NabamallikaNeog
Cotton University, Assam
Barsha Borthakur
Ashadeep, Assam
Swagata Saikia
Gauhati University, Assam
Pages:433-442
The Dark Triad consists of three traits namely, Machiavellianism, Narcissism and
Psychopathy. Problematic Smartphone Use is excessive or uncontrollable use of
Smartphones which causes daily life disturbances. The purpose of the study was to
investigate the relationship between the Dark Triad and Problematic Smartphone Use.
The study comprises three objectives and three hypotheses. The sample size of the
study was 120 participants (M=60, F=60) within the age ranges of 15 to 29 years
belonging to North-East India. Two types of tools were used in the study. For assessing
the Dark Triad traits of the participants, the 27-item Short Dark Triad (SD3) by Jones
and Paulhus, 2013 was used and to assess the Problematic Use of Smartphones, the
10-item Smartphone Addiction Scale- Short Version (SAS-SV) by Kwon, Kim, Cho &
Yang was used. The results showed that there was a significant gender difference in
Machiavellianism and Psychopathy. In terms of correlation, there was a significant
positive correlation between Machiavellianism and Problematic Smartphone Use among
the participants. Regression analysis showed that Machiavellianism is a weak predictor
of Problematic Smartphone Use.