Malevolent creativity refers to a form of creative expression in which the individual harms others intentionally or damages objects through novel means (Harris & Reiter-Palmon, 2015). It manifests in various forms, including fraud, murder, and terrorism, posing serious threats to societal stability (Cropley et al., 2008; Harris & Reiter-Palmon, 2015; Perchtold-Stefan et al., 2024; Spooner, 2008). Geng et al. (2024) found that childhood adversity significantly predicts malevolent creativity; however, the psychological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. According to the individual–environment interaction model, both environmental and individual factors shape psychological and behavioral development (Lerner et al., 2006). To further elucidate this relationship, in the present study we examined the mechanisms linking childhood adversity to malevolent creativity, with a particular focus on resilience and the Dark Triad personality traits as potential mediators.

 

Resilience refers to the ability to positively adapt to adversity and maintain well-being during challenges (Kalisch et al., 2015), serving as a crucial resource for coping with life’s changes (Feldman, 2020). Childhood maltreatment negatively predicts resilience, as maltreated children struggle with emotional regulation and often use negative strategies like rumination, leading to persistent emotional issues and hindered resilience development (Collishaw et al., 2007; Garnefski & Kraaij, 2018). Richardson (2002) suggested that negative events disrupt equilibrium, and failed cognitive restructuring decreases resilience, potentially leading to maladaptive behaviors like self-harm. Low resilience has been linked to destructive problem solving and higher malevolent creativity (Kapoor & Kaufman, 2022; Qiao, 2019). Thus, we formed our first hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1: Resilience will mediate the relationship between childhood adversity and malevolent creativity.

 

The Dark Triad comprises three interrelated but distinct personality traits (Moshagen et al., 2018): Machiavellianism (being manipulative, lacking empathy), psychopathy (being impulsive, antisocial), and narcissism (being arrogant, self-centered). Given that personality traits are shaped by early social–ecological environments (Kaplan & Gangestad, 2005), individuals who experience childhood adversity are more likely than are their peers to develop dark personality traits (Sai et al., 2020). Specifically, individuals tend to adjust their behavioral strategies based on their early-life environment. When the childhood environment is harsh and unpredictable, individuals are more inclined to pursue immediate rewards, exhibit self-serving tendencies and risk-taking behaviors, and show a disregard for social norms. Within this context, dark personality traits are regarded as adaptive responses developed under a fast life history strategy. Traits such as manipulating others, ignoring moral standards, and being self-centered may help individuals secure short-term benefits and improve their chances of survival in resource-scarce and highly competitive environments (Sai et al., 2020). Existing research has shown that both total scores on measures of the Dark Triad (Geng et al., 2024) and scores on its three dimensions (Jia et al., 2020; Kapoor & Kaufman, 2022; Lebuda et al., 2021) are significantly and positively correlated with malevolent creativity. However, Jia et al. (2020) found that the Dark Triad mediates the relationship between childhood neglect and malevolent creativity, but neglect represents only a single facet of childhood adversity. Moreover, Furnham et al. (2013) showed that although each trait within the Dark Triad has distinct characteristics, they share a common core of socially aversive behaviors and frequently co-occur. Given their strong intercorrelations and conceptual overlap, recent studies have increasingly treated them as a unified construct (Akat et al., 2023; Jin et al., 2024; Jonason & Webster, 2010). Therefore, in the current study we adopted this approach by considering the Dark Triad as a unified construct while incorporating multiple forms of childhood abuse into the scope of childhood adversity. Accordingly, we formed the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 2: The Dark Triad as a whole will mediate the relationship between childhood adversity and malevolent creativity.

 

Resilience and the Dark Triad may both mediate the relationship between childhood adversity and malevolent creativity, although scholars hold different views on the causal relationship between resilience and the Dark Triad. Some have suggested that the Dark Triad as a whole can positively predict resilience (Li, 2020). However, theoretically, low resilience may lead to negative coping styles and maladaptive schemas, such as an underrestricted theme schema, where individuals feel superior, disregard social rules, and act impulsively without empathy (Young et al., 2003). This underdeveloped resilience may foster dark personality traits, increasing malevolent creativity. On this basis, we formed our third hypothesis:

Hypothesis 3: Resilience and the Dark Triad as a whole will play a chain mediating role in the relationship between childhood adversity and malevolent creativity.

