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Cited by 117Impact of Technology on AdolescentsPersonality Traits and PsychologySexuality, Behavior, and Technology

The dark side of internet: Preliminary evidence for the associations of dark personality traits with specific online activities and problematic internet use

Open access
Kircaburun, Kagan, Griffiths, Mark D.·2018·Journal of Behavioral Addictions
DOI 10.1556/2006.7.2018.109PMC PMC6376394
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Abstract

Background and aims: Research has shown that personality traits play an important role in problematic internet use (PIU). However, the relationship between dark personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, sadism, and spitefulness) and PIU has yet to be investigated. Consequently, the objectives of this study were to investigate the relationships of dark traits with specific online activities (i.e., social media, gaming, gambling, shopping, and sex) and PIU. Methods: A total of 772 university students completed a self-report survey, including the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen Scale, Short Sadistic Impulse Scale, Spitefulness Scale, and an adapted version of the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale. Results: Hierarchical regression analysis and a multiple mediation model indicated that being male was positively associated with higher online gaming, online sex, and online gambling, and negatively associated with social media and online shopping. Narcissism was related to higher social media use; Machiavellianism was related to higher online gaming, online sex, and online gambling; sadism was related to online sex; and spitefulness was associated with online sex, online gambling, and online shopping. Finally, Machiavellianism and spitefulness were directly and indirectly associated with PIU via online gambling, online gaming, and online shopping, and narcissism was indirectly associated with PIU through social media use. Discussion: Findings of this preliminary study show that individuals high in dark personality traits may be more vulnerable in developing problematic online use and that further research is warranted to examine the associations of dark personality traits with specific types of problematic online activities.

AI snapshot

Written from the paper’s full text.

TL;DR

This cross-sectional study of 772 Turkish university students found that dark personality traits were differentially linked to specific online activities, and some traits were directly and indirectly associated with problematic internet use through those activities. Machiavellianism and spitefulness had direct and indirect associations with PIU via gambling/gaming or gambling/shopping, while narcissism was indirectly associated via social media.

Key findings

  • Being male was positively associated with online gaming (β = 0.35, p < .001), online sex (β = 0.42, p < .001), and online gambling (β = 0.19, p < .001), and negatively with social media (β = −0.16, p < .001) and online shopping (β = −0.13, p < .001); age was associated only with social media use (β = −0.16, p < .001).
  • Narcissism was related to social media use (β = 0.18, p < .001); Machiavellianism was associated with online gaming (β = 0.11, p < .05), online sex (β = 0.09, p < .05), and online gambling (β = 0.14, p < .01); sadism was associated with online sex (β = 0.12, p < .01); spitefulness was associated with online sex (β = 0.10, p < .05), online gambling (β = 0.16, p < .001), and online shopping (β = 0.15, p < .01). Psychopathy was not significantly associated with any specific online activity in the reported hierarchical regressions.
  • In the mediation model, Machiavellianism was directly and indirectly associated with PIU through online gambling and online gaming (total β = 0.12, p < .05); narcissism was indirectly associated with PIU through social media use (β = 0.09, p < .05); spitefulness was directly and indirectly associated with PIU through online gambling and online shopping (β = 0.18, p < .001). The model explained 21% of the variance in PIU.
  • H1 and H3 were partially supported, while findings were not in line with H2.

Methods

  • Cross-sectional, paper-and-pencil self-report survey of 772 Turkish university students (64% female), aged 18–28 years (mean = 20.72, SD = 2.30).
  • Measures included the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen Scale, Short Sadistic Impulse Scale, Spitefulness Scale, and an adapted version of the Bergen Facebook Addiction Scale (Bergen Internet Addiction Scale); a personal information form assessed online gambling, gaming, shopping, social media, and sex use.
  • Analyses used hierarchical regression to predict specific online activities while controlling for gender and age, and a saturated multiple mediation model in AMOS with 5,000 bootstrapped samples and 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals.

Limitations

  • The paper states that data came from self-report questionnaires in a self-selected sample, which are prone to well-known biases; the cross-sectional design prevents drawing causal relationships; and the sample was Turkish undergraduates from a single university, limiting generalizability.
  • The paper also states that most effect sizes between variables were small and describes the study as preliminary.
  • Evident from the text: psychopathy was included in the models but showed no significant associations in the reported regression or mediation results, and the mediation findings cannot establish temporal ordering beyond the authors’ cross-sectional design limitation.

Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1556/2006.7.2018.109

Cites

82 of 82 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

0 of 55 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Findingown data

    Spitefulness is positively associated with online gambling.

