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 Copy

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.

Graduation Semester

2023-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121326

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Seo Yoon Lee

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