The Mediating Role of Dark Personality Traits in Explaining the Structural Relationships Between the Desire to Control Others and Women's Sense of Happiness

Mahdi Mahdavi; Seyed Abolghasem Mehrinejad; Abolfazl Karami; Rasoul Roshan Chesli

doi:10.61838/kman.aftj.5.2.9

Authors

Mahdi Mahdavi PhD student, Department of Psychology, Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2301-9623
Seyed Abolghasem Mehrinejad Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran Corresponding Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6584-8211
Abolfazl Karami Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2985-5710
Rasoul Roshan Chesli Professor, Department of Psychology, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0721-8235

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61838/kman.aftj.5.2.9

Keywords:

Sense of happiness, desire to control others, dark personality traits

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the mediating role of dark personality traits in explaining the structural relationships between the desire to control others and women's sense of happiness.

Methods: The research method was descriptive correlational with a structural equation modeling approach. The population of the study comprised all married women in Tehran in the year 2021. The sample size was 448 participants, selected through purposive convenience sampling and assessed using the Taghizadeh and Shadmehri Happiness Scale (2016), the Graham-Kwan and Archer Controlling Behaviors Scale (2005), and the Johnson and Webster Dark Personality Traits Scale (2010). Data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling.

Findings: The analysis indicated that the structural model of the study fits well with the collected data, and dark personality traits significantly and negatively mediate the relationship between the desire to control others and women's sense of happiness.

Conclusion: Thus, it can be stated that the higher the desire to control others and the presence of dark personality traits, the lower the sense of happiness, which can be a useful insight in couples' counseling.