indifference toward victims (β = 0.27), whereas street/neighborhood violence exposure was associated with social naturalization (β = 0.24). No other final-model coefficient survived the global correction. Accordingly, the hypotheses concerning violence exposure and Dark Triad traits received only partial support, whereas the hypothesis concerning negative cognitive processing bias was not supported in the final models. The findings identify a limited and dimension-specific set of correlates and should not be interpreted causally.