Description:
Trolling behaviours on social networking sites (SNSs) are problematic for other computer mediated communication users, as the psychological effects of experiencing trolling online are considered similar to the psychological effects of offline harassment. The current study explored personality traits and social motivations associated with individuals who engage in online trolling, specifically on the SNS Facebook®. The Dark Tetrad personality traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism) and social reward (specifically, negative social potency) were examined for their predictive utility of trolling behaviours on Facebook®. A sample of 396 adults (75.9% women, 24.1% men) aged between 18 and 77 years of age (M=34.41, SD=1.70) completed the Global Assessment of Facebook® Trolling (GAFT), The Dirty Dozen, The Short Sadistic Impulse Scale, and The Social Rewards Questionnaire. Results showed that trait psychopathy and sadism predict Facebook® trolling behaviours; however, negative social potency had the strongest predictive utility. These results show that individual trolling behaviour may be better explained by negative social reward motivation than negative personality traits. In addition, these findings offer practical implications for SNS administrators and everyday users of SNSs. Future research should continue to explore predictors of this understudied antisocial online behaviour.
Description:
Trolling behaviours on social networking sites (SNSs) are problematic for other computer mediated communication users, as the psychological effects of experiencing trolling online are considered similar to the psychological effects of offline harassment. The current study explored personality traits and social motivations associated with individuals who engage in online trolling, specifically on the SNS Facebook®. The Dark Tetrad personality traits (i.e., narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism) and social reward (specifically, negative social potency) were examined for their predictive utility of trolling behaviours on Facebook®. A sample of 396 adults (75.9% women, 24.1% men) aged between 18 and 77years of age (M=34.41, SD=1.70) completed the Global Assessment of Facebook® Trolling (GAFT), The Dirty Dozen, The Short Sadistic Impulse Scale, and The Social Rewards Questionnaire. Results showed that trait psychopathy and sadism predict Facebook® trolling behaviours; however, negative social potency had the strongest predictive utility. These results show that individual trolling behaviour may be better explained by negative social reward motivation than negative personality traits. In addition, these findings offer practical implications for SNS administrators and everyday users of SNSs. Future research should continue to explore predictors of this understudied antisocial online behaviour.
Description:
Internet trolling is a disruptive, antisocial online behaviour that can cause significant distress. The current study attempted to, for the first time, include all previous significant predictors of Internet trolling in one model; specifically the utility of gender, primary psychopathy, sadism (direct and vicarious), affective empathy, cognitive empathy, negative social potency in predicting Internet trolling. Further, if the Vulnerable Dark Triad traits (i.e., secondary psychopathy, vulnerable narcissism, and borderline personality traits) could predict additional variance. The sample comprised of 733 participants (70.5% women and 29.5% men) who completed an online questionnaire. Results indicated that primary psychopathy, direct sadism, vicarious sadism, and negative social potency were all significant positive predictors of Internet trolling. Affective empathy was a significant, negative predictor of Internet trolling, and cognitive empathy was positively related to Internet trolling but only if levels of trait psychopathy were high. Of the Vulnerable Dark Triad traits, only vulnerable narcissism was a significant (negative) predictor of Internet trolling. Interestingly, gender did not significantly predict Internet trolling. Results of the current study are discussed in terms of the construction of the psychological profile of the Internet troll, with the hope that such a profile can inform intervention and prevention strategies.