Dark Triad Personality Traits in Cyber Aggression Among College Students

Despite evidence supporting the importance of cyber aggression among early adolescents (Hinduja & Patchin, 2015), we know less about its correlates among college students. The present study examined the relationships of Dark Triad personality traits to cyber aggression in a college student sample (N = 297). Machiavellian, narcissistic (both grandiose and vulnerable forms), and psychopathic traits positively related to cyber aggression perpetration. A hierarchical multiple regression including gender, age, and Dark Triad traits found that only the erratic lifestyle component of psychopathic traits explained unique variance in cyber aggression perpetration. Gender did not moderate the relationships between Dark Triad traits and cyber aggression. These findings add to the literature on cyber aggression among college students, suggesting that psychopathic traits are a useful predictor.