Does a visitor of dark tourism sites have a dark personality? A study of potential visitors of dark tourism sites in Serbia

Dark tourism can be defined as form of tourism that is related to death and suffering and is often a subject of debate whether it is a deviant form of tourism. Previous research on dark tourism in vulnerable post-conflict areas, such as South-Eastern Europe, has overlooked the nature of visitor personalities. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to determine which basic and Dark Tetrad traits are related to preference of dark tourism sites. The sample consisted of 227 participants from Serbia (73.6% women). Using a multivariate general linear model, it was found that Machiavellianism was positively related to the preference for dark exhibitions and psychopathy to preference for visiting conflict/battle sites, while sadism was negatively related to preference for fun factories as an additional type of dark tourism sites. Narcissism showed no relation with the preference of dark tourism sites. Hence, only agreeableness and honesty-humility showed a significant and positive association with the preference of dark tourism sites (dark exhibitions and conflict/battle sites). These results provide a novel insight into dark sites visitors' personalities.

Automated summary

The study found that Machiavellianism was related to a preference for dark exhibitions, psychopathy was related to a preference for visiting conflict/battle sites, while sadism was not related to a preference for fun factories. Narcissism showed no relation with the preference of dark tourism sites. Only agreeableness and honesty-humility showed a significant and positive association with the preference of dark tourism sites.