The dark path to psychopathy, Machiavellianism as a mediator of the narcissism–psychopathy link among incarcerated men and women: a moderated mediation analysis

Antagonistic traits in prison may be shaped by informal hierarchies and instrumental social exchange, yet the mechanisms linking Dark Triad dimensions and gender differences remain under-specified in incarcerated samples. We surveyed 344 incarcerated adults in six Czech prisons, 205 women and 139 men, using the Dirty Dozen and a demographic questionnaire. A moderated mediation model in PROCESS Model 5 tested Machiavellianism as a mediator of the narcissism–psychopathy association and gender as a moderator of the direct path, controlling for age, marital status, and number of children. Narcissism was associated with higher Machiavellianism, B = 0.63, and with psychopathy both directly, B = 0.29, and indirectly via Machiavellianism, indirect B = 0.16. Machiavellianism was also related to psychopathy, B = 0.26. Gender moderated the direct narcissism–psychopathy link, B = −0.17, with a stronger conditional direct effect among women than men. The findings indicate that narcissistic dominance orientation relates to psychopathic tendencies partly through Machiavellian strategizing, while gender differentiates the remaining direct association in prison contexts.