World wide web of lies: Personality and online deception

Abstract

The deliberate act of falsifying aspects of a person's identity is rampant online and across social networking sites. Although personality traits have been found to be related to deception in traditional contexts, less is known about how this relationship translates to an online setting. The current study investigates the relationships between the dark tetrad traits (Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism), self-esteem, and online identity-based deception. A combined student and community sample (N = 342, 18 – 72 years old, 70.2% female) was asked if they had previously engaged in eight common identity-based deceptive behaviours on social networking sites (e.g., used a fake name, created a fake profile). Personality traits were measured using the Short Dark Triad, the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale, and the Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale. Overall, engagement in identity-based deception was found to be common on social networking sites. Machiavellianism emerged as a unique predictor of using a fake name and altering one's age with higher Machiavellianism also associated with a greater frequency of lying about one's name, age, appearance, and relationship status. Psychopathy, however, failed to uniquely predict any of the online-deceptive behaviours examined when controlling for other personality variables. Together, these findings suggest that online identity-based deception is a calculated endeavour.