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From racial prejudice to cyber-racism perpetration: the effects of the dark tetrad, anonymity perceptions, and the dimensions of online disinhibition

Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Cyber-racism is online communication that negatively targets another's race.This behavior has a negative impact on victim's mental health and there has been little research conducted on the perpetration of this act.The current research aimed to integrate prejudice theory and cyberracism specific theory to gain a more encompassing understanding of cyber-racism perpetration.The two current studies further aimed to extend cyber-racism research by identifying personality variables that may explain individual difference in cyber-racism perpetration.Study 1 examined how the Dark Tetrad moderates the serial mediating influence of anonymity and online disinhibition in the relationship between racial prejudice and cyber-racism.Results suggest that anonymity and online disinhibition serially mediate the relationship between racial prejudice and cyber-racism perpetration, especially for those high in Dark Tetrad traits.Study 2 investigated whether specific aspects of online disinhibition impact the integrated cyber-racism model and how the Dark Tetrad moderate these relationships.Results suggest that online disinhibition may work more efficiently as a whole construct, as no subdimension of online disinhibition serially mediated the integrated cyber-racism model.This program of research provided important information on how individual differences and specific nuances of online disinhibition influence an integrated cyber-racism model as well as practical implications in terms of who is most likely to perpetrate cyber-racism and in what situations.By better understanding the situations and individual differences in which cyber-racism is most likely, we may be able to limit the negative impacts on victims and perpetrators.
Language: English
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7217995742
Cites: 87
Cited by:
Related to: 10