2026/03/10 by Laura Bartz, Merten Neumann, Leonie Dreißigacker +1 · 1 voice
Psychology · #Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression #Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending #Personality Traits and Psychology
paper · doi:10.1080/15564886.2026.2640011
openalex publication_date 2026/03/10 · openalex created_date 2026/03/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/14
Findings on the victim-offender overlap show that victimization often leads individuals to engage in criminal behavior, influenced by societal, situational, and personal factors. However, the role of personality traits in this overlap remains understudied. This study examines how dark personality traits, namely Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, affect the link between victimization and offending in school violence. Data from a 2019 cross-sectional survey of N = 5327 German ninth graders were analyzed. Results confirmed a positive association between victimization and school violence offending. Contrary to the expectations, dark personality traits did not consistently moderate this relationship. However, interaction effects emerged at extreme levels of these traits, suggesting complex, nonlinear trait-environment interactions. This is the first study to explore how dark personality traits influence the victim-offender overlap in the context of school violence, offering a novel perspective by integrating criminological and psychological approaches.