Why do people become toxic online? A systematic exploration of motivators of toxic online communication
Lee, Seo Yoon
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121326
Description
Title
Why do people become toxic online? A systematic exploration of motivators of toxic online communication
Author(s)
Lee, Seo Yoon
Issue Date
2023-07-05
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Yao, Mike
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Yao, Mike
Committee Member(s)
Vargas, Patrick
Briley, D.A
Oh, Sang-Hwa
Su, Leona Yi-Fan
Department of Study
Inst of Communications Rsch
Discipline
Communications and Media
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Counter-normative opinion expression
toxic online communication
dark personalities
attitude
financial incentives
social identity
Abstract
This dissertation examines the motivating factors behind a prevalent toxic behavior in online communities: counter-normative expression. Focusing on four motivators—attitude, financial incentive, social identity, and dark personality traits—and on how they induce people to express counter-normative opinions in cyberspaces, this project includes three empirical studies: Chapter 3 reveals that counter-normative expression can be motivated by attitude toward the topic of discussion and dark personality traits, Chapter 4 reveals a strong effect of financial incentive, and Chapter 5 reveals an interesting interaction between social identity and dark personality traits. The findings also show that counter-normative expression is a complex behavior influenced by several factors (e.g., personality traits), many of which have been underscored in communication research. Rather than investigating the simple associations between personality traits and communicative behaviors, I examined how the interplay between dark personality traits and other individual factors influence counter-normative behaviors. The findings show that, in certain contexts, counter-normative expression can be considered a toxic behavior and is not limited to individuals with dark personality traits. The findings of this study contribute a better understanding of the motivators behind counter-normative expression and emphasize the need for further investigation into the complex nature of online behavior.
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