Using the formula, , the sample size required for analysis was at least 350. We recruited 1,575 college students from three universities in Yantai City, China: Ludong University, Yantai University, and Shandong Business Institute. To ensure data quality, checks were implemented, and responses with completion times under 1 minute or those with uniform answers across all items were identified and excluded. After removing 256 invalid responses, 1,319 valid survey forms remained, yielding an 83.75% recovery rate. Participants included 880 (66.7%) men and 439 (33.3%) women, with 546 (41.4%) being freshmen, 357 (27.1%) being sophomores, and 416 (31.5%) being juniors. The age range of participants in this study was between 18 and 20 years.

The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Ludong University, with consent obtained from participants and institutions. Using convenience sampling, we conducted the survey via the Questionnaire Star platform.

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was originally developed by Bernstein et al. (1994) and adapted into Chinese by Zhao et al. (2005). We used this scale to assess childhood adversity among students. The questionnaire consists of 28 items, which are divided into five dimensions each with five items: emotional abuse (e.g., “When I was growing up, someone in my family said hurtful or insulting things to me”), physical abuse (e.g., “When I was growing up, I was physically hurt so badly that I had to see a doctor or go to the hospital”), sexual abuse (e.g., “When I was growing up, someone threatened me to do sexual things with them”), affective neglect (e.g., “When I was growing up, I felt that no one in my family cared about me”), and physical neglect (e.g., “When I was growing up, no one in my family cared whether I had enough to eat”), along with three items designed to serve as validity checks (e.g., “When I was growing up, my family situation needed improvement”). Items are scored on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (never true) to 5 (very often true). Cronbach’s alpha was .93 and the measure demonstrated good structural validity, χ²/df = 8.73, goodness-of-fit index (GFI) = .90, comparative fit index (CFI) = .93, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = .91, root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .08, standardized root-mean-square residual (SRMR) = .06.

We used the Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale (Hao et al., 2016) to measure students' malevolent creativity through their behavior in their daily life. The scale contains 13 questions, which are divided into three dimensions: lying (four items, e.g., “How often do you tell lies without worrying about getting caught out?”), playing tricks (three items, e.g., “How often do you have ideas about how to pull pranks on others?”), and hurting others (six items, e.g., “How often do you have ideas about new ways to punish people?”). The items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (usually). Cronbach’s alpha was .95 in this study and the scale demonstrated good structural validity, χ²/df = 7.47, GFI = .96, CFI = .98, TLI = .97, RMSEA = .07, SRMR = .02.

We assessed the Dark Triad personality traits with the Short Dark Triad Scale, which was developed by Jonason and Webster (2010) and revised by Geng et al. (2015). The scale contains 12 items, which are divided into three dimensions with four items each: Machiavellianism (e.g., “I tend to take advantage of others to achieve my own goals”), psychopathy (e.g., “I lack a sense of remorse”), and narcissism (e.g., “I want others to pay attention to me”). Items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Cronbach’s alpha was .91 in this study and the scale showed good structural validity, χ²/df = 13.61, GFI = .93, CFI = .95, TLI = .92, RMSEA = .10, SRMR = .04.

We measured resilience with the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale, which was developed by Connor and Davidson (2003) and revised by Yu and Zhang (2007). The scale contains 25 items and divided across three dimensions: optimism (four items, e.g., “Sometimes, fate or God can lend a helping hand”), strength (eight items, e.g., “Coping with stress makes me feel empowered”), and tenacity (13 items, e.g., “When things seem hopeless, I don’t give up easily”). The items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (never) to 5 (always). Cronbach’s alpha was .96 in this study and the scale showed good structural validity, χ²/df = 7.27, GFI = .92, CFI = .95, TLI = .93, RMSEA = .07, SRMR = .03.

We used SPSS 22.0 for calculating descriptive statistics and conducting a correlation analysis, and Mplus 8.0 for data modeling and chain mediation effect testing.

Harman’s single-factor test revealed nine factors with eigenvalues greater than 1, with the first factor explaining 32.5% of the variance. As this is below the critical threshold of 40%, no significant common method bias was found in the data.

