Abstract
Research into psychological characteristics of cybercrime offenders is scarce, especially concerning cyber-dependent crimes. We shed light on the issue by evaluating the connection of negative and positive personality traits on cybercriminal intent. Specifically, we focus on the so-called Dark Triad of personality---Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, as well as on moral development. We conduct a survey with students of a major German university who attended computer science/informatics courses or were enrolled in a major in informatics. Using the theory of planned behavior to measure cybercrime, we find that only higher Machiavellian and psychopathic tendencies coincide with higher cybercriminal intention, whereas there is no significant effect of narcissism on cybercriminal intention. On the other hand, moral development on a rule-abiding level has a deterrent effect. Contrary to intuition, stronger moral reasoning on a principled level might increase cybercriminal intention. We critically discuss our findings and future research directions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Cybercrime in Context: The human factor in victimization, offending, and policing |
| Editors | Marleen Weulen Kranenbarg, Rutger Leukfeldt |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Place of publication | Cham |
| Publisher | Springer International Publishing |
| Publication date | 2021 |
| Pages | 175-194 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-3-030-60527-8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Cybercrime
- Moral development
- Machiavellianism
- Narcissism
- Psychopathy