Pathological narcissism, cyberbullying victimization and offending among homosexual and heterosexual participants in online dating websites

Homosexual individuals are exposed to high levels of victimization. However, no studies have examined personality risk factors for cyberbullying victimization and offending among this population. This study investigated the relationships between pathological narcissism and cyberbullying victimization and offending among homosexual and heterosexual participants in online dating websites. Participants included 347 Israeli adults who completed a series of self-reported questionnaires. Our results show that homosexual men and women reported higher levels of cyberbullying victimization relative to heterosexual women. The groups did not differ in cyberbullying offending. Furthermore, homosexual men reported higher levels of pathological narcissism grandiosity relative to homosexual women. Pathological narcissism vulnerability and grandiosity were positively related to cyberbullying victimization, but not to offending, as well as to cyberbullying dating victimization and offending. Importantly, the group (homosexual male vs. other groups) moderated the association between pathological narcissism vulnerability and cyberbullying victimization. These findings highlight the differential associations between the two facets of pathological narcissism and cyberbullying victimization and offending among homosexual men and women, and lend empirical support to the high risk for cyberbullying victimization of homosexual men with pathological narcissistic vulnerability traits who are actively participating in the online dating sphere.