New study links "catfishing" to heightened levels of psychopathy, narcissism, and sadism (2024)
An online survey in Australia explored the links between “dark” personality traits and the perpetration of online “catfishing” (deceiving and exploiting another person). Results showed that people with higher levels of psychopathy, sadism and narcissism were more likely to perpetrate catfishing. The study was published in Computers in Human Behavior.
Catfishing is a form of online deception where someone steals or creates a fake identity to trick others into forming an online relationship, often with the goal of financial exploitation.
The word “catfishing” itself came from a 2010 documentary “Catfish”, telling a story about a young man starting a relationship with a young woman he met on Facebook, only to discover that most of the information about her was false. This popular documentary led many people to come forward and report going through similar experiences that included online scams, harassment, and stalking.
One avenue of research into the issue of catfishing is the study of personality traits of people who engage in such practices. The set of four personality traits called “the Dark Tetrad” is particularly important in this approach, as previous studies have linked all of these traits to proneness to deceptive and exploitative behaviors.
The Dark Tetrad consists of personality traits of Machiavellianism (characterized by superficial charm, cynicism, coldness, manipulativeness, opportunism, belief that ends justify the means), narcissism (characterized by vanity, grandiosity, dominance, superiority, and entitlement), psychopathy (characterized by thrill-seeking, aggressiveness, impulsivity, criminality, low fear and anxiety, callousness, and limited empathy), and sadism (characterized by experiencing feelings of pleasure in connection with inflicting verbal and/or physical harm to other people).
Aiming to explore the extent to which online catfishing (trying to exploit and deceive others online) is linked to the Dark Tetrad personality traits, study authors conducted an online survey of 664 English-speaking participants (29 years on average, 55.8% were men). Half of the participants reported residing in Australia, 29% in the United State, and 4% in Canada. Most (89%) of participants reported being heterosexual and a bit more than 60% were either married, dating, or in a long-term relationship.
Participants completed assessments of socially desirable responding as a control, of psychopathy (Levenson Self Report Psychopathy Scale), sadism (Short sad*stic Impulse Scale), Machiavellianism (the Two-Dimensional Machiavellianism Scale), narcissism (Narcissistic Personality Inventory), and of catfishing behavior using the Catfishing Questionnaire, developed by the study authors.
Men scored a bit higher than women on sadism, Machiavellianism, narcissism and catfishing, but there were no differences between genders in psychopathy or socially desirable responding.
Self-reported proneness to catfishing behavior had quite strong positive associations with all four dark traits (more pronounced dark traits – more catfishing behavior). The association with sadism was by far the strongest.
When associations among dark traits were controlled for, sadism showed the strongest association with catfishing behavior, followed by psychopathy and narcissism. In this analysis, the association with Machiavellianism disappeared as its association with catfishing had no unique part left after controlling for associations with the other three dark personality traits. The difference between genders in catfishing behavior also disappeared when dark traits were controlled for.
Results also showed that the difference between genders in catfishing behaviors existed only in persons with certain levels of dark personality traits. Namely, men’s catfishing scores were significantly higher than women’s at average and high, but not at low, levels of psychopathy. Men’s catfishing scores were also significantly higher than women’s at low and average, but not high, levels of narcissism.
“Results indicated that people with high sadism, psychopathy, and narcissism perpetrated more catfishing behaviors. These findings provide important information regarding the psychological profile of catfishers, indicating that the catfisher is one who is egotistical (i.e., narcissism), callous and deceptive (i.e., psychopathy), and enjoys causing psychological and physical harm (i.e., sadism), the researchers concluded.
They advise that this knowledge can be used to inform education programs designed to advise online users on why people catfish and what warning signs to look out for. “For example, someone with a tailored profile extolling their status and achievements (i.e., high narcissism) may be more likely to be a catfisher.”
The study sheds light on the psychological underpinnings of catfishing. However, it also has limitations that need to be taken into account. Namely, the study was based on self-reports, which might not be perfectly accurate reflections of real-world behaviors.