    “online gambling (β = 0.16, p < .001)”
    • Also stated in: § Results · plain
      “spitefulness was associated with online sex, online gambling, and online shopping”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Being male is positively associated with higher online gaming.

    “Being male was positively associated with online gaming (β = 0.35, p < .001)”
    • Also stated in: § Results · plain
      “being male was positively associated with higher online gaming, online sex, and online gambling”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Machiavellianism is positively associated with online gaming.

    “Machiavellianism was associated with online gaming (β = 0.11, p < .05)”
    • Also stated in: § Results · plain
      “Machiavellianism was related to higher online gaming, online sex, and online gambling”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Spitefulness is indirectly associated with problematic internet use through online gambling and online shopping.

    “Finally, spitefulness was directly and indirectly associated with PIU through online gambling and online shopping (β = 0.18, p < .001; 95% CI [0.10, 0.26]).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    Being male is negatively associated with online shopping.

    “and online shopping (β = −0.13, p < .001)”
    • Also stated in: § Results · plain
      “negatively associated with social media and online shopping”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims. 18
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
  • Not yet classified. 1
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 15

  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Narcissism had a direct effect on problematic Internet use of 0.05 (SE = 0.04), which was not statistically significant.

    “Narcissism → Problematic internet use (direct effect) | 0.05 (0.04) | 56”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims. The quote only partly states this claim.

    Findingown data

    Machiavellianism had a total indirect effect on problematic Internet use of 0.03 (SE = 0.02), which was not statistically significant.

    “Machiavellianism → Problematic internet use (total indirect effect) | 0.03 (0.02) | 25”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Not yet classified.

    Premise

    The Turkish form of the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale previously reported high validity and reliability.

    “The Turkish form of the scale previously reported high validity and reliability (Kircaburun, Jonason, & Griffiths, 2018b).”
    Quote in the paperNot yet classified0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kircaburun, Jonason, & Griffiths, 2018b

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    Study design and conductown data

    The Short Sadistic Impulse Scale had good internal consistency in this study (α = .77).

    “The scale had good internal consistency in this study (α = .77).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The Turkish form of the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen previously reported high validity and reliability.

    “The Turkish form of the scale previously reported high validity and reliability (Özsoy, Rauthmann, Jonason, & Ardıç, 2017).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Özsoy, Rauthmann, Jonason, & Ardıç, 2017

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Problematic internet use is significantly related to HEXACO personality dimensions of conscientiousness, honesty-humility, and emotionality.

    “A cross-sectional study reported a significant relationship between PIU and HEXACO personality dimensions of conscientiousness, honesty–humility, and emotionality (Kopuničová & Baumgartner, 2016).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kopuničová & Baumgartner, 2016

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Problematic internet use is associated with higher neuroticism, lower extraversion, lower conscientiousness, lower openness to experience, and lower agreeableness.

    “PIU was associated with higher neuroticism, lower extraversion, lower conscientiousness, lower openness to experience, and lower agreeableness (Kayiş et al., 2016).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kayiş et al., 2016

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Higher problematic internet use is associated with novelty-seeking, fun-seeking, low self-concept, and negative emotion avoidance.

    “Other studies have found higher PIU to be associated with novelty-seeking, fun-seeking, low self-concept, and negative emotion avoidance (Kuss et al., 2014).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kuss et al., 2014

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    Study design and conductown data

    No abnormal distribution or multicollinearity was detected among the study variables.

    “Before carrying out hierarchical multiple regression analysis, skewness, kurtosis, VIF, and tolerance values were examined to make sure that abnormal distribution and multicollinearity were not detected.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Study design and conductreasoning

    The research data were collected via self-report questionnaires in a self-selected sample that are prone to well-known biases and limitations.

    “First, the research data were collected via self-report questionnaires in a self-selected sample that are prone to well-known biases and limitations.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Machiavellianism is associated with problematic social media use, trolling in online games, online self-monitoring, and self-promotion.

    “Machiavellianism, which refers to being deceptive, manipulative, ambitious, and exploitative (Christie & Geis, 1970), has been associated with problematic social media use (Kircaburun, Demetrovics, et al., 2018), trolling in online games (Ladanyi & Doyle-Portillo, 2017), online self-monitoring, and self-promotion (Abell & Brewer, 2014).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Kircaburun, Demetrovics, et al., 2018

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    • cites Ladanyi & Doyle-Portillo, 2017

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    • cites Abell & Brewer, 2014

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    Premisecitation

    Psychopathy is associated with emotion dysregulation and lower positive mood.

