The relationship between the Dark Triad and bullying among Chinese adolescents: the role of social exclusion and sense of control.

Introduction: Abundant evidence has proved the association between the Dark Triad and bullying. However, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship are still not fully understood. Based on the temporal need-threat model, three studies were designed to explore the mediating role of social exclusion and sense of control in this research.

Methods: In study 1 we recruited 571 Chinese adolescents ( = 14.53, = 0.716) to participate in a cross-sectional study. And two experiments were respectively designed in Study 2 ( = 88) and Study 3 ( = 102) to verify the effects of real and cyber social exclusion on adolescent bullying behavior.

Results: Study 1 showed that social exclusion and sense of control would play the serial mediating role in the relationship between the Dark Triad and bullying (except social exclusion as a mediator between the Dark Triad and cyberbullying). Study 2 and 3 showed that adolescents with high Dark Triad show lower sense of control and more bullying behavior after experiencing social exclusion.

Discussion: These findings extend the research on the Dark Triad and bullying by providing a solid empirical foundation and intervention strategies to avoid bullying so that the problem can be rationally and scientifically approached.