Is the dark triad's impact on life satisfaction affected by work-family conflict?

Background: Individual characteristics, cultural or social background, and present circumstances all influence the elements considered significant in an individual's self-evaluation of life happiness. These factors interact in complex ways, making life satisfaction a deeply personal and contextual experience. Objective: This study examined the mediating influence of work-family conflict on the impact of dark triad personality traits on the life satisfaction of academicians employed in higher education institutions. Methods: Data were collected by reaching 496 academicians from different disciplines through an electronic survey method. The concepts of life satisfaction, dark triad personality traits, and work-family conflict, as well as the relationships between the concepts, were examined. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), correlation, and regression analysis were applied to analyze the data set obtained. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used for the mediation test and path analysis. Results: The findings of the study indicate that work-family conflict serves as a partial statistical mediator (p < 0.05, beta = 0.112) in the relationship between dark triad personality traits and life satisfaction. Dark triad personality traits affect life satisfaction negatively (p < 0.05, beta = -0.196) and work-family conflict positively (p < 0.05, beta = 0.470). Conclusion: The findings revealed that work-family conflict mediated the relationship between the dark triad traits and life satisfaction by reducing the negative effects of these traits. Stated differently, those with the dark triad personality traits report lower levels of life satisfaction; however, this decline is mitigated when the person also experiences work-family conflict.