Dark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation
Abstract This cross-national study investigates how psychopathy, narcissism, and fear of missing out (FoMO) influence online political participation, and how cognitive ability moderates these associations. Drawing on data from the United States and seven Asian countries, the findings reveal that ind...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer Nature
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05195-y |
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| author | Saifuddin Ahmed Muhammad Masood |
| author_facet | Saifuddin Ahmed Muhammad Masood |
| author_sort | Saifuddin Ahmed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract This cross-national study investigates how psychopathy, narcissism, and fear of missing out (FoMO) influence online political participation, and how cognitive ability moderates these associations. Drawing on data from the United States and seven Asian countries, the findings reveal that individuals high in psychopathy and FoMO are consistently more likely to engage in online political activity. While narcissism is also linked to participation, this relationship emerges in only three of the eight countries. Conversely, higher cognitive ability is uniformly associated with lower levels of online political participation. Notably, the relationship between psychopathy and participation is stronger among individuals with lower cognitive ability in five countries, suggesting that those with both high psychopathy and low cognitive ability are the most actively involved in online political engagement. These findings underscore the nuanced interaction between dark personality traits, FoMO, and cognitive functioning in shaping digital political engagement across diverse socio-political contexts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-95763bffe8da464aa0b510fda96cc2d4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2662-9992 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Springer Nature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-95763bffe8da464aa0b510fda96cc2d42025-08-20T03:45:51ZengSpringer NatureHumanities & Social Sciences Communications2662-99922025-07-0112111110.1057/s41599-025-05195-yDark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participationSaifuddin Ahmed0Muhammad Masood1Nanyang Technological UniversityNanyang Technological UniversityAbstract This cross-national study investigates how psychopathy, narcissism, and fear of missing out (FoMO) influence online political participation, and how cognitive ability moderates these associations. Drawing on data from the United States and seven Asian countries, the findings reveal that individuals high in psychopathy and FoMO are consistently more likely to engage in online political activity. While narcissism is also linked to participation, this relationship emerges in only three of the eight countries. Conversely, higher cognitive ability is uniformly associated with lower levels of online political participation. Notably, the relationship between psychopathy and participation is stronger among individuals with lower cognitive ability in five countries, suggesting that those with both high psychopathy and low cognitive ability are the most actively involved in online political engagement. These findings underscore the nuanced interaction between dark personality traits, FoMO, and cognitive functioning in shaping digital political engagement across diverse socio-political contexts.https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05195-y |
| spellingShingle | Saifuddin Ahmed Muhammad Masood Dark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation Humanities & Social Sciences Communications |
| title | Dark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation |
| title_full | Dark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation |
| title_fullStr | Dark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation |
| title_short | Dark personalities in the digital arena: how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation |
| title_sort | dark personalities in the digital arena how psychopathy and narcissism shape online political participation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05195-y |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT saifuddinahmed darkpersonalitiesinthedigitalarenahowpsychopathyandnarcissismshapeonlinepoliticalparticipation AT muhammadmasood darkpersonalitiesinthedigitalarenahowpsychopathyandnarcissismshapeonlinepoliticalparticipation |