The dark-ego-vehicle principle (DEVP) suggests that individuals with so-called dark personalities (e.g., high narcissistic traits) are attracted to political and social activism that they can repurpose to satisfy their specific ego-focused needs (e.g., signaling moral superiority and manipulating others) instead of achieving prosocial goals. Currently, research on the DEVP is still rare. With two pre-registered studies, we sought further evidence for the DEVP by examining the associations of pathological narcissistic grandiosity with involvement in LGBQ activism (Study 1) and gender identity activism (Study 2). Socioeconomically diverse samples from the USA (Study 1; N = 446) and the UK (Study 2; N = 837) were recruited online via the research-oriented crowdsourcing platform Prolific. Individuals completed the Pathological Narcissism Inventory as well as measures of involvement in activism. Moreover, we assessed different covariates (e.g., altruism), and potential correlates within the narcissism–activism relationship (i.e., virtue signaling, dominance, and aggression). In addition, we examined potential relationships between other dark personality variables (e.g., psychopathy) and activism. In both samples, higher pathological narcissistic grandiosity was related to greater involvement in activism. As expected, virtue signaling was consistently involved in the relationship between pathological narcissistic grandiosity and activism. However, neither dominance nor aggression was related to individuals’ involvement in activism. The results did also not consistently support a relationship between higher psychopathy and greater involvement in activism. Overall, the findings help to further specify the DEVP.

黑暗自我载体原则 （DEVP） 表明，具有所谓黑暗人格（例如，高度自恋特征）的个体被政治和社会活动所吸引，他们可以重新利用这些活动来满足他们特定的以自我为中心的需求（例如，发出道德优越感和操纵他人），而不是实现亲社会目标。目前，关于 DEVP 的研究仍然很少。通过两项预先注册的研究，我们通过检查病态自恋自大与参与 LGBQ 激进主义（研究 1）和性别认同激进主义（研究 2）的关联，为 DEVP 寻求进一步的证据。来自美国的社会经济多元化样本（研究 1;N = 446）和英国（研究 2;N = 837）是通过研究型众包平台 Prolific 在线招募的。个人完成了病理性自恋量表以及参与激进主义的测量。此外，我们评估了不同的协变量（例如，利他主义）和自恋-激进主义关系中的潜在相关性（即美德信号、支配和攻击性）。此外，我们研究了其他黑暗人格变量 （例如，精神病） 与激进主义之间的潜在关系。在这两个样本中，较高的病态自恋自大与更多地参与激进主义有关。正如预期的那样，美德信号一直参与病态自恋自大和激进主义之间的关系。然而，支配或侵略性都与个人参与激进主义无关。结果也不一致地支持更高的精神病态与更多地参与激进主义之间的关系。总体而言，这些发现有助于进一步指定 DEVP。