The relationship between the dark triad of personality and marital infidelity in men and women: the mediating role of self-control

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the dark triad of personality and marital infidelity with the mediation of self-control. The research method was a descriptive correlation of the path analysis type. Among them, 280 people were selected by targeted sampling method. The statistical population included all the couples referred to counseling centers in Miandoab City in 2021. Among them, 280 people were selected by purposeful sampling method. The questionnaires were Marital Infidelity Questionnaires (MIQ Merami and Khademi, 2012), Self-Control Questionnaire (SCQ, Tanji et al., 2004) and Dark Triad Personality Test (SD3, Jenson and Webster, 2010). Pearson's correlation coefficient and path analysis were used to analyze the data. The results showed that dark personality traits have a direct effect on marital infidelity (p<0.01). Also, dark personality traits have an effect on marital Infidelity indirectly and through mediation self-control (p<0.01). The fit indices also showed that the research model had a good fit. Therefore, it can be concluded that self-control plays a mediating role in the relationship between the dark triad of personality and marital infidelity.