Are Online Haters Psychopaths? Psychological Predictors of Online Hating Behavior

Abstract

Despite growing prevalence of derogatory online behaviors, still little is known about psychological factors underlying this negative phenomenon. In the present study, we aimed to compare characteristics of persons who post hating and non-hating comments about Polish sports players during Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang (2018) on the Internet. Ninety-four Internet users (41% women) participated in the study, among which 46 posted hating comments. After 1 month, participants were invited to take part in a psychological survey, and filled the Dark Triad questionnaire, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Scale of Frustration, and the Scale of Envy. Results showed that high scores in Psychopathy subscale were significant predictors of posting hating comments online; high scores on the Envy Scale were marginally significant. Our findings provide initial evidence that persons who engage in derogatory online behavior have a high level of Psychopathy, but, contrary to previous studies, do not have elevated levels of other traits, commonly associated with disruptive behavior. Our research is one of the first to establish a psychological background of online haters, while setting a clear line between online hating and other derogatory online behaviors (e.g., trolling, cyber-bullying, or hatred speech).