Liking Harm, Feeling Fine: Crowd-Cruelty Comfort and the Normalization of Digital Aggression
Keywords:
Online abuse, Digital aggression, Cyberbullying, Crowd-Cruelty Comfort
Abstract
This article explores the psychological processes and behavioral practices that result from an individual's involvement in online aggression, with a particular focus on social reinforcement processes in virtual communities. Theoretical frameworks well-grounded in the psychological literature, such as deindividuation, moral distancing, and digital disinhibition, will help identify general characteristics of online aggressors and specific behaviors such as endorsing the group through likes, shares, and supportive comments.
In an effort to capture the complexity of the online space, an innovative and explanatory concept called Crowd-Cruelty Comfort (CCC) is presented - as a new theoretical framework that describes how individuals have reduced moral discomfort and increased psychological comfort when engaging in harmful or supportive behaviors in the digital space. This concept explains the growing normalization of online aggression through well-studied concepts and mechanisms such as moral mitigation, diffusion of responsibility and suppression of empathy, which were previously identified and explained in the literature, but are now observed in a new context, with new meanings and new consequences that they leave in virtual reality.
CCC describes how individuals psychologically process that the harmful or destructive behaviors they engage in are in fact morally justified—and therefore can believe they are not to blame for the behavior and can maintain a positive self-image. The implications of this concept are discussed with respect to digital ethics education, prevention strategies, and intervention programs aimed at mitigating the spread of online harm.
References
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DeMarsico, D., Bounoua, N., Miglin, R., & Sadeh, N. (2022). Aggression in the Digital Era: Assessing the Validity of the Cyber Motivations for Aggression and Deviance Scale. Assessment, 29(4), 764–781. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191121990088
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Jevtić, R. B. (2022). Digitalno nasilje među učenicima srednjih škola. Zbornik radova Pedagoškog fakulteta, Užice, 24, 45-62. https://doi.org/10.5937/ZRPFU2224045J
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the Short Dark Triad (SD3): A brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment, 21(1), 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113514105
Kim, M., Ellithorpe, M., Burt, S. A. (2023). Anonymity and its role in digital aggression: A systematic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 72, 101856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2023.101856
Kowalski, R. M., Giumetti, G. W., Schroeder, A. N., & Lattanner, M. R. (2014). Bullying in the Digital Age: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Cyberbullying Research Among Youth. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 1073–1137. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035618
Lapidot-Lefler, N., & Barak, A. (2012). Effects of anonymity, invisibility, and lack of eye-contact on toxic online disinhibition. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(2), 434–443.
Latané, B., & Darley, J. (1970). The Unresponsive Bystander: Why Doesn’t He Help? Appleton-Century Crofts.
Livingstone, S. Stoilova, M. and Nandagiri, R. (2019) Children’s data and privacy online: Growing up in a digital age. An evidence review. London: London School of Economics and Political Science.
Marwick, A., & boyd, d. (2011). To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter. Convergence, 17(2), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856510394539
Mukred, M., Mokhtar, U.A., Moafa, F. A., Gumaei, A., Sadiq, A.S. & Al-Othmani, A. (2024). The roots of digital aggression: exploring cyber-violence through a systematic literature review. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 4 (2), 100281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2024.100281
Nadim, M., Fladmoe, A. (2021). Silencing Women? Gender and Online Harassment. Social Science Computer Review, 39(2), 245-258.
Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2010). Cyberbullying and self-esteem. Journal of School Health, 80(12), 614–621. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00548.x
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6
Phillips, W. (2015). This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. The MIT Press.
Powell, A., Henry, N. (2017). Sexual Violence in Digital Age. In: Sexual Violence in Digital Age, Palgrave Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Radoičić, D., Stojić, V., Zdravković, N., Stojanović, S., Ilić, V., & Lukić, D. (2024). Razumevanje uticaja digitalne tehnologije na mentalno zdravlje i nasilničko ponašanje adolescenata. PONS - medicinski časopis, 21(1), 8-13. https://doi.org/10.5937/pomc21-50597
Salmivalli, C. (2010). Bullying and the Peer Group: A Review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15(2), 112–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.08.007
Shifman, L. (2013). Memes in Digital Culture. Cambridge (MA): MIT Press.
