Trolls just want to have fun Erin E - PDF document

Trollsjustwanttohavefun ErinE.Buckels ,PaulD.Trapnell ,DelroyL.Paulhus UniversityofManitoba,Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada UniversityofWinnipeg,Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada UniversityofBritishColumbia,Vancouver,BritishColumbia,Canada articleinfoArticlehistory:Availableonlinexxxx DarkTetradDarkTriadAntisocialInternetbehavior Intwoonlinestudies(total 1.Introduction isthepracticeofbehavinginadeceptive,destructive,ordisruptivemannerinasocialsettingontheInternetwithnoapparentinstrumentalpurpose.Fromalay-perspective,InternettrollssharemanycharacteristicsoftheclassicJokervil- Despitepublicawarenessofthephenomenon,thereislittleempiricalresearchontrolling.Existingliteraturesarescatteredandmultidisciplinaryinnature(Hardaker,2010;Herring,Job-Sluder,&Scheckler,2002;McCosker,inpress;Shachaf&Hara,).Forinstance,ShachafandHara(2010)conductedinterviewsofWikipediatrolls,“ndingthemesofboredom,attentionseeking,revenge,pleasure,andadesiretocausedamagetothecommunityamongtheirexpressedmotivationsfortrolling.Inotherresearch,Hardaker(2010)conductedacontentanalysisofUsenetpoststhat disruptiveaspectsmaydistinguishtrollingfromotherformsofon- lineantisociality,suchascyber-bullying,whereperpetratoridenti-tiesareusuallyclear(Lenhardt,2013)andtheintentismorestraightforward. Frequencyofactivityisanimportantcorrelateofantisocialusesoftechnology.Forinstance,cyber-bullyingisoftenperpetratedbyheavyInternetusers(Juvonen&Gross,2008),anddisagreeablepersonsusemobiletechnologiesmorethanothers…notforsocial-izing,butforpersonalentertainment(Phillips&Butt,2006).Simi-larly,gamerswhoexpressnon-socialmotivationsforonlinegaming(e.g.,competition,personalachievement)demonstratelowerlevelsofagreeablenessandconscientiousnessthanothersGraham&Gosling,2013).Stillotherresearchhaslinkedlowagreeableness,lowconscientiousness,andhighextraversiontoheavyInternetuse( ThenoxiouspersonalityvariablesknownastheDarkTetradpersonality…narcissism,Machiavellianism,psychopathy,andsadisticpersonality(Buckels,Jones,&Paulhus,2013;Furnham,Richards,&Paulhus,2013)…areyettobeinvestigatedinthetroll-ingliterature.Theirrelevanceissuggestedbyresearchlinkingthesetraitstobullyinginbothadolescents(Fanti&Kimonis,)andadults(Baughman,Dearing,Giammarco,&Vernon, Correspondingauthor.Address:DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofManitoba,190DysartRd.,Winnipeg,MB,R3T2N2,Canada.Tel.:+12049778445.E-mailaddress:(E.E.Buckels). PersonalityandIndividualDifferencesxxx(2014)xxx…xxx ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirectPersonalityandIndividualDifferencesjournalhomepage:www.elsevier.c Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Buckels,E.E.,etal.Trollsjustwanttohavefun.PersonalityandIndividualDifferenceshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016 