These findings provide important information regarding the psychological profile of catfisher
catfisher
Catfishing refers to the creation of a fictitious online persona, or fake identity (typically on social networking platforms), with the intent of deception, usually to mislead a victim into an online romantic relationship or to commit financial fraud.
s, indicating that the catfisher is one who is egotistical (i.e., narcissism), callous and deceptive (i.e., psychopathy), and enjoys causing psychological and physical harm (i.e., sadism
sadism
Individuals possessing sad*stic personalities tend to display recurrent aggression and cruel behavior. People with this disorder will use violence and aggression in an attempt to control and dominate others. When others refuse to submit to their will, they will increase the level of violence they use.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › sad*stic_personality_disorder
If a person has psychopathic traits, then they tend to have narcissistic and Machiavellian traits too. People with these personalities can't sense other people's feelings or see the world from any perspective apart from their own. They don't have a sense of conscience or guilt to stop them behaving immorally.
The researchers found that having an anxious attachment style — often expressed as clinginess in romantic relationships — was a predictor for being a catfish target. Beyond that, having both high avoidance and high anxiety increased their likelihood of being a victim.
Narcissistic personality disorder may be linked to: Environment — parent-child relationships with either too much adoration or too much criticism that don't match the child's actual experiences and achievements. Genetics — inherited characteristics, such as certain personality traits.
NPD in DSM-5. NPD is diagnostically defined in the DSM-5 (APA 2013; pages 669-672) as a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy, with interpersonal entitlement, exploitiveness, arrogance, and envy. Five out of nine of these criteria need to be present to meet the diagnosis of NPD.
In order to be classified as a narcopath, malignant narcissist, or narcissistic sociopath, a person has to display several traits of both NPD and ASPD. Some of these signs include delusions, an obsession with power and control, taking advantage of others, and no moral boundaries.
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is one of several personality disorders. People with this condition have an inflated idea of themselves, and they need a lot of attention from other people. They often struggle to understand other people's feelings. People with NPD may not have high self-esteem.
The catfish effect is the effect that a strong competitor has in causing the weak to better themselves. Actions done to actively apply this effect (for example, by the human resource department) in an organization, are termed catfish management.
We found a cluster of psychological traits that are associated with catfishing – known as the “dark tetrad” of personality. This includes psychopathy, sadism, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. So what are these traits, and how can you spot a potential romance scam?
While not all dating deception is nefarious, some catfishing schemes are designed to scam victims out of money or valuable personal information. Though both men and women fall prey to catfishing, women are more likely to be victims, as are people with anxious attachments.
Research has shown that childhood trauma such as physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse can be directly linked to a child developing into a narcissist. In childhood, the brain is developing and learning interpersonal skills.
Narcissists are often attracted to individuals who display traits such as empathy, low self-esteem, people-pleasing behavior, tolerance of red flags, a strong desire for intimacy, fear of abandonment, high levels of trust, non-confrontational attitude, financial generosity, and admiration for confidence.
Often, NPD will begin in the teenage years or early adulthood. Personality disorders are typically diagnosed at 18 years or older, according to Hallett.
Narcissism or NPD might sometimes be confused with Asperger's. This is because some Asperger's traits can appear to be similar to narcissistic traits. Mainly, what's similar is how autistic people and people with NPD communicate and function socially.
Narcissists may have a hard time apologizing. If they do apologize, it's often insincere and accompanied by excuses or justifications for their behavior, says Dr.
Narcissism is considered to be an antisocial personality disorder, and it is frequently manifested among serial killers, some of whom crave public notoriety. One such example is Dennis Rader, the serial killer better known by his self-assigned pseudonym of “Bind, Torture, Kill” (BTK).
However, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), which publishes the primary guidebook for diagnosing mental illness in the United States, does not use the term psychopath or the term sociopath. The closest equivalent to psychopathy in the APA guidebook is a condition called antisocial personality disorder.
The main difference between the narcissist and the sociopath or psychopath is that the narcissist may experience or learn to experience some remorse and eventually some empathy for actions that hurt others and his maltreatment is verbal not physically aggressive or violent.
Introduction: My name is Aracelis Kilback, I am a nice, gentle, agreeable, joyous, attractive, combative, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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