The correlation analysis results (see Table 1) showed that childhood adversity was significantly and negatively correlated with resilience, and significantly and positively correlated with both Dark Triad (total score) and malevolent creativity. Resilience was significantly and negatively correlated with both Dark Triad (total score) and malevolent creativity. Finally, there was a significant positive correlation between Dark Triad (total score) and malevolent creativity.

For the regression analysis, we set childhood adversity as the predictor variable and malevolent creativity as the outcome variable. The results showed that childhood adversity significantly and positively predicted malevolent creativity, β = .46, t = 18.87, p < .001 (see Figure 1).

Mediation analysis showed that the direct effect of childhood adversity on malevolent creativity was not significant. However, as shown in Table 2, three significant mediation pathways were identified: (a) childhood adversity → resilience → malevolent creativity, (b) childhood adversity → Dark Triad (total score) → malevolent creativity, and (c) childhood adversity → resilience → Dark Triad (total score) → malevolent creativity. These findings showed the mediating roles of resilience and the Dark Triad (total score), supporting Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3.

In this study we found that childhood adversity significantly predicted malevolent creativity among college students. This is consistent with the result reported by Jia et al. (2020), and may have occurred because abuse and neglect during childhood foster social hatred and malevolent tendencies, increasing the likelihood of harmful thoughts or actions (Zetino et al., 2020). Our findings also support social information processing theory (Mobbs et al., 2015), which posits that early adversity biases individuals toward hostile interpretations and malevolent strategies. Thus, experiencing adversity in childhood is correlated with higher malevolent creativity in adulthood.

 

We found that resilience mediated the relationship between childhood adversity and malevolent creativity. Childhood adversity negatively predicted resilience, which aligns with the result reported by Liu (2024). Adverse experiences increase stress and negative emotions while hindering emotional regulation and adaptive abilities (Kalisch et al., 2015). We also found that resilience, in turn, negatively predicted malevolent creativity, which is consistent with the finding of Wang et al. (2022). High resilience fosters psychological resources and risk resistance, inhibiting malevolent creativity, whereas low resilience leads to emotional instability and weakened moral constraints, increasing malevolent tendencies (Flores et al., 2005; Qiao, 2019).

 

We also found that the Dark Triad personality traits mediated the relationship between childhood adversity and malevolent creativity. Childhood adversity positively predicted the Dark Triad, which is consistent with the results of Fang et al. (2023). Life history theory further explains that harsh childhood environments promote fast life strategies, in which short-term goals, risk taking, and diminished empathy or morality are emphasized (Griskevicius et al., 2013). Consequently, adversity can increase dark personality tendencies. Additionally, we found that the Dark Triad positively predicted malevolent creativity, as individuals with dark traits exhibit less moral awareness, reduced self-control, and higher engagement in unethical behaviors, fostering malevolent creativity (Jonason et al., 2015).

 

Resilience and the Dark Triad traits also acted as chain mediators of the link between childhood adversity and malevolent creativity, supporting the chain-of-risk model from life course theory (Ben-Shlomo et al., 2014). This model explains how early adversity increases the risk of low resilience, which fosters dark personality traits, ultimately leading to malevolent creativity. In this study childhood adversity influenced malevolent creativity exclusively through the chain mediation effect. This is likely to have occurred because personality traits, being intrinsic and enduring aspects of development, serve as more proximal predictors of malevolent creativity (Woodman & Schoenfeldt, 1990), whereas childhood adversity, as an external factor, loses predictive strength when resilience and the Dark Triad are considered, resulting in a full mediation effect.

This study has some limitations. First, the sample was drawn from three colleges in Yantai, China, limiting the generalizability of the findings to other areas and populations. Future studies could expand the survey scope to enhance the representativeness of the results. Second, the use of a cross-sectional research design precludes drawing causal inferences, underscoring the need for longitudinal studies. Third, some scholars have suggested that composite measures of the Dark Triad essentially function as assessments of psychopathy, disproportionately emphasizing grandiose narcissism and Machiavellianism without a well-founded theoretical justification (Glenn & Sellbom, 2015). The Malevolent Creativity Behavior Scale (Hao et al., 2016) has been criticized for insufficiently incorporating the dimension of novelty, reducing its effectiveness in measuring malevolent creativity (Waldie et al., 2021). Additionally, reliance on self-report measures may introduce biases. Thus, developing more precise and theoretically grounded assessment tools is essential for advancing future research in this field.

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