2012;Jones&Paulhus,2010;Linton&Power,2013).Alsosugges-tiveisresearchshowingthatnarcissists(Ljepava,Orr,Locke,&Ross,2013)andthosewithantisocialpersonalitydisorder(Whaling,Rab,Carrier,&Cheever,2013)useFacebookmorefre-quentlythanothers,thusindicatingthatdarkpersonalitiesleavelargedigitalfootprints.OftheDarkTetrad,weexpectedeverydaysadism(Buckelsetal.,2013)toprovemostgermanetotrolling.Afterall,trollingcultureembracesaconceptvirtuallysynonymouswithsadisticpleasure:introll-speak,lulz. ToevaluatethepredictorsofInternettrolling,weadministeredquestionnairestostudentandcommunitysamplesintwoonlinestudies.InStudy1,wefocusedonpredictingenjoymentoftrolling,asopposedtootheronlinesocialactivities,suchasdebatingandchatting.WeexpectedthattheDarkTetradwouldbepositivelyassociatedwithatendencytoratetrollingasthemostfavoredactivityontroll-ablewebsites(de“nedhereaswebsitesthatper-mituserstointeractbypostingcomments).Wefurtherexpectedthatextraversionandagreeableness…theBigFivedimensionsmostrelevanttotheDarkTetradssocialworld(Paulhus&Wil-liams,2002)…wouldevidenceassociationswithtrolling,withapreferencefortrollingindicativeofextravertedbutdisagreeablepersonalitytraits. 2.Study1 2.1.Method2.1.1.Participantsandprocedure Werecruited418participants(42.4%female;age=29.2%,=11.0)fromAmazonsMechanicalTurkwebsite(www.mturk.com)tocompletesurveyquestionsonline.ThesamplewasrestrictedtorespondentsfromtheUnitedStates.Thekeyquestionsregardingtrollingandotheronlinebehaviorswereembeddedinalargerbatteryofpersonalityquestionnaires.Partic-ipantsreceivedmonetarycompensation($0.50)fortheirtime.2.1.2.Measures Twomeasuresofsadisticpersonalitywereadministered.FirstwastheShortSadisticImpulseScale(SSIS;OMeara,Davies,&Hammond,2011),containing10itemstoassessadispositionaltendencytoenjoyhurtingothers(e.g.,Hurtingpeopleisexciting=.88),ratedon“ve-pointscalesfrom1(stronglydisagree)to5stronglyagree).SecondwastheVarietiesofSadisticTendenciesscale(VAST;Paulhus&Jones,inpress),containingsixitemstoas-directsadism,(e.g.,Ienjoyhurtingpeople=.61)andsevenitemstoassessvicarioussadism(e.g.,InvideogamesIlikethereal-isticbloodspurts=.69),ratedonseven-pointscalesrangingfrom1(notatall)to7(verymuch).TheVASTdirectsadismsubscaleisconceptuallyequivalenttotheSSIS,andthescoreswerehighlycorrelatedinthissample(=.73,.001).Hence,westandardizedandsummedthemtocreateadirectsadismcompositescore. The27-itemShortDarkTriadscale(SD3;Jones&Paulhus,in)wasusedtoassessnarcissism(e.g.,Ihavebeencomparedtofamouspeople=.72),Machiavellianism(e.g.,Itsnotwisetotellyoursecrets=.80),andsubclinicalpsychopathy(e.g.,backneedstobequickandnasty=.79).The44-itemBigFiveInventory(John&Srivastava,1999)wasusedtoassessextraver-sion(=.87),agreeableness(=.79),conscientiousness(=.83),neuroticism(=.85),andopennesstoexperience(=.78) Finally,thesectiononInternetbehavioraskedparticipantstoestimatetheiroverallcommentingfrequency:Howmanyhoursperdaydoyouspendpostingcommentsonwebsitesnewssites,etc)?Asecondquestionprobedtheirpreferredactivitywhencommentingonline:Whatdoyouenjoydoingmostonthesecommentsites?with“veresponseoptions:debatingis- suesthatareimportanttoyou,chattingwithotherusers, newfriends,trollingotherusers,andother(specify).Theorderofthe“rstfouransweroptionswasrandomized.Thosepartici-pantswhoindicatedthattheydidnotspendanytimepostingcom-mentswerelabeledasnon-commenters. 