Theses and Dissertations

ORCID

0009-0005-3167-677X

Advisor

Warkentin, Merrill

Committee Member

Paul, Chinju

Committee Member

Marett, Kent

Committee Member

Nehme, Alaa

Committee Member

France, Stephen

Date of Degree

8-12-2026

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU Only 2 Years

Document Type

Dissertation - Campus Access Only

Major

Business Information Systems

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Business

Department

Department of Management and Information Systems

Abstract

Doxing on social networking sites poses a growing threat to users’ personally identifiable information, which undermines their privacy and security. This study applies situational action theory (SAT) to examine how bystanders’ situational morality influences their decision-making when encountering online doxing. Drawing on SAT’s perception-choice process, this study focuses on three core components, motivation, moral filter, and control. Specifically, it investigates how ideological alignment shapes bystanders’ situational motivation, while perceptions of others’ information ownership function as a moral filter and privacy concerns operate as a control-related constraint by heightening the perceived risks of involvement. These factors are used to explain bystanders’ likelihood of engaging in doxing, intervening, or avoiding behavior. Results from a factorial vignette study showed that ideological alignment significantly predicted both doxing perpetration and intervention, while privacy concerns directly predicted avoidance independent of ideological stance. The study aims to extend SAT to digitally mediated contexts and to offer practical implications for fostering more ethical and secure online environments.

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