Parent Autonomy Support and Psychological Control, Dark Triad, and Subjective Well-Being of Chinese Adolescents: Synergy of Variable- and Person-Centered Approaches

In the current study, variable- and person-centered approaches were simultaneously adopted to investigate the relations among perceived parental autonomy support and psychological control, the Dark Triad traits, and subjective well-being (SWB) among Chinese adolescents (N = 1,533). Results showed that autonomy support from parents primarily contributed to narcissism, whereas psychological control predicted all the Dark Triad traits, which in turn had reversed effects on adolescents’ SWB. In particular, narcissism had more prominent effects on SWB and important mediating effects in the relation between parent autonomy support and psychological control and SWB. Four distinct Dark Triad traits groups were identified, and the characteristics of these groups suggested that Machiavellianism was more strongly related to psychopathy relative to narcissism; moreover, the four groups demonstrated different links with parental autonomy support and psychological control and SWB, further supporting the results noted above. Implications for theory and practice are included.