Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

Spring 5-2018

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Science

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Richard Beck, PhD

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Cherisse Y. Flanagan, PhD

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Robert McKelvain, PhD

Abstract

Dark Triad has been examined before in previous literature many different times. The Dark Tetrad is recently new to the field and does not have the same amount of literature as the Triad. The Dark Triad and Tetrad have been examined with the Big Five Personality model numerous times and have been negatively correlated in the previous research. However, most of the research examined did not use Honesty-Humility that the HEXACO Personality Model has incorporated into the Big Five Personality model. The topic of mental toughness has been researched numerous times since its acceptance as a personality trait. The difficulty with mental toughness is the debate on the psychological trait being unidimensional or multidimensional. However, there was no prior research on the relationship between the Dark Tetrad, HEXACO Personality Model, and Mental Toughness in College athletes. The aim of this study was to further develop the understanding of the relationship between the Dark Tetrad and the HEXACO personality model in relation to mental toughness in college athletes. The HEXACO PI-R, Dirty Dozen, the Comprehensive Assessment for Sadistic Tendencies (CAST), and the Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTQ) were administered online to 245 undergraduate students. These students were also asked if they participated in sports and how long they participated in the sport. Results showed that mental toughness did not have a correlation with the Dark Tetrad. HEXACO personality model specifically, emotionality, was negatively correlated with mental toughness. Extraversion and Openness to Experiences was positively correlated with mental toughness. Finally, athletes have shown to be more mentally tough than non-athletes. These findings are important because it helps further explore the construct of mental toughness and shows that mental toughness is a multidimensional psychological trait. Finally, it shows that mental toughness does not need to express antisocial personality traits to establish mental toughness.

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