    “Similar to Machiavellianism, psychopathy has also been associated with emotion dysregulation and lower positive mood (Egan et al., 2014; Zeigler-Hill & Vonk, 2015).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Egan et al., 2014

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    • cites Zeigler-Hill & Vonk, 2015

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    Interpretationown data

    Online gaming and online gambling led to higher problematic Internet use.

    “Machiavellianism was associated with online gaming and online gambling, and in turn, online gaming and online gambling led to higher PIU.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    According to the I-PACE model, personality, social cognitions, biopsychological constitution, and specific online use motives are core factors associated with the development and maintenance of problematic internet use.

    “According to the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model (I-PACE), which is one of the theoretical frameworks proposed to explain underlying mechanisms of PIU (Brand, Young, Laier, Wölfling, & Potenza, 2016), personality, social cognitions, biopsychological constitution, and specific online use motives are among the core factors that are associated with the development and main”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Brand, Young, Laier, Wölfling, & Potenza, 2016

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  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Study design and conductnone given

    The cross-sectional design prevents the drawing of causal relationships.

    “Second, the cross-sectional design prevents the drawing of causal relationships.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationcitation

    Specific types of problematic online use (e.g., gaming and social media) and problematic Internet use are conceptually different behaviors and separate nosological entities that may have different personality predictors.

    “However, these differences also support the notion that (despite their overlap to some extent) specific types of problematic online use (e.g., gaming and social media) and PIU are conceptually different behaviors and separate nosological entities that may have different personality predictors (Brand et al., 2016; Király et al., 2014; Montag et al., 2015).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Brand et al., 2016

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    • cites Király et al., 2014

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    • cites Montag et al., 2015

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    Premisecitation

    Dark personality traits are associated with antisocial online behaviors including odd status updates, cyberbullying, and online trolling, and with fulfilling various psychological needs using different platforms.

    “Dark personality traits have been associated with antisocial online behaviors including odd status updates, cyberbullying, and online trolling, as well as fulfilling various psychological needs using different platforms (Craker & March, 2016; Garcia & Sikström, 2014; Panek, Nardis, & Konrath, 2013).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Craker & March, 2016

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    • cites Garcia & Sikström, 2014

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    • cites Panek, Nardis, & Konrath, 2013

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    The internet facilitates use of different behaviors and activities such as social media, gaming, gambling, shopping, and sex.

    “The internet is a medium that facilitates use of different behaviors and activities, such as using social media, gaming, gambling, shopping, and sex (Griffiths, 2000; Montag et al., 2015).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Griffiths, 2000

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    • cites Montag et al., 2015

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    Premisecitation

    Online gaming, gambling, and pornography viewing have significant relationships with problematic internet use.

    “Some empirical evidence appears to support this assumption via reporting significant relationships of online gaming, gambling, and pornography viewing with PIU (Alexandraki, Stavropoulos, Burleigh, King, & Griffiths, 2018; Critselis et al., 2013; Stavropoulos, Kuss, Griffiths, Wilson, & Motti-Stefanidi, 2017).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Alexandraki, Stavropoulos, Burleigh, King, & Griffiths, 2018

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    • cites Critselis et al., 2013

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    • cites Stavropoulos, Kuss, Griffiths, Wilson, & Motti-Stefanidi, 2017

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  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductreasoning

    The study sample comprised Turkish undergraduates from a single university; therefore, generalizability of the results is limited.

    “Third, the study sample comprised Turkish undergraduates from a single university; therefore, generalizability of the results is limited.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Narcissism is associated with higher problematic social media use, problematic online game use, and problematic internet use.

    “Narcissism, which refers to a grandiose sense of self-importance, superiority, dominance, and entitlement (Corry, Merritt, Mrug, & Pamp, 2008), has been associated with a higher involvement in problematic social media use (Andreassen, Pallesen, & Griffiths, 2017; Kircaburun, Demetrovics, et al., 2018), problematic online game use (Kim, Namkoong, Ku, & Kim, 2008), and PIU (Pantic et al., 2017).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Andreassen, Pallesen, & Griffiths, 2017

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    • cites Kircaburun, Demetrovics, et al., 2018

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    • cites Kim, Namkoong, Ku, & Kim, 2008

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  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Online social media use predicts higher problematic internet use, while problematic gaming is only associated with online gaming.

    “However, in addition to online gaming, online social media use has also been found to predict higher PIU, while problematic gaming was only associated with online gaming (Király et al., 2014).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Király et al., 2014

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  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Machiavellianism and narcissism are positively associated with problematic social media use.

    “Moreover, a recent study found and argued that Machiavellianism and narcissism were positively associated with problematic social media use, which may be about fulfilling antisocial needs of individuals high on these traits (Kircaburun, Demetrovics, & Tosuntaş, 2018).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kircaburun, Demetrovics, & Tosuntaş, 2018

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    Premisecitation

    Individuals' offline behaviors can migrate into online ones in an attempt to compensate unmet offline needs.

