About the test
Dark personality test (Dark Tetrad)
The Short Dark Tetrad (SD4) measures four socially aversive traits found in everyone to some degree: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy and sadism.
- 28 questions
- About 5 min
Questionnaire / instrument: SD4
What does it measure?
Four socially aversive personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy and sadism. The questions explore manipulation, self-importance, disinhibition and enjoyment of others’ discomfort.
Where does it come from?
The Short Dark Tetrad (SD4) was developed by Delroy Paulhus, Erin Buckels, Paul Trapnell and Daniel Jones. We use their 28-item questionnaire, published in 2021 and provided on Paulhus’s university website.
How is the result calculated?
Seven answers are averaged for each trait. Reference comparisons use the means and standard deviations supplied with the original questionnaire, from a university student sample.
What can the result tell you?
Trait names are research terms, not diagnoses or labels to apply to another person. The reference sample is not a representative population, and approximate percentiles should not be read as clinical thresholds.
Languages and adaptations
English follows the source instrument. Our other language versions include AI-assisted translations that have not been independently validated. Our explanations and result commentary are written for this website.
License and reuse
Public-domain permissionDelroy Paulhus lists SD4 among questionnaires available in the public domain without requesting permission. This is the author’s published permission statement, rather than a Creative Commons license.
The terms below apply to the test materials. Articles, translations, software and our result descriptions may have separate terms.
Sources and further reading
Paulhus, D. L., Buckels, E. E., Trapnell, P. D., & Jones, D. N. (2021). Screening for dark personalities: The Short Dark Tetrad (SD4). European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 37(3), 208-222.