Researchers have discovered a significant connection between certain personality traits, namely Machiavellianism and psychopathy, and support for a specific type of online harassment known as “doxxing.” Their study, published in Personality and Individual Differences, found that individuals with high levels of these traits, coupled with lower empathy, are more likely to endorse doxxing behaviors, particularly those driven by pranks and bias.
Doxxing is a form of online harassment where personal and private information about an individual is publicly disclosed without their consent. Typically used as a means of revenge, intimidation, or public shaming, doxxing can include revealing someone’s real name, home address, workplace, phone number, financial information, or other personal details. This act can lead to significant psychological distress, physical danger, and social ramifications for the victim, and has become a concerning aspect of online interaction in the digital age.
The Dark Triad refers to a trio of negative personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulation and a focus on self-interest and deception. Narcissism involves an inflated sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. Psychopathy is marked by impulsive behavior, a lack of remorse or empathy, and often antisocial behavior. These traits are commonly studied in psychological research due to their impact on interpersonal relationships and various social outcomes.
The motivation behind this study was to explore the relationship between Dark Triad personality traits and the likelihood of supporting or engaging in doxxing, an emergent and harmful form of online behavior. Recognizing that these negative personality traits have been linked to various forms of unethical and aggressive behaviors, the researchers aimed to investigate their influence in the context of online harassment.
“A student of mine, my co-author on this paper, was interested in exploring novel manifestations of cyberbullying,” said study author Stephen Foster, an assistant professor of social psychology at Penn State York.
“We were both really fascinated by that literature, which has so many cool little nuances in it, and we landed on doxxing as a very unique form of online harassment that seems to be emerging as a more common form of negative online behavior. The Dark Triad perspective was inspired by another paper of mine on these types of traits, which we figured might explain some of the motivations for these behaviors.”
The study involved 217 participants, with a near-equal gender split and an average age of 39. These individuals were recruited through Prolific, an online platform for data collection. Participants spent, on average, 2 to 2.5 hours online daily, with about two-thirds reporting familiarity with the concept of doxxing.
The Short Dark Triad scale was used to gauge levels of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. This 27-item questionnaire asked participants to rate statements that reflect manipulative behavior, sense of superiority, and callousness.
To understand support for doxxing, participants responded to questions about whether they thought doxxing was justified in scenarios of humiliation, pranks, or political bias. The study also measured empathy using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, focusing on empathic concern and perspective-taking. Additional data on gender, age, and time spent online were also collected.
The researchers found that Machiavellianism and psychopathy were positively correlated with support for doxxing in the contexts of pranks and political bias, but not in humiliation. These traits were also linked to lower levels of empathy. Narcissism, however, showed a negative association with support for doxxing in prank and bias contexts, which the researchers speculate could be due to the complex nature of narcissism that includes both grandiose and vulnerable components.
Path analytic models, controlling for age, gender, and online time, further supported these findings. The study indicated that the lack of empathy in individuals with high levels of Machiavellianism and psychopathy might be driving their support for certain types of doxxing behaviors. On the other hand, the nuanced role of narcissism suggests that the relationship between dark personality traits and online harassment is more complex than previously thought.
“I think one of the important pieces of this research is the fact that, although we were only measuring support for doxxing behaviors, everyone in our sample is of voting age and can ultimately influence the policies which might help to protect people against doxxing attacks,” Foster told PsyPost. “We know a little more now about how Dark Triad traits seem to facilitate support for certain doxxing behaviors because of lower levels of empathy.
“It is important for us to acknowledge that living human beings exist on the other side of our computer screens, and the impact of doxxing behaviors does not simply go away when people turn their computers off. One might consider if Dark Triad traits might also make people less likely to support policies which protect victims of doxxing as well.”
While these findings shed new light on the psychological underpinnings of support for online harassment, the study acknowledges certain limitations. The data was collected in the United States, which might not fully represent global attitudes towards doxxing. The researchers also noted that they focused on the support for doxxing rather than actual doxxing behavior, which may differ. Furthermore, the complexity of narcissism and its impact on empathy and doxxing behaviors suggests that future research should delve deeper into this relationship.
“As I noted previously, we are only measuring support for doxxing in this study — we really need a study which examines those who have actually engaged in doxxing behaviors to see if these effects hold in that population as well,” Foster said. “We also want to know more about adjacent behaviors like ‘swatting,’ what I consider to be a more extreme behavior where the perpetrator convinces law enforcement that a really extreme crime is occurring at someone’s house and essentially lures them out there. In fact, a swatting event just occurred at a Florida senator’s house just a few days ago, and past swatting events have resulted in innocent civilians getting shot basically for the sake of a prank (such as the swatting event in Wichita in 2017 which resulted in the death of Andrew Finch).”
“A lot of personality research in this area may seem merely descriptive, as we are giving a profile of people who may engage in certain forms of online harassment,” Foster added. “This may subsequently convince people we cannot do much to prevent these individuals from engaging in doxxing behaviors. I would encourage people to consider that, alongside Dark Triad personality traits, we can also profile motivations and worldviews which might emerge from these types of traits.
“Interfering with these motivations/worldviews may help us to intervene and frame certain online behaviors in a way which makes them less appealing to those higher in Dark Triad traits. In this sense, interventions based around these personality findings are actually potentially feasible via certain messaging tactics. Of course, that type of research needs to be carefully conducted to substantiate potential approaches.”
The study, “Dark doxxing: How Dark Triad traits impact support for doxxing behaviors“, was authored by Stephen Foster and Jasmine Cross.
