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A large proportion of youth believe that the world of cyberspace provides them with a relatively safe and anonymous digital bubble ripe for uninhibited self-expression.At the same time, observers have noted an increase of individuals behaving in an unrestrained manner on the Internet, while researchers have reported elevated rates of cyber aggressive behavior. What remains unclear, however, is whether, and how, disinhibition might be related to cyber aggression. In an aim to explore the possible associations, a large sample (total N = 709) of high school (M age = 15.56 years) respondents from New Zealand were recruited, and completed a survey featuring scales assessing personality and technology behaviors, attitudes, habits, and trends. The present study was designed to investigate whether the three dark personality traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism would predict false self perceptions, and in sequence, online disinhibition and aggressive online behavior.All three dark personality traits, as well as false self, were positively associated with online disinhibition. Perceptions of false self were found to be a significant predictor of cyber aggression when mediated by online disinhibition. In the case of cyber aggression, however, psychopathy, sadistic traits, and online disinhibition were found to be significant predictors of this outcome. The results collectively provide a more nuanced understanding of how antisocial personality traits are associated with maladaptive identity formation (i.e., endorsement of false self beliefs) as well as maladaptive online behavior.

An emerging literature suggests that females are more likely than males to take and post selfies and that such selfies tend to both conform to and legitimize the sexualization of femininity. It has been found that key predictors of selfie behaviors are narcissistic personality traits and that taking a higher number of selfies may, in turn, put young people at risk of engaging in negative social interactions online. No studies to date have investigated the mediating effects of selfies and, moreover, selfies that are taken with the intention of to appear physically attractive (i.e., sexualized selfies), on the relationship between narcissism and cyber behaviors. The following study examined selfie taking among a group of 262 adolescent girls (aged 13–16). Results of a path model found a serial mediation effect, indicating that exploitativeness was associated with increased selfie taking, which increased sexualized selfie taking and in turn increased cyber aggression and victimization. In contrast, contingent self-esteem was associated with taking sexualized selfies (with indirect positive effects on cyber behaviors). Results of this model also show that the effect of taking selfies on cyber behaviors is fully mediated by taking sexualized selfies. These findings are discussed in relation to the characteristics of the online environment and the risks of young women’s sexualized online self-presentations.

Work-related stress is a significant impediment to job satisfaction and healthy psycho-social functioning. It can alter the behaviour of the person involved and impair the quality of their life. In the European Union (EU), over the last decade, work-related stress has been consistently identified as one of the major workplace concerns--a challenge not only to the health of working people but also to the healthiness of their organizations. The study reported below attempted to address the issue of work-related stress through whole team training programmes, on a background of largely ineffective stress reduction training programmes offered to individuals within the workplace. This EU 'framework 5 Quality of Life' project focused instead on tackling the organizational level through training of mental health teams in five countries. The findings have significant implications to the conceptual, methodological and everyday organizational practice levels of tackling this central issue to the health of the workplace.

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