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Online trolling is of particular concern due to the harmful negative outcomes its victims experience. The current study sought to explore and extend the personality profile of Internet trolls. After gender was controlled for, psychopathy, sadism, and empathy (affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and social skills) were examined for their predictive utility of trolling behaviour. A sample of 415 participants (36% men, 63% women, 1% other) with a mean age of 23.37 years (SD = 7.19) completed an online questionnaire. Results showed that men were more likely than women to engage in trolling, and higher levels of trait psychopathy and sadism predicted trolling behaviour. Lower levels of affective empathy predicted perpetration of trolling, and trait psychopathy moderated the association between cognitive empathy and trolling. Results indicate that when high on trait psychopathy, trolls employ an empathic strategy of predicting and recognising the emotional suffering of their victims, while abstaining from the experience of these negative emotions. Thus, trolls appear to be master manipulators of both cyber-settings and their victims' emotions.
You sound surprised. The issue I find more is not trolling itself, but the level of said trolling. The Rick Rolling of ten years ago, harmless. Groups spoiling stuff just to spoil it for lulz, that is something more sinister. Saying an American born mariachi singer is a disgrace to 'Murica because no Mexican should sing the U.S. national anthem, that is down right disgusting.
I know I don't troll too much on here but on this other forum, i troll the crap out of them. This is an interesting read.
Do you consider what you do at the other forum as light hearted trolling? Or something more malicious? Do you understand why you do it? I’d be curious to get your first hand account.
I used to know a bully back in junior high. Years later, I saw him on facebook discussion groups, trolling everywhere and attacking people. Calling them idiots and such. And other names. He's since hidden his profile so that you can't do a search under his name to see what his activities are on facebook. No surprise there.
It's not surprising to me that people who troll exhibit higher levels of psychopathy and sadism. Most people wouldn't get any joy/reward/pleasure out of trolling.
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