JOURNAL OF ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Dark Traits and Hacking Potential
Author(s): Joana Gaia, G. Lawrence Sanders, Sean Patrick Sanders, Shambhu Upadhyaya, Xunyi Wang, Chul Woo Yoo
Citation: Joana Gaia, G. Lawrence Sanders, Sean Patrick Sanders, Shambhu Upadhyaya, Xunyi Wang, Chul Woo Yoo, (2021) "Dark Traits and Hacking Potential," Journal of Organizational Psychology, Vol. 21, Iss. 3, pp. 23-46
Article Type: Research paper
Publisher: North American Business Press
Abstract:
This paper investigates the psychological traits of individuals' attraction to engaging in hacking behaviors (both ethical and illegal/unethical) upon entering the workforce. A new set of scales have been developed to assist in the delineation of the three hat categories. We have also developed a scale to measure each subject's perception of the probability of being apprehended for violating privacy laws. The results suggest that white hat, grey hat, and black hat hackers score high on the Machiavellian and psychopathy scales. We also found evidence that grey hatters oppose authority, black hatters score high in the thrill-seeking dimension, and white hatters, the good guys, tend to be narcissists. Thrill-seeking was moderately important for white hat and black hat hacking, and opposition to authority was significant for grey hat hacking. Narcissism was not statistically significant in any of the models. A perceived probability of being apprehended had a negative effect on both grey hat and black hat hacking. Additional models were explored to examine the relationships among the research variables.