    “Therefore, it is possible that individuals’ offline behaviors can migrate into online ones in an attempt to compensate unmet offline needs (Kardefelt-Winther, 2014), such as gaming, gambling, sex, shopping, and communication.”
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    Premisecitation

    Machiavellianism was irrelevant in another study examining problematic online gaming.

    “For instance, while this study reported a direct relationship between Machiavellianism and PIU, Machiavellianism was a direct predictor of problematic social media use among university students in a previous study (Kircaburun, Demetrovics, et al., 2018), and it was irrelevant in another study examining problematic online gaming (Kircaburun et al., 2018b).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kircaburun et al., 2018b

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    Premisecitation

    Individuals high in Machiavellianism have been shown to have competitive feelings and do not comply with moral and ethical behavior in achieving their goals.

    “Given that individuals high in Machiavellianism have been shown to have competitive feelings and do not comply with moral and ethical behavior in achieving their goals (Clempner, 2017), they may have engaged in grief play to overcome other players and these attempts and efforts may turn into longer times spent gaming online.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Clempner, 2017

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    Premisecitation

    Individuals high in spitefulness have higher levels of vulnerable narcissism and lower self-esteem.

    “Spiteful behaviors are motivated by envious and entitlement emotions (Marcus et al., 2014) and individuals high in spitefulness have higher levels of vulnerable narcissism and lower self-esteem (Marcus et al., 2014), which have been associated with higher pathological online use (Andreassen et al., 2017; Casale, Fioravanti, & Rugai, 2016).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Marcus et al., 2014

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    Premisecitation

    Spitefulness has been associated with higher emotion dysregulation, detachment, and disinhibition.

    “Similar to Machiavellianism, spitefulness has been associated with higher emotion dysregulation (Zeigler-Hill & Vonk, 2015), detachment, and disinhibition (Zeigler-Hill & Noser, 2018) – associations that may result in fulfilling social needs with online gratifications (Gervasi et al., 2017; Niemz, Griffiths, & Banyard, 2005).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Zeigler-Hill & Vonk, 2015

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    • cites Zeigler-Hill & Noser, 2018

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    Premisecitation

    Vulnerable narcissism and lower self-esteem have been associated with higher pathological online use.

    “Spiteful behaviors are motivated by envious and entitlement emotions (Marcus et al., 2014) and individuals high in spitefulness have higher levels of vulnerable narcissism and lower self-esteem (Marcus et al., 2014), which have been associated with higher pathological online use (Andreassen et al., 2017; Casale, Fioravanti, & Rugai, 2016).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Andreassen et al., 2017

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    • cites Casale, Fioravanti, & Rugai, 2016

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    Premisecitation

    Machiavellianism was a direct predictor of problematic social media use among university students in a previous study.

    “For instance, while this study reported a direct relationship between Machiavellianism and PIU, Machiavellianism was a direct predictor of problematic social media use among university students in a previous study (Kircaburun, Demetrovics, et al., 2018), and it was irrelevant in another study examining problematic online gaming (Kircaburun et al., 2018b).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kircaburun, Demetrovics, et al., 2018

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    Premisecitation

    Online gaming and online gambling are two of the most popular specific activities for using the internet and can easily transform into problematic online engagement for some users.

    “Online gaming and online gambling are two of the most popular specific activities for using the internet and can easily transform into problematic online engagement for some users (Brand et al., 2016).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Brand et al., 2016

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    Premisecitation

    Previous studies have associated Machiavellianism with grief play (i.e., trolling in online games).

    “Previous studies have associated Machiavellianism with grief play (i.e., trolling in online games), which may present an explanation for this relationship (Ladanyi & Doyle-Portillo, 2017).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ladanyi & Doyle-Portillo, 2017

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32 of 32

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Engaging in online activities relates to higher problematic internet use and accounts for the relationships between dark personality traits and problematic internet use.

    “Therefore, it may be that engaging in these aforementioned online activities relate to higher PIU and account for the relationships between dark personality traits and PIU. Some empirical evidence appears to support this assumption”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    No study has ever considered five different traits (the Dark Triad plus sadism and spitefulness) with uses of different online activities and problematic internet use simultaneously.

    “However, no study has ever considered five different traits (i.e., the Dark Triad in addition to sadism and spitefulness) with uses of different online activities and PIU simultaneously.”

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The relationship between dark personality traits and problematic internet use has yet to be investigated.

