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The most active online people

Those with both high psychopathy and low cognitive ability are the most actively involved in online political engagement thread on twitter

Rolf Degen @DegenRolf | Science writer and book author in psychology, neuroscience and evolution Joined July 2013 21 Following 68.9K Followers

Those with both high psychopathy and low cognitive ability are the most actively involved in online political engagement This cross-national study investigates how psychopathy, narcissism, and fear of missing out (FoMO) influence online political participation, and how cognitive ability moderates these associations, drawing on data from the United States and seven Asian countries. The findings reveal a significant association between psychopathy and online political engagement across all studied contexts. This suggests that heightened psychopathic tendencies are positively linked to increased frequency of online political participation, a relationship that remains consistent despite variances in cultural and political landscapes. Narcissism does not exhibit the same predictive power. Narcissism was also significantly associated with online political participation, but only in the United States, the Philippines, and Thailand. Conversely, higher cognitive ability is uniformly associated with lower levels of online political participation. Those with high cognitive ability may be more discerning in their information consumption, preferring content that aligns with rational and logical principles over emotionally charged information. Notably, the relationship between psychopathy and participation is stronger among individuals with lower cognitive ability in five countries, suggesting that those with both high psychopathy and low cognitive ability are the most actively involved in online political engagement. Recent research indicates individuals exhibiting dark personalities are more likely to fuel uncivil online interactions and are prone to disseminating misinformation across digital platforms

That’s discouraging, but not at all surprising. Not only do we have to deal with bots (either remote-controlled by underpaid teenagers or AI that are trained on making naturalistic comments), also, the most active people on social media don’t care about the well-being of others and are likely too stupid to understand a nuanced argument even if they’d bother to engage with it.

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