“Why so serious?” : antisocial trolling behavior and its relationship with everyday psychopathy and sadism

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Siegel, A. J., & Peach, H. D. (2023). “Why so serious?” : antisocial trolling behavior and its relationship with everyday psychopathy and sadism. Unc Charlotte Undergraduate Research Conference.
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Trolling is an antisocial form of online communication in which users, known as trolls, initiate negative and taunting interactions to disrupt digital communication. While trolling is a common online practice ranging from innocent to potentially dangerous, it is considered antisocial and antagonistic, meaning it is crucial to understand trolls’ underlying motivations for the behavior. This study sought to explore how particular personality traits are related to trolling engagement. It was hypothesized that higher rates of everyday psychopathy and everyday sadism would be positively associated with trolling behaviors. The sample included students (N = 50) from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte between the ages of 18 and 34 (SD = 3.39). Participants completed an online survey through Google forms that measured the personality traits of psychopathy and sadism, as well as trolling tendencies. Personality traits were measured via the Comprehensive Assessment of Sadistic Tendencies, the Short Dark Triad Scale, and the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale. Trolling was measured via the Global Assessment of Internet Trolling and the iTroll Questionnaire. Both hypotheses were supported, as the results indicated a significant, positive correlation between everyday psychopathy and trolling, as well as everyday sadism and trolling. These findings support the literature, which has repeatedly found a positive correlation between trolling and personality traits like psychopathy and sadism. This similarity suggests that the link between antisocial personality traits and trolling engagement is reflected even among college students. Understanding trolling can help make online spaces safer and provide insight into trolls’ offline behavior and values. Presented at the 2023 Undergraduate Research Conference.

Details
Title

“Why so serious?” : antisocial trolling behavior and its relationship with everyday psychopathy and sadism

Author(s)

Siegel, AJ
Peach, Hannah D.

UNC Charlotte Affiliate Type

Undergraduate

Extent

1 online resource

Date Created

2023

Material Type

Conference poster

Genre

conference proceedings

Resource Type

text

Abstract

Trolling is an antisocial form of online communication in which users, known as trolls, initiate negative and taunting interactions to disrupt digital communication. While trolling is a common online practice ranging from innocent to potentially dangerous, it is considered antisocial and antagonistic, meaning it is crucial to understand trolls’ underlying motivations for the behavior. This study sought to explore how particular personality traits are related to trolling engagement. It was hypothesized that higher rates of everyday psychopathy and everyday sadism would be positively associated with trolling behaviors. The sample included students (N = 50) from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte between the ages of 18 and 34 (SD = 3.39). Participants completed an online survey through Google forms that measured the personality traits of psychopathy and sadism, as well as trolling tendencies. Personality traits were measured via the Comprehensive Assessment of Sadistic Tendencies, the Short Dark Triad Scale, and the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale. Trolling was measured via the Global Assessment of Internet Trolling and the iTroll Questionnaire. Both hypotheses were supported, as the results indicated a significant, positive correlation between everyday psychopathy and trolling, as well as everyday sadism and trolling. These findings support the literature, which has repeatedly found a positive correlation between trolling and personality traits like psychopathy and sadism. This similarity suggests that the link between antisocial personality traits and trolling engagement is reflected even among college students. Understanding trolling can help make online spaces safer and provide insight into trolls’ offline behavior and values. Presented at the 2023 Undergraduate Research Conference.

Subjects--Topics

Online trolling
Antisocial personality disorders

Is Part Of

UNC Charlotte undergraduate research conference

Language

English

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/work:923

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