“Our research suggests that, for those (trolls) with sadistic personalities, (their) ideal self may be a villain of chaos and mayhem”

 

A 2014 psychology journal article done by a group of Canadian researchers studied the personality traits of internet trolls. The well-designed study was published in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences. It was titled “Trolls Just Want to Have Fun”.

 

The article included these comments:

 

“Trolling correlated positively with sadism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism”;

 

“Internet trolls engage in the practice of behaving in a destructive or disruptive manner in a social setting on the internet with no apparent purpose”;

 

“Trolls operate as agents of chaos on the Internet”;

 

“Cyber-trolling appears to be an internet manifestation of everyday sadism”;

 

“If an unfortunate person falls into their trap, trolling intensifies for further “merciless amusement”;

 

“Both trolls and sadists feel glee at the distress of others. Sadists just want to have fun and the internet is their playground”;

 

“Sadists tend to troll because they enjoy it;

 

“Sadists just want to have fun and the internet is their playground.”

 

Here are some telling comments from some of the trolls that participated in the study:

 

“I enjoy physically hurting people.”

 

“I enjoy making jokes at the expense of others.”

 

“I enjoy playing the villain in games and torturing other characters.”

 

“I like to troll people in forums or the comments section of websites.”

 

“I enjoy griefing other players in multiplayer games.’’

 

‘‘The more beautiful and pure a thing is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt.”

 

Below are pertinent portions of the study that I put together today, 3-13-2019 – GGK

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Trolls Just Want to Have Fun

 

Authors: Erin E. Buckels, Paul D. Trapnell and Delroy L. Paulhus

 

The unedited journal article is at: https://www.academia.edu/6016545/Trolls_just_want_to_have_fun

 

Abstract

In two online studies (total N=1215), respondents completed personality inventories and a survey of their internet commenting styles. Overall, strong positive associations emerged among online commenting frequency, trolling enjoyment, and troll identity, pointing to a common construct underlying the measures. Both studies revealed similar patterns of relations between trolling and the Dark Tetrad of personality: trolling correlated positively with sadism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, using both enjoyment ratings and identity scores.

 

Of all personality measures, sadism showed the most robust associations with trolling and, importantly, the relationship was specific to trolling behavior. Enjoyment of other online activities, such as chatting and debating, was unrelated to sadism. Thus, cyber-trolling appears to be an internet manifestation of everyday sadism.

 

From the Introduction:

“Internet trolls engage in the practice of behaving in a destructive or disruptive manner in a social setting on the internet with no apparent purpose.

 

From a lay perspective, internet trolls share many characteristics of the classic Joker villain, a modern variant of the Trickster archetype from ancient folk-lore. Much like the Joker, trolls operate as agents of chaos on the Internet, exploiting “hot-button issues” to make them seem overly emotional or foolish in some manner. If an unfortunate person falls into their trap, trolling intensifies for further “merciless amusement”. This is why novice internet users are routinely admonished, “Do not feed the trolls!”

 

From the Methods section:

Here are some telling comments from some of the internet trolls that participated in the study:

 

“I enjoy physically hurting people’.’

“I enjoy making jokes at the expense of others.”

“I enjoy playing the villain in games and torturing other characters.”

“I like to troll people in forums or the comments section of websites.”

“I enjoy griefing other players in multiplayer games.’’

‘‘The more beautiful and pure a thing is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt.”

 

From the Discussion section:

In the final analysis, we found clear evidence that sadists tend to troll because they enjoy it…These findings provide a preliminary glimpse into the mechanism by which sadism fosters trolling behavior.

 

Both trolls and sadists feel glee at the distress of others. Sadists just want to have fun and the internet is their playground. Study 2 also found strong positive relations among online commenting frequency, trolling enjoyment and trolling behavior and identity, pointing to high levels of consistency among the measures.

 

Our findings add to accumulating evidence linking excessive technology use to anti-sociality. The casual direction of these associations is yet unclear.

 

Do antisocial persons use technology more than others because it facilitates their nefarious goals/motives? The findings of this study suggest that this is indeed the case, but more empirical work is needed. Some author argue that use of internet technology actually shifts users in an antisocial direction. The internet is an anonymous environment where it is easy to seek out and explore one’s niche, however idiosyncratic.

 

Consequently, antisocial individuals have greater opportunities to connect with similar others, and to pursue their personal brand of “self-expression” that they did before the advent of the internet. Online identity construction may be important to examine in research on trolling, especially in terms of antisocial identity. its role in trolling behavior.

 

The troll persona appears to be a malicious case of a virtual avatar, reflecting both actual personality and one’s ideal self. Our research suggests that, for those with sadistic personalities, that ideal self may be a villain of chaos and mayhem the online Trickster we fear, envy and love to hate: the cyber-troll.