The mediating role of moral disengagement in the relationship between dark personality trait and perceptions for female performance athletes: the role of age, gender, and physical activity level

Creative Commons License

Kurtuldu T., Sağ S., Livmercan E., Engin S. G.

FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY, cilt.17, sa.1805028, ss.1-10, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 17 Sayı: 1805028
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1805028
  • Dergi Adı: FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), IBZ Online, Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-10
  • Açık Arşiv Koleksiyonu: AVESİS Açık Erişim Koleksiyonu
  • Yozgat Bozok Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of moral disengagement

in the effect of dark personality trait on perceptions of female performance

athletes, and to test whether this relationship differs according to gender, age, and

physical activity level.

Methods: The study was conducted with 726 volunteer participants (362 men, 364

women; age range 18–56; X¯ = 22.59 ± 5.85) collected online using a convenience

sampling method. Data were obtained using a Personal Information Form created by

the researchers, the Short Dark Triad (SD3-T) Scale, the Moral Disengagement Scale,

and the Perception Scale for Female Performance Athletes. Normality and outlier analyses

were performed prior to the analysis, and no outliers were detected.

Results: Correlation findings showed a significant positive correlation between

dark personality and moral disengagement; and a significant negative correlation

between both variables and perceptions of female performance athletes

(p < 0.01). Mediation and moderation effects were tested using SPSS PROCESS

Macro with a sample of 5,000 bootstraps. In the mediation analysis, it was found

that dark personality increases moral disengagement, and moral disengagement

decreases perception. When moral disengagement was included in the mediation

model, the direct effect of dark personality on perception decreased but

remained significant. The indirect effect was confirmed by the bootstrap confidence

interval not including zero. In moderation analyses, interactions for gender

and physical activity level were not found to be significant, while the interaction

for age was found to be significant; simple slope analyses showed that the negative

effect of dark personality on perception strengthened with increasing age.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the findings suggest that individuals with dark personality

traits utilize moral disengagement strategies to justify negative evaluations of female

athletes, a tendency that appears to be more pronounced in older individuals.