2.2.Results2.2.1.Onlinecommentingfrequency Acrossallparticipants,themeannumberofcommentinghoursperdaywas1.07,=1.77. Commentingtimewasassociatedwithlowerconscientiousnessscores,(418)=.001,andhigherscoresonallDarkTetradmeasuresexceptnarcissism:directsadism,(508)=.12,=.01,vicarioussadism,(508)=.21,.001,psychop-(512)=.12,=.005,andMachiavellianism,(512)=.16,.001;narcissism,(512)=.04,=.37. Commentingtimewasalsonegativelyassociatedwithage,(508)=.001,andmenreportedgreaternumbersofhourspostingcomments(=0.88,=0.78)thandidwomen(=0.49,=0.62),(505.91)=6.19,.001,=0.55.Incontrast,extraver-sion,agreeableness,neuroticism,andnarcissismwereallnon-sig-ni“cantpredictorsofcommentingfrequency,s&#x-244;&#x.500;.18.2.2.2.Favoredactivitywhencommenting Atotalof23.8%ofparticipantsexpressedapreferencefordebatingissues,21.3%preferredchatting,2.1%saidtheyespeciallyenjoymakingfriends,5.6%reportedenjoyingtrollingotherusers,and5.8%speci“edanotheractivity.Theremaining41.3%ofpartic-ipantswerenon-commenters.Becauseoflowendorsementratesofthemakingfriendsoption,wecombined thatcategorywiththeothercategoryinthefollowinganalyses. AmultivariateanalysisontheDarkTetradrevealedasigni“canteffectofactivitypreference:Wilks=0.97,(20,1646.00)=1.65,=.03.InspectionofthepatterndepictedinFig.1con“rmedthat,asexpected,theDarkTetradscoreswerehighestamongthosewhoselectedtrollingasthemostenjoyableactivity.Plannedorthogonalcontrastsindicatedthattheeffectwassigni“cantforallDarkTetradmeasures:directsadism,(500)=3.03,=.003,=.27,vicarioussadism,(500)=2.91,=.004,=.26,psychopathy,(500)=3.09,=.002,=.28,narcissism,(500)=2.64,=.009,=.24,andMachiavellianism,(500)=2.78,=.006,=.25.Asec-ondmultivariateanalysisontheBigFivescoresindicatedthat,asexpected,participantswhochosetrollingastheirfavoriteactivitywerehigheronextraversion,(413)=2.02,=.04,=.20,andlow-eronagreeableness,(413)==.04,=.20,thanothers,butdidnotdifferonconscientiousness,neuroticism,oropenness,s�.21. 3.Study2 AlimitationofStudy1isthatweaskedparticipantstoselecttheirfavoriteactivityfromalistofoptions.Thisnecessitatedacat-egoricalindexoftrollingthatlikelyunderestimatedtheeffects.HenceinStudy2,weassessedenjoymentofeachcommentingactivity(includingtrolling)onseparatecontinuousscales.ToruleoutthepossibilitythatoverallInternetuseexplainsrelationswithtrolling,wealsoincludedaquestionabouttotaltimespentonlineforuseasacontrolvariable.Finally,totriangulateontrollingwithmultiplemeasures,weconstructedasecondbriefindex:theAssessmentofInternetTrolling(GAIT)scale,whichassessedtrolling Becausethefrequencyscoreswerepositivelyskewed,weappliedasquareroottransformationtotherawscores,resultinginatransformedmeanof0.72hofcommentingperday,=0.75.Thetransformedscoreswereusedintheanalysesthatfollow.Thepatternofresultswasunchangedwhenallcategorieswereused. E.E.Buckelsetal./PersonalityandIndividualDifferencesxxx(2014)xxx…xxx Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Buckels,E.E.,etal.Trollsjustwanttohavefun.PersonalityandIndividualDifferences(2014),http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016 behavior,identi“cation,andenjoyment.AsinStudy1,measuresoftheBigFivewereincludedforcomparison. Study2alsofeatureddatafromalargerandmorediversesam-ple,furnishinguswithenoughstatisticalpowertotesthypothesesabouttheuniquecontributionsoftheDarkTetrad.Forreasonsarticulatedearlier,weexpectedsadismtodominatepersonalityef-fectsontrolling.Thuswepredictedthattherelationsbetweensad-ismandtrollingwouldremainsigni“cantevenwhencontrollingforoverlapwithpsychopathy,narcissism,andMachiavellianism. 