The Role of Dark Personality Traits in Predicting Competitive Anger and Aggression in Boxers: A Path Analysis Study

The study of dark personality traits and their effects on athlete behavior, particularly in sports psychology, is a compelling area of research. This specific research examined the relationship between three dark personality traits including: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism with competitive aggression and anger in boxers.
The research method used was descriptive correlational, with a statistical population consisting of female and male boxers with at least two years of experience in the box. A total of 181 participants were selected through purposive sampling. The research instruments included a questionnaire on dark triad scale and a questionnaire assessing competitive anger and aggression in athletes. Data analysis was conducted using Pearson correlation and path analysis in SPSS 26 and LISREL version 8.8, with a significance level set at less than 0.05. The results of the path analysis indicated that machiavellianism positively predicted competitive aggression, while narcissism negatively predicted it. Among the dark personality traits, only machiavellianism was positively correlated with competitive angery.
This suggests that boxers with high levels of machiavellianism (i.e., achieving goals by any means necessary) tend to exhibit greater anger and aggression. Individuals with higher levels of this trait may show more hostile behavior and emotional fluctuations in the ring, which can ultimately affect their performance and interactions with opponents. Thus, it can be inferred that these personality traits play a significant role in shaping the competitive behaviors and emotional responses of boxers. Consequently, anger management programs could be beneficial for individuals displaying high levels of machiavellianism.