High Stakes and Dark Traits: How Psychopathy and Narcissism Drive Financial Risk-Taking in Gambling Addiction

• In Event: New topics in psychopathy

Abstract

The Dark Triad encompasses three distinct personality traits—psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism—characterized by exploitation, emotional detachment, cruelty, and selfishness. Research has linked narcissism to various risk-taking behaviors across health, social, and economic domains, including investments in volatile stocks and high-stakes betting. Psychopathy has been more thoroughly investigated in connection with risky behaviors related to heightened sexuality, substance use, criminal and antisocial conduct, though studies show inconsistent results and have primarily focused on normative populations.
Financial risk-taking stands as the hallmark characteristic of gamblers, yet the relationship between Dark Triad traits and gambling behavior has been primarily examined among casual gamblers or in controlled gambling tasks—not among frequent gamblers. The current study investigated the relationship between psychopathy, narcissism, and the willingness to risk and lose money among active gamblers. In a field study, 203 participants completed self-report questionnaires while en route to gambling venues.
Willingness to take economic risks correlated positively with psychopathy but negatively with narcissism. A significant interaction emerged between these traits: gamblers with high psychopathy demonstrated greater economic risk-taking only when their narcissism levels were low, while those with low psychopathy exhibited minimal risk-taking regardless of narcissism levels. When analyzed by gambling severity, low-risk gamblers showed economic risk-taking associated with psychopathy but not narcissism. Conversely, high-risk gamblers (those with gambling disorder) displayed economic risk-taking associated with narcissism—specifically, lower narcissism correlated with higher economic risk-taking—but not with psychopathy.
These findings illuminate the complex interplay of Dark Triad traits in economic risk-taking among gamblers, particularly those with gambling disorder. The study suggests nuanced mechanisms underlying these relationships, with important implications for prevention strategies, treatment approaches, rehabilitation programs, and gambling venue regulations.

Authors

• Sharon Rabinovitz, School of Criminology, Faculty of Law and The Unit for Excellence in Research & Study of Addiction (ERSA), and The Center for the Study of Crime, Law, and Society, University of Haifa, Israel

• Maayan Nagar, Ariel University