Dark doxxing: How Dark Triad traits impact support for doxxing behaviors

Doxxing is a novel online harassment behavior involving the exposure of personal information in public forums, often with the intention of inducing fear in the victim. Despite the increase in doxxing behaviors in recent years, very little research has given insight as to the predictors of this novel outcome. The current research examined the relationships between the three Dark Triad constructs: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, on support for three types of doxxing behaviors (humiliation, prank, and bias) in a sample of 217 participants on Prolific. Results showed that all three Dark Triad traits were linked with greater support for doxxing behaviors. However, when examining indirect effects through empathy, significant three-path indirect effects were only found for Machiavellianism and psychopathy on the prank and bias outcomes. Furthermore, significant threepath indirect effects were found with narcissism on the prank and bias outcomes, albeit in the opposite direction. Findings provide the first empirical work on predictors of doxxing behaviors and create an important first step into an important line of research on this novel online harassment behavior. Findings are discussed in the context of gaps in our current knowledge on doxxing as well as implications for intervention strategies in the United States and worldwide.

Automated summary

This research examines the relationships between the Dark Triad traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and support for different types of doxxing behaviors. Results show that all three Dark Triad traits are associated with greater support for doxxing. The study also finds that Machiavellianism and psychopathy have significant indirect effects on prank and bias doxxing behaviors through empathy, while narcissism has indirect effects in the opposite direction.