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The dark side of Instagram: How voyeurism and malicious envy drive negative gossip?

  • Cemil Akkaş ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 20. September 2025
Communications
Aus der Zeitschrift Communications

Abstract

Studies on the dark side of Instagram use have typically examined voyeurism, malicious envy, and negative gossip independently. However, the complex interrelationships between these phenomena remain underexplored, and our understanding of their underlying drivers and potential harm is limited. This study seeks to address this gap by proposing a model that hypothesizes the interaction mechanisms between these negative outcomes within the framework of Social Comparison Theory (SCT). The model specifically examines the mediating role of malicious envy and the moderating effect of time spent on Instagram on the relationship between voyeurism and negative gossip. Additionally, gender differences across these variables are assessed. Data were collected from 415 undergraduate Instagram users in Turkey through an online survey and analyzed using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method. The results revealed that voyeurism positively predicted both negative gossip and malicious envy, and malicious envy positively predicted negative gossip on Instagram. Furthermore, malicious envy mediated the relationship between voyeurism and negative gossip, strengthening this association. Time spent on Instagram was found to positively moderate the relationship between voyeurism and negative gossip, indicating that the more time individuals spend on the platform, the stronger the link between voyeurism and negative gossip.

  1. Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

  2. Data Availability Statement: The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available in the Open Science Framework repository (osf.io/qx6d5).

  3. Author contributions: CRediT Cemil Akkaş: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing.

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Appendix A: Heterotrait-monotrait ratio (HTMT) – Matrix.

Constructs

Time spent on IG

Malicious envy on IG

Negative gossip

Voyeurism through IG

Time spent on IG

- 

Malicious envy on IG

.058

- 

Negative gossip

.057

.507

- 

Voyeurism through IG

.036

.401

.585

- 

Time spent on IG x voyeurism through IG

.014

.037

.117

.059

Appendix B: Cross loadings.

Statements

Time spent on IG

Malicious envy on IG

Negative gossip

Voyeurism through IG

Time spent on IG x Voyeurism through IG

ME1

.027

.498

.228

.240

-.030

ME2

-.054

.546

.318

.170

-.046

ME3

-.019

.736

.375

.302

-.042

ME4

.019

.617

.315

.252

.012

ME5

-.010

.728

.389

.274

.034

ME6

-.090

.602

.306

.248

-.003

ME7

.052

.866

.433

.368

-.003

NG1

.113

.279

.583

.353

.067

NG2

.024

.400

.730

.401

.082

NG3

-.027

.320

.635

.381

.103

NG4

-.003

.394

.731

.409

.064

NG5

.025

.335

.693

.425

.080

Time spent on IG

1,000

-.011

.035

.005

-.014

VOY1

.030

.290

.392

.689

.013

VOY2

-.031

.296

.433

.740

-.071

VOY3

.015

.271

.409

.692

.042

Time spent on IG x VOY

-.014

-.014

.117

-.010

1,000

Appendix C: Fornell-Larcker criterion.

Constructs

Time spent on IG

Malicious envy on IG

Negative gossip

Voyeurism through IG

Time spent on IG

1,000

  

  

  

Malicious envy on IG

-.011

.667

  

  

Negative gossip

.035

.514

.677

  

Voyeurism through IG

.005

.404

.582

.707

Published Online: 2025-09-20

© 2025 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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