Representations of good and evil in people with high and low self-actualization

The article presents the results of an empirical study of the ethical representations of people with different levels of self-actualization. Ethical representations, particularly those related to good and evil, not only define the moral coordinates of a personality but are also directly connected with the implementation of an individual’s moral stance, moral regulation of behavior, and, consequently, with characterological features. Our research hypothesis suggests a connection between an individual’s ethical representations and the level of self-actualization, which is manifested as active engagement with the environment. The study involved 170 respondents. Methods used: authors’ questionnaire “Attitude to Good and Evil” based on two concepts of good and evil from philosophical ethics (evil as an independent entity fighting good, and evil as the absence of good); the Dark Triad questionnaire (SD3), the Light Triad questionnaire (LTS) and the Self-Actualization Test (CAT) by Everett Shostrom. The results of the study showed that a high level of self-actualization is significantly associated with a dialectical view of the relationship and struggle between good and evil, when evil is seen as a necessary condition for personal growth, while a low level of self-actualization is characterized by the presentation of these categories as mutually exclusive. The relationships between the indicators of the Dark and Light triads and Self-actualization are also shown. The results of the work confirm the hypothesis about the relationship between representations of good and evil and self-actualization, and also complement the ideas about the place and role of selfactualization in moral psychology.

Amos, B., Longpre, N., Roos, M. D. (2024). The Dark Triad of personality: Attitudes and beliefs towards white-collar crime. Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime, 5 (1), 58–73.

Baudrillard, J. (2021). The Transparency of Evil, transl. by V. Kuvaev; 5th ed. Moscow, Dobrosvet Publ., KDU Publ. (In Russian)

Blasco‐Belled, A., Tejada‐Gallardo, C., Alsinet, C., Rogoza, R. (2024). The links of subjective and psychological well‐being with the Dark Triad traits: A meta‐analysis. Journal of Personality, 92 (2), 584–600.

Bonfa-Araujo, B., Schermer, J. A. Unveiling the fragile facade: A scoping review and meta-analysis of the Vulnerable Dark Triad. Personality and Individual Differences, 224, 112659.

Egorova, M. S., Sitnikova, M. A., Parshkova, O. V. (2015). Adaptation of the Short Dark Triad Questionnaire. Psikhologicheskie issledovaniia, 8, 43. (In Russian)

Fromm, E. (1998). Escape from Freedom; Man for Himself, transl. by D. N. Dudinskii. Minsk, Popurri Publ. (In Russian)

Furnham, A., Richards, S. C., Paulhus, D. L. (2013). The Dark Triad of personality: A 10 year review. Social and personality psychology compass, 7 (3), 199–216.

Il’ichev, R. I., Zolotareva, A. A. (2023). Pilot evaluation and preliminary psychometric properties of the Russian version of the Light Triad Scale. Natsional’nyi psikhologicheskii zhurnal, 2 (50), 3–13. https://doi.org/10.11621/npj.2023.020 (In Russian)

Jones, D. N., Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the short dark triad (SD3) a brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment, 21 (1), 28–41.

Kaufman, S. B., Yaden, D. B., Hyde, E., Tsukayama, E. (2019). The light vs. dark triad of personality: Contrasting two very different profiles of human nature. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, MAR, 467. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00467

Kolkhonen, A. Yu., Andreev, V. V. (2023). Relationship between athletic training and the Dark Triad personality traits and overcoming attitudes. Psikhologiia i pedagogika sportivnoi deiatel’nosti, 2 (65), 23–27. (In Russian)

Kolkhonen, A. Yu., Mironenko, I. A. (2023a). Balance of Eros and Thanatos in the context of the increasing threat of nuclear war. In: T. V. Drobysheva, T. P. Emelyanova, T. A. Nestic, N. N. Khachenko, A. E. Vorobeva (eds). Aktual’nye problemy sovremennoi sotsial’noi psikhologii i ee otraslei (p. 893). Moscow, Institut Psykhologii RAN Press. (In Russian)

Kolkhonen, A. Yu., Mironenko, I. A. (2023b). The dialectics of Good and Evil as a resource for life productivity in our time. In: Problemy sotsial’noi psikhologii i sotsial’noi raboty: XVIII Vserossiiskaia Paryginskaia nauchno-prakticheskaia konferentsiia s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem, April 14, 2023 (pp. 87–89). St. Petersburg; SPbGUP Publ. (In Russian)

Kornienko, D. S., Vyazovkina, V. K., Nevryuev, A. N. (2023). “Light triad”: adaptation and psychometric indicators. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal, 44 (5), 66–75. https://doi.org/10.31857/S020595920027725-3 (In Russian)

Maralov, V. G. (2024). Light triad of personality: a review of foreign studies. Sovremennaia zarubezhnaia psikhologiia, 13 (3), 18–30. (In Russian)

Maralov, V. G., Maralova, T. P. (2024). The relationship between the dark and light triads of personality and psychological capital among students. Nauchno-pedagogicheskoe obozrenie, 2 (54), 140–148. https://doi.org/10.23951/2307-6127-2024-2-140-148 (In Russian)

Maslow, A. (2018). Motivation and Personality, 3rd ed. St. Petersburg, Piter Publ. (In Russian)

May, R. (2017). Freedom and Destiny. Moscow, Institute of Humanitarian Studies Press. (In Russian)

McHoskey, J. W., Worzel, W., Szyarto, C. (1998). Machiavellianism and psychopathy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74 (1), 192–210.

Nestik, T. A., Zhuravlev, A. L. (2018). Attitude to Global Risks: A Social-Psychological Analysis. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal, 39 (1), 127–138. (In Russian)

Paulhus, D. L., Williams, K. M. (2002). The dark triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36 (6), 556–563.

Popov, L. M., Golubeva, O. Yu., Ustin, P. N. (2008). Good and Evil in Ethical Psychology of Personality: monograph. Moscow,Institut Psykhologii RAN Press. (In Russian)

Rose, L., Lynam, D. R., Miller, J. D. (2024). Measuring the “dark” triad: Comparing the five-factor model antagonistic triad measure to other commonly used self-report instruments. Assessment, 31 (4), 863–874.

Shcheglov, A. V. (2020). On the freedom of moral choice, or Thoughts on the nature of good and evil. Mezhdunarodnyi zhurnal psikhologii i pedagogiki v sluzhebnoi deiatel’nosti, 3, 155–159. (In Russian)

Tibeeva, L. F., Ustin, P. N. (2020). The problem of ethical development of personality: A philosophical and psychological review. In: Anan’evskie chteniia — 2020. Psikhologiia sluzhebnoi deiatel’nosti: dostizheniia i perspektivy razvitiia (pp. 111–112). St. Petersburg, Skifia-print

Volovikova, M. I. (2018). Moral psychology: Current state and prospects for research. Sotsial’naia i ekonomicheskaia psikhologiia, 3 (2), 6–29. (In Russian)

Zhuravlev, A. L., Volovikova, M. I., Galkina, T. V. (2014). Psychological health of the individual and the spiritual and moral problems of modern Russian society. Moscow, Institut Psykhologii RAN Press. (In Russian)

Zhuravlev, A. L., Kostrigin, A. A. (2023). Quantitative analysis of publications by the Institute of Psychology RAS on moral psychology (2002–2021). Part II. Scientometric analysis. Psikhologicheskii zhurnal, 44 (4), 94–103. (In Russian)