    “However, the relationship between dark personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, sadism, and spitefulness) and PIU has yet to be investigated.”

  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    This study is the first to investigate the direct and indirect associations of dark personality traits with problematic Internet use through specific online activities.

    “To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the direct and indirect associations of dark personality traits (i.e., Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, sadism, and spitefulness) with PIU through specific online activities (i.e., social media, online gaming, online gambling, online shopping, and online sex).”
    “Despite the limitations, this is the first study to examine the relationships between dark personality traits, specific online activities, and PIU.”
4 of 4

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Psychopathic individuals tend to engage in antisocial online behaviors such as cyberbullying, trolling, cyberstalking intimate partners, and playing violent games.

    “They also tend to engage in antisocial online behaviors such as cyberbullying, trolling, cyberstalking intimate partners, and playing violent games [9,20,32].”

    From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [32]

    The Introduction (‘Dark personality traits and PIU’; page unavailable) lists cyberbullying, trolling, intimate partner cyberstalking, and violent video game playing, but attributes those behaviors to individuals high in sadistic impulses, not specifically to psychopathic individuals. It discusses psychopathy nearby in relation to problematic internet use, so the claim applies the listed behaviors to a different trait than the passage does. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Dark triad personality traits are positively associated with problematic Internet addiction.

    “Several researches reveal that dark triad’s personality traits seem to be positively associated with the problematic addition to the Internet [32] and with online antisocial behaviors, particularly cyberstalking [9,16], online trolling [10,33,34] and cyberbullying [35].”

    From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [32]

    The Results report positive associations with problematic internet use for Machiavellianism and, indirectly through social media use, narcissism. The Discussion does not report a corresponding association for psychopathy, the third Dark Triad trait, so the claim is too broad if it refers to the triad as a whole. The study also describes its findings as preliminary and its effect sizes as mostly small. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Psychopathy has been associated with cyberbullying, trolling, intimate partner cyberbullying, and violent gaming.

    “Psychopathy has been associated with cyberbullying, trolling, intimate partner cyberbullying, and violent gaming [9,20,32].”

    From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [32]

    The Introduction (pages unavailable) associates dark personality traits broadly with cyberbullying and trolling. Its more specific list attributes cyberbullying, trolling, intimate partner cyberstalking, and violent video game playing to people high in sadistic impulses—not specifically to psychopathy. It also says cyberstalking, rather than intimate partner cyberbullying. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Narcissism is associated with a great involvement with problematic use of the Internet and social networks.

    “Narcissism is associated with a great involvement with problematic use of the Internet and social networks [20,32,38,39].”

    From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [32]

  • Machiavellianism has been associated with problematic use of social media, trolling in online games, and online self-promotion.

    “Machiavellianism has been associated with problematic use of social media, trolling in online games, and online self-promotion.”

    From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [32]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Social-media skewness is impossible given its mean and scale

    Minor

    Social-media use was rated on a five-point scale, so a score cannot exceed 5. With a mean of 4.23 and SD of 1.01, its skewness cannot exceed (5 − 4.23)/1.01 ≈ 0.76; the table reports 1.80.

1 of 1

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

2 of the 84 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 80

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Kircaburun, K., & Griffiths, M. D.
Affiliations
  • 1 Faculty of Education, Department of Computer and Instructional Technologies, Duzce University, Duzce, Turkey
  • Nottingham Trent University (GB)
ORCID
Griffiths, Mark D.
Venue
Journal of Behavioral Addictions
Publisher
Akademiai Kiado Zrt.
Published
2018-11-14
Volume
7
Issue
4
Pages
993-1003
ISSN
  • 2062-5871 (ISSN-L)
  • 2063-5303
DOI
10.1556/2006.7.2018.109
PMC
PMC6376394
OpenAlex
W2900814476
Semantic Scholar
ed7facb6071eff9828e7f4cefc2a6b4382ea2b6a
Cited by
117
References
84
Citations by year
2026: 9 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 23 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 1
FWCI
19.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Behavioral Addictions (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Nottingham Trent University's Institutional Repository (Nottingham Trent Repository) (acceptedVersion)
  • Repository of the Academy's Library (Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) (acceptedVersion)
  • DSpace - Düzce (Duzce University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
Keywords
dark personality traits, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, sadism, spitefulness, problematic internet use, online games, online gambling, online sex, social media use, online shopping, sexual addiction, gender differences, university students
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Consumer Behavior, Female, Gambling, Humans, Machiavellianism, Male, Narcissism, Sadism, Sexual Behavior, Sex Factors, Students, Turkey, Universities, Behavior, Addictive, Video Games, Internet, Young Adult, Social Media

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