3.1.Method3.1.1.Participantsandprocedure Twolargesampleswerecollectedonline.The“rstconsistedof188Canadianpsychologystudents(55%female;age=21.15,=3.63)whocompletedthequestionnairesforextracoursecred-itpoints.Thesecondconsistedof609UnitedStatesresidents(43%age=35.04,=12.98)recruitedonAmazonsMechan-icalTurkwebsite(MTurk;http://www.mturk.com).Thelatterpar-ticipantsreceived$0.50eachfortheirtime.Althoughallparticipantscompletedthedarkpersonalitymeasuresandtheshorttrollingscale,onlyasubsetofMTurkparticipants(=207;52%female;age=36.1,=13.4)completedthequestionnaireoncommentingbehavior,andonlythestudentsamplecompletedtheBigFiveInventory.3.1.2.Measures The44-itemBigFiveInventory(John&Srivastava,1999)wasusedtoassessextraversion(=.83),agreeableness(=.79),con-scientiousness(=.81),neuroticism(=.78),andopennesstoexperience(=.80). The27-itemShortDarkTriadscale(Jones&Paulhus,inpressassessednarcissism(=.75),Machiavellianism(=.80),andsub-clinicalpsychopathy(=.79).Toassesssadisticpersonality,weusedthe18-itemComprehensiveAssessmentofSadisticTenden-cies(CAST;Buckels&Paulhus,2013).TheCASTitemsetsucceedstheVASTusedinStudy1,boastingexpandedcontentcoverageandimprovedreliabilities.TheCASTassessesthreedistinctvarie-tiesofsadistictendencies:directphysicalsadism(e.g.,Ienjoyphysicallyhurtingpeople;“veitems,=.80),directverbalsadism(e.g.,Ienjoymakingjokesattheexpenseofothers;sixitems,=.81),andvicarioussadism(e.g.,Ienjoyplayingthevillainingamesandtorturingothercharacters;sevenitems,=.81).Items wereratedon5-pointscalesrangingfrom1(stronglydisagree)to stronglyagree Wecomputedacompositefordirectsadismasthemeanofthe11physicalandverbalitems(=.86).Coef“ciental-phaforCASTtotalscoreswas.89. ThesectiononInternetuseaskedparticipants,HowmanyhoursperdaydoyouspendontheInternet?Participantsaddition-allyrespondedtoayes/noquestion,Doyoupostcommentsonwebsites(e.g.,YouTube,newssites,forums,etc.)?(evenoccasion-?).Thosewhoansweredyes(i.e.,thecommenters)wereaskedtoprovideadditionalinformationabouttheirpostingbehav-ior:Howmanyhoursperdaydoyouspendpostingcommentsonwebsites(e.g.,YouTube,newssites,forums,etc.)?WeregressedcommentinghoursonoverallInternethoursandsavedtheresidualscorestocreateasecondindexofcommentingfrequencywhencontrollingforoverallInternetuse.Finally,commentersratedtheirenjoymentofeachactivityusedinStudy1(debating,chatting,trolling,andmakingfriends)onscalesfrom1(notatallenjoyable)to7(veryenjoyable). Wealsoincludedfouritemsrelevanttotrollingthatwereinter-spersedintheothermeasures:Ihavesentpeopletoshockwebsitesforthelulz,Iliketotrollpeopleinforumsorthecommentssectionof,Ienjoygrie“ngotherplayersinmultiplayergames,andThemorebeautifulandpureathingis,themoresatisfyingitistocor- ratedon5-pointscalesfrom1(stronglydisagree)to5(stronglyagree).The“rstthreeitemsaddressedtrollingexperienceandenjoyingvariousformsoftrolling,whilethelastitemaddressedidenti“cationwithtrollingandInternetsubcultures.Meanresponsestothesefouritems(=.82)formedthecompositescorelabeled,GlobalAssessmentofInternetTrolling(GAIT). 3.2.Results Table1displayscorrelationsbetweentheDarkTetrad,com-mentingfrequency,andratedenjoymentofvariousactivities…includingtrolling…whilepostