Dark Personality Traits May Fuel a Cycle of Jealousy and Online Partner Surveillance

A new psychological study suggests that people with antagonistic personality traits are more likely to develop problematic social media use, with jealousy-driven cyberstalking of romantic partners emerging as a crucial part of that pathway. The findings shed light on how personality, relationships and digital habits can intersect.

The study, titled The Sequential Mediating Role of Jealousy and Cyberstalking in the Relationship Between the Dark Tetrad and Problematic Social Media Use, contributes to a growing body of research examining how emerging technologies intersect with personality and intimate relationships.

Researchers define problematic social media use as compulsive, difficult-to-control engagement with platforms that disrupts daily functioning and emotional well-being. People affected may rely on social media to regulate their mood, feel distressed when offline and experience conflict with partners or family over their screen time.

Dark traits and online behavior

The study focused on the Dark Tetrad, a cluster of four socially aversive traits: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism and sadism. Machiavellianism involves manipulative, strategic behavior, while psychopathy is characterized by impulsivity, low empathy and a need for excitement.

Narcissism centers on grandiosity, entitlement and a strong desire for admiration and dominance. Sadism reflects a tendency to enjoy or seek out the suffering of others. Previous research has linked these traits to toxic online behavior, but the psychological mechanisms behind that association have remained unclear.

Marco Giancola and colleagues at the University of L’Aquila set out to clarify how these dark traits might translate into unhealthy social media patterns. They were particularly interested in the roles of jealousy and cyberstalking within romantic relationships.

Jealousy as a psychological bridge

Psychologists typically divide jealousy into three forms: emotional, cognitive and behavioral. Emotional jealousy involves reactive feelings such as fear, sadness or anger in response to a perceived threat to a relationship.

Cognitive jealousy centers on intrusive suspicions and anxieties about infidelity, often taking the form of repeated mental scenarios involving betrayal. Behavioral jealousy includes active monitoring, such as checking a partner’s phone, scrolling through their comments or tracking their whereabouts online.

The researchers hypothesized that darker personality traits might contribute to greater cognitive and behavioral jealousy, which could then encourage cyberstalking and ultimately contribute to compulsive social media use. Emotional reactions alone, they suspected, might not fully explain this chain.

How the study was conducted

The researchers surveyed 300 adults between the ages of 18 and 65, with an average age of around 36. About 80 percent of participants were women, and all were in ongoing romantic relationships and used at least one social media platform every day.

Participants completed a series of validated psychological scales through an online questionnaire. A 12-item measure assessed Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism, while a 10-item scale measured sadistic tendencies. The surveys were administered over several months.

Intimate partner cyberstalking was assessed using a 21-item instrument covering specific online surveillance behaviors, such as checking a partner’s followers or monitoring their interactions. A 15-item scale measured emotional, cognitive and behavioral jealousy toward the participant’s current partner.

To assess problematic social media use, the researchers used a six-item measure asking how often participants experienced urges to log on, tried and failed to cut back or used social media to escape personal problems. Statistical analyses controlled for age, sex and years of education.

From suspicion to cyberstalking

The results revealed a sequential pattern connecting dark personality traits with problematic social media use. People who scored higher on Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism or sadism tended to report greater cognitive and behavioral jealousy.

These participants described more persistent suspicions about possible infidelity and were more likely to engage in monitoring behaviors, including checking profiles, reading comments or tracking online activity. Emotional jealousy, by contrast, did not significantly explain the association.

Cognitive and behavioral jealousy strongly predicted intimate partner cyberstalking, which in turn predicted higher levels of problematic social media use. The pattern suggests that it is not jealousy as an emotion alone, but what people think and do in response to it, that may matter most.

According to Giancola, the relevant processes include persistent suspicious thoughts, intrusive concerns about infidelity and repeated attempts to verify a partner’s behavior. Such actions often require sustained time online and may gradually develop into broader patterns of compulsive use.

Problematic use as a relational issue

Cyberstalking itself can demand considerable time and attention, with perpetrators spending hours reviewing posts, stories, likes and follower lists. This intensive surveillance can blur the boundary between targeted monitoring and habitual scrolling.

Over time, the original goal of regaining control or reassurance within the relationship may be overshadowed by a more general inability to disconnect from social media. What begins as checking one partner’s activity can expand into continuous and unfocused engagement.

The overall statistical models explained approximately 33 to 35 percent of the variance in problematic social media use. This suggests that personality traits, jealousy, cyberstalking and demographic factors together provide a meaningful, though partial, account of why some people struggle to regulate their online behavior.

Giancola emphasized that personality alone does not determine social media habits. Many people with higher dark trait scores do not develop full-blown problematic use, while contextual factors such as relationship dynamics and platform design can also play a role.

Implications for prevention and therapy

The findings suggest that problematic social media use may, in some cases, be an interpersonal issue rather than simply a matter of entertainment or habit. For some users, persistent suspicions about a partner and attempts to monitor them may be a hidden driver of excessive time online.

Repeatedly checking a partner’s messages, followers or visible interactions can provide brief reassurance, but it may also reinforce insecurity and deepen a cycle of surveillance and compulsion. The same platforms used for connection can therefore become tools for control and reassurance-seeking.

From a prevention perspective, the researchers argue that interventions should address not only screen-time limits but also the motivations behind social media use. Psychoeducation about healthy boundaries, tolerance of uncertainty, emotional regulation and respectful online conduct could help reduce intrusive monitoring behaviors.

Clinicians working with people who report difficulties controlling social media use may also benefit from exploring relational triggers, including fears of infidelity or repeated checking of a partner’s accounts. Addressing jealousy-related thoughts and behaviors could be important for long-term change.

Limitations and future research

The study used a cross-sectional design, capturing participants’ experiences at a single point in time. As a result, the authors cannot definitively conclude that dark traits cause jealousy, which then causes cyberstalking and problematic social media use, only that these factors are associated in a particular pattern.

The sample was also predominantly female and drawn from a non-clinical population, limiting how broadly the findings can be generalized to men or people with diagnosed personality disorders. Cultural factors were not fully explored, leaving questions about how social norms may influence jealousy and surveillance.

The authors call for longitudinal studies tracking personality, jealousy, cyberstalking and social media use across multiple time points. Such research could clarify whether suspicious thoughts and monitoring behaviors predict later difficulties in controlling online activity.

Future research may also examine how specific platform features facilitate digital surveillance within relationships. Activity indicators, location-sharing tools, follower lists and public interactions can all make it easier to monitor partners, potentially amplifying the influence of dark personality traits.

Article prepared by Victoria Caldwell.