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

Abstract

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 three-path 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.