Pathological Lying and Psychosocial Outcomes: The Moderating Role of Dark Personality Traits

This project examines whether dark personality traits (psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and sadism; Buckles et al., 2013) are associated with self-identification as a pathological liar and related patterns of deceptive behaviour. Although pathological lying has been discussed in clinical and personality psychology for over a century (e.g., Healy & Healy, 1915), it remains comparatively underexamined in empirical research. Contemporary conceptualizations describe pathological lying as a pattern of excessive and difficult-to-control deception that is accompanied by psychological distress and social dysfunction (Curtis & Hart, 2020, 2023). Prior work suggests that dark personality traits are associated with heightened dishonesty, manifesting as more frequent lying, reduced perceived cost of lying, and greater willingness to deceive for personal gain (Forsyth et al., 2021; Jones & Paulhus, 2017; Yarbrough & Hart, 2025). However, relatively little research has examined whether individuals who identify as pathological liars differ systematically from others on these traits or whether such traits differentially moderate the relationship between excessive lying and adverse psychosocial outcomes. The present study addresses this question by examining whether individuals who score higher on dark personality traits are more likely to self-identify as pathological liars, and whether these traits moderate associations between excessive lying and psychological distress and social dysfunction, respectively. Participants will consist of undergraduate students recruited from the University of British Columbia Okanagan Department of Psychology’s Sona participant pool. Participants will complete a cross-sectional online survey administered through Qualtrics. After providing informed consent, participants will complete several self-report measures assessing personality traits and deception-related constructs. Dark personality traits will be assessed using the Short Dark Tetrad (SD4; Paulhus et al., 2021), which measures psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and everyday sadism. These constructs have been linked to reduced empathy (Buckles et al., 2013) and strategic dishonesty (Forsyth et al., 2021), making them theoretically relevant to the study of pathological lying. Participants will also complete measures assessing lying tendencies and attitudes toward deception. These include the Pathological Lying Inventory (PLI; Hart et al., 2024), which assesses characteristics associated with pathological lying, including excessive lying, distress, and social dysfunction; the Survey of Pathological Lying (SPL; Curtis & Hart, 2020), which assesses the frequency, motivations, perceived control, and consequences of lying behaviour; the Lying in Everyday Situations Scale (LiES; Hart et al., 2019), which assesses general lying tendencies; and the Distress Questionnaire–5 (DQ5; Batterham et al., 2016), which assesses psychological distress. Participants will be asked whether they personally identify, or believe others identify them, as a pathological liar. They will also report how many lies they have told in the past 24 hours, or, if none, when they last told a lie, providing a self-reported indicator of recent lying behaviour. Demographic information (e.g., age, sex, and ethnicity) will also be collected to characterize the sample. This study endeavours to provide a preliminary examination of the personality mechanisms that shape pathological lying, while also evaluating longstanding assumptions that dark traits may approximate the pathological lying profile in a contemporary context. Findings will inform ongoing efforts to clarify pathological lying’s diagnostic boundaries, assess its potential status as a distinct psychopathological syndrome, and elucidate the role of personality in shaping its behavioural and psychosocial outcomes.