The Relationship between the Characteristics of Dark Personality Traits and the Willingness to Fraudulent Behaviors: Testing of Social Trust Theory

Most organizations are exposed to a wide range and different images of fraudulent behaviors. That inappropriate effect on the trust, reputation, and corruption index of individuals and organizations. The aim of this study was to identify and clarify dark personality traits in the willingness to fraudulent behaviors with the social trust test.

The research method has a quantitative and descriptive approach. In this research the statistical society has been randomly chosen as 249 people in the year 2021 from the different internal and external organization monitors who were cooperating in monitoring field. The data collection tool was standard questionnaire with Likert scale and analysis of hypotheses in modeling structural equations with partial least squares method.

The hypotheses analysis in the modeling structural equations shows that the dark personality traits machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, sadism and spitefulness have a significant positive effect on fraudulent behavior. The variable of the social trust has not the mediator role in the effect of the dark traits on the willingness to the fraudulent behaviors.

The results indicate that dark personality traits, status of individuals and organizational environment can affect attitudes, antisocial and unethical behaviors in the alignment of personal and organizational interests or both. This is a major challenge for all participants in a quality financial reporting ecosystem due to individual and organizational deviation.
Contribution: In this study, it was the first time in Iran that the employees of the regulatory and control system were placed in the role of employees and managers of public and private organizations. Its results can help the existing paradigms about the role of personality and behavior in the willingness to fraudulent behaviors in accounting, auditing, governance, managerial, and organizational.