Haters Gonna Hate, Trolls Gonna Troll: The Personality Profile of a Facebook Troll

Abstract

Personality factors, such as the Dark Tetrad personality factors (Machiavellianism, narcissism and sadism) relate to greater online trolling. Other personality factors, such as the Big Five Personality factors, honesty–humility and negative social potency, may also play a role in cyberbullying, which is an aggressive behavior similar to trolling. The purpose of this study was to predict Facebook trolling behavior based on personality factors. A total of 139 participants completed a survey on their online behavior and personality factors. Online trolling behavior positively correlated with sadism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism, and negatively correlated with agreeableness, conscientiousness and honesty–humility. A hierarchical linear regression showed that sadism, Machiavellianism and negative social potency were the only unique predictors of online trolling behavior. Trolling was unrelated to the frequency of Facebook use and the frequency of commenting. Enjoyment of trolling fully mediated the relationship between Machiavellianism and the trolling behavior. The results thus suggested that Facebook trolling behaviors may be motivated by enjoying the manipulation of others.

Cybervictimization, Social, and Financial Strains Influence Internet Trolling Behaviors: A General Strain Theory Perspective

“…Researchers are also interested in the dispositional characteristics of Internet trolls-most notably the Dark Tetrad (Buckels et al, 2014(Buckels et al, , 2019Craker & March, 2016;Gylfason et al, 2021;Lopes & Yu, 2017;March et al, 2017;March & Steele, 2020;Masui, 2019;Masui et al, 2018;Seigfried-Spellar & Lankford, 2018;Sest & March, 2017). Specifically, research consistently suggests "everyday sadism" is a predictor of Internet trolling (see Buckels et al, 2013;Buckels et al, 2019).…”

“…Specifically, research consistently suggests “everyday sadism” is a predictor of Internet trolling (see Buckels et al, 2013; Buckels et al, 2019). Research also suggests the role of moderating variables, specifically between loneliness and the Dark Tetrad (Masui, 2019), self-esteem and sadism (March & Steele, 2020), and enjoyment of trolling and Machiavellianism (Gylfason et al, 2021). Other studies found dysfunctional impulsivity (March et al, 2017), low empathy (Sest & March, 2017), offline aggression (Strimbu & O’Connell, 2021), online acceptability of prejudiced comments (Seigfried-Spellar & Lankford, 2018), and low self-esteem (Zezulka & Seigfried-Spellar, 2016) were predictors of Internet trolling behaviors.…”

Online Trolls: Unaffectionate Psychopaths or Just Lonely Outcasts and Angry Partisans?

“…Our analysis does include the Big5 inventory, of which low levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness are associated with psychopathy and a higher likelihood of enjoying trolling. High levels of extraversion, neuroticism, or openness also have a positive impact on trolling (Gylfason et al, 2021); however, extraversion and openness might well indicate an outgoing and self-confident personality and an interest in communicating in various different ways, rather than malignant intentions. Moreover, neuroticism, low levels of agreeableness, and low levels of conscientiousness are correlated with a specific kind of social media use-that is, the kind that seeks to gain from social media the attention and social support people might lack in their offline lives (Seidman, 2013), so also possibly defensive trolling.…”

The differential effect of psychopathy on active and bystander trolling behaviors: the role of dark tetrad traits and lower agreeableness

“…Research has shown that both narcissism and Machiavellianism correlate positively with the enjoyment of trolling 1 . However, it is observed that when accounting for the shared variance among DT traits, neither narcissism nor Machiavellianism significantly predicts trolling behavior 9 , 34 , 35 . Reflecting on this, Craker and March 9 suggested that individuals with high Machiavellianism may not favor the impulsive nature of trolling, preferring controlled and calculated approaches.…”