Staub, E. (2003). The Psychology of Good and Evil: Why Children, Adults, and Groups Help and Harm Others. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511615795
Suler, J. (2004). The Online Disinhibition Effect. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7(3), 321–326. https://doi.org/10.1089/1094931041291295
Tokunaga, R. S. (2010). Following you home from school: A critical review and synthesis of research on cyberbullying victimization. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(3), 277–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2009.11.014
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Basic Books/Hachette Book Group.
Veljković, B., Mihajlović, M., Dukić, S., & Despotović, M. (2021). Nasilje na društvenim mrežama. PONS - medicinski časopis, 18(2), 84-91.
Zimbardo, P. G. (1969). The human choice: Individuation, reason, and order versus deindividuation, impulse, and chaos. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 17, 237–307.
Zimbardo, P. (2007). The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil . New York: Random House.
WEB: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/1/6/413552.pdf
Aljafer, M., Alshehri, K., Almutairi, M., Aljumaiah, A., Alfraiji, A., Hakami, M., AlDossary, M., Irfan, T. (2021). Cyberbullying among young Saudi online gamers and its relation to depression. Journal of Nature and Science of Medicine, 4(2), 142–7.
Ang, R. P., & Goh, D. H. (2010). Cyberbullying among adolescents: The role of affective and cognitive empathy, and gender. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 41(4), 387–397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-010-0176-3
Arimatsu, L. (2019). Silencing women in the digital age. Cambridge International Law Journal, 8(2), 187-217.
Bandura, A. (1999). Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(3), 193–209. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0303_3
Barter, C., Koulu, S. (2021). Digital technologies and gender-based violence - mechanisms for oppression, activism and recovery. Journal of Gender-Based Violence, 5(3), 367-375.
Batson, C. D., Ahmad, N., Lishner, D. A., & Tsang, J.-A. (2002). Empathy and altruism. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 485–498). Oxford University Press.
Bauman, S. (2015). Cyberbullying: What Counselors Need to Know. American Counseling Association.
Baumeister, R. F., Stillwell, A. M., & Heatherton, T. F. (1994). Guilt: An interpersonal approach. Psychological Bulletin, 115(2), 243–267. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.115.2.243
Bećirović Alić, M., & Saračević, M. (2022). Violence in cyberspace and possible prevention. Science and Research Journal, 5(2), 82-86.
Bicchieri, C. (2006). The Grammar of Society: The Nature and Dynamics of Social Norms. Cambridge University Press.
Biswas, T., Scott, J. G., Munir, K., Thomas, H. J., Huda, M. M., Hasan, M. M., et al. (2020). Global variation in the prevalence of bullying victimisation amongst adolescents: Role of peer and parental supports. EClinicalMedicine, 20, 100276.
Brady, W. J., Wills, J. A., Jost, J. T., Tucker, J. A., & Van Bavel, J. J. (2017). Emotion shapes the diffusion of moralized content in social networks. PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(28), 7313–7318. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618923114
Cialdini, R. B., & Goldstein, N. J. (2004). Social influence: Compliance and conformity. Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 591-621. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.142015
Citron, D. K. (2014). Hate Crimes in Cyberspace. Harvard University Press.
DeMarsico, D., Bounoua, N., Miglin, R., & Sadeh, N. (2022). Aggression in the Digital Era: Assessing the Validity of the Cyber Motivations for Aggression and Deviance Scale. Assessment, 29(4), 764–781. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191121990088
Dinić, B. (2022). Digitalno nasilje. Novi Sad: Univerzitet u Novom Sadu-Filozofski fakultet.
Douglas, D. M. (2016). Doxing: A conceptual analysis. Ethics and Information Technology, 18(3), 199–210.
Festinger, L. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872675400700202
Fiske, A. P, & Rai, T. S. (2015). Virtuous Violence: Hurting and Killing to Create, Sustain, End, and Honor Social Relationships. Cambridge University Press.
Fox, J. (2023). Online social aggression: Harassment and discrimination. In R. L. Nabi & J. Gall Myrick (Eds.), Emotions in the digital world: Exploring affective experience and expression in online interactions (pp. 193–214). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197520536.003.0011
Freud, A. (1936). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. In: The Writings of Anna Freud (Vol. 2, pp. 3-191). New York, NY: International Universities Press.
