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Study suggests most people support revenge porn

The study is the first to link a set of personality traits with a willingness to engage in revenge porn.

By Brooks Hays

March 2 (UPI) -- According to a small survey by psychologists at the University of Kent, a majority of people are at least partially accepting of revenge porn.

Revenge porn is the publication of intimate or sexually explicit images or videos of another person, ostensibly as payback for infidelity or a breakup.

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Kent researchers surveyed 100 adults, ages 18 to 54, on their feelings about revenge porn. Eighty-eight percent of the respondents were women. The survey also included a range of personality questions.

Just 29 percent of respondents said they'd be likely to engage in revenge porn, but 99 percent admitted some level of acceptance of revenge porn when the scenario involved a significant other walking out on their partner.

The study -- published in the International Journal of Technoethics -- is the first to link a set of personality traits with a willingness to engage in revenge porn.

Those who admitted they were likely to engage in revenge porn were more likely to also endorse the dark triad of personality traits -- psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism, or duplicity. Personality traits like impulsivity and lack of empathy were correlated with a willingness to share revenge porn.

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