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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Steven Watson
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Objectives Previous work demonstrates that employee language use changes when undertaking an insider attack. We examined whether or not insiders’ motivation (self-profit vs. social good) and Dark Triad personality (high vs. low; DT) moderated these changes. We predicted that acting for social good or having a high DT personality would inoculate insiders from experiencing guilt and social pressure, reducing the degree of language change. Method Participants (N = 184) completed a 6-hour simulation in which three teams of four collaborated via email to investigate criminal gangs over four rounds. After a control round, two team members were offered financial rewards for stealing and passing information onto either an outside hostile agent (self-profit) or a journalist investigating police corruption (social good). The members approached were those with either the highest or lowest DT scores. We compared insiders and non-insiders on Language Style Matching (LSM), self-focus (personal pronouns use), negative emotional content, and cognitive complexity. Results We tested hypotheses with linear mixed effects models in which Insider type (self-profit, social good, none), mean DT score, and Simulation Round were predictors nested by team membership. Compared to non-insiders, insiders showed significantly lower LSM, greater use of second person pronouns, and greater cognitive processing. Insider motivation, self-profit or social good, did not moderate any of these effects. High DT participants used more second person pronouns regardless of insider status. Conclusions Overall, identified language markers appear robust to insider motive and personality, suggesting that such cues may form part of an insider detection system.
Author(s): Watson SJ, Taylor PJ, Doodson J, Conchie SM
Publication type: Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)
Publication status: Published
Conference Name: Annual Conference of the European Association of Psychology and Law
Year of Conference: 2018
Online publication date: 26/06/2018
Acceptance date: 09/03/2018
Publisher: European Association of Psychology and Law
URL: https://eapl2018.fi/
