The interplay of online sexual harassment victimization, personality factors, and experiences of loneliness
Dark Triad traits, hostility and loneliness are associated with online sexual harassment victimization
Over the last two decades, digital transactions and communications have intensified at an exponential rate, generating a series of risks associated with the use of information and communication technologies in cyberspace. Among these risks is an emerging range of aggressive behaviour, including online sexual harassment. The apparently invisible and anonymous nature of the Internet has fuelled the spread of this type of harassment, making it a social concern and a significant challenge for digital communities.
The main aim of the research was to study the relationship between online sexual harassment, the ‘Dark Triad’ personality traits, hostility and loneliness. This was a descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional and quantitative study involving a sample of 472 Portuguese participants, 114 (24.2 %) of whom were male and 358 (75.8 %) female. The main results showed that Dark Triad traits, hostility and loneliness are associated with online sexual harassment victimisation. In addition, the data showed that online sexual harassment plays a major role in the Portuguese population.
The research was published in the journal Psychology of The Hellenic Psychological Society.
Thus, the results of the research have made it possible to understand the specific relationship between the variables under study, contributing to the literature on the subject. It is also hoped that this study can play a role in prevention, for example by raising awareness in the community about the problem of online sexual harassment, as well as in intervention, where programmes can become more consistent and therefore more effective if they consider the role of various variables related to victimisation.
Journal Reference:
Barros, V., Monteiro, A. P., & Leite, Â. (2024). The interplay of online sexual harassment victimization, personality factors, and experiences of loneliness. Psychology of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 29(2), 265–283. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.37928