Gesley, J. (2021) Germany: Network Enforcement Act Amended to Better Fight Online Hate Speech. [Web Page] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2021-07-06/germany-network-enforcement-act-amended-to-better-fight-online-hate-speech/.
Haslam, N. (2006). Dehumanization: An integrative review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(3), 252–264. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1003_4
Jevtić, R. B. (2022). Digitalno nasilje među učenicima srednjih škola. Zbornik radova Pedagoškog fakulteta, Užice, 24, 45-62. https://doi.org/10.5937/ZRPFU2224045J
Jones, D. N., & Paulhus, D. L. (2014). Introducing the Short Dark Triad (SD3): A brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment, 21(1), 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191113514105
Kim, M., Ellithorpe, M., Burt, S. A. (2023). Anonymity and its role in digital aggression: A systematic review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 72, 101856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2023.101856
Kowalski, R. M., Giumetti, G. W., Schroeder, A. N., & Lattanner, M. R. (2014). Bullying in the Digital Age: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Cyberbullying Research Among Youth. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 1073–1137. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035618
Lapidot-Lefler, N., & Barak, A. (2012). Effects of anonymity, invisibility, and lack of eye-contact on toxic online disinhibition. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(2), 434–443.
Latané, B., & Darley, J. (1970). The Unresponsive Bystander: Why Doesn’t He Help? Appleton-Century Crofts.
Livingstone, S. Stoilova, M. and Nandagiri, R. (2019) Children’s data and privacy online: Growing up in a digital age. An evidence review. London: London School of Economics and Political Science.
Marwick, A., & boyd, d. (2011). To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter. Convergence, 17(2), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856510394539
Mukred, M., Mokhtar, U.A., Moafa, F. A., Gumaei, A., Sadiq, A.S. & Al-Othmani, A. (2024). The roots of digital aggression: exploring cyber-violence through a systematic literature review. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 4 (2), 100281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2024.100281
Nadim, M., Fladmoe, A. (2021). Silencing Women? Gender and Online Harassment. Social Science Computer Review, 39(2), 245-258.
Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2010). Cyberbullying and self-esteem. Journal of School Health, 80(12), 614–621. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00548.x
Paulhus, D. L., & Williams, K. M. (2002). The Dark Triad of personality: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Journal of Research in Personality, 36(6), 556–563. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(02)00505-6
Phillips, W. (2015). This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. The MIT Press.
Powell, A., Henry, N. (2017). Sexual Violence in Digital Age. In: Sexual Violence in Digital Age, Palgrave Studies in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Radoičić, D., Stojić, V., Zdravković, N., Stojanović, S., Ilić, V., & Lukić, D. (2024). Razumevanje uticaja digitalne tehnologije na mentalno zdravlje i nasilničko ponašanje adolescenata. PONS - medicinski časopis, 21(1), 8-13. https://doi.org/10.5937/pomc21-50597
Salmivalli, C. (2010). Bullying and the Peer Group: A Review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15(2), 112–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2009.08.007
Shifman, L. (2013). Memes in Digital Culture. Cambridge (MA): MIT Press.
Staub, E. (2003). The Psychology of Good and Evil: Why Children, Adults, and Groups Help and Harm Others. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511615795
Suler, J. (2004). The Online Disinhibition Effect. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7(3), 321–326. https://doi.org/10.1089/1094931041291295
Tokunaga, R. S. (2010). Following you home from school: A critical review and synthesis of research on cyberbullying victimization. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(3), 277–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2009.11.014
Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. Basic Books/Hachette Book Group.
Veljković, B., Mihajlović, M., Dukić, S., & Despotović, M. (2021). Nasilje na društvenim mrežama. PONS - medicinski časopis, 18(2), 84-91.
Zimbardo, P. G. (1969). The human choice: Individuation, reason, and order versus deindividuation, impulse, and chaos. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 17, 237–307.
Zimbardo, P. (2007). The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil . New York: Random House.
WEB: https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/1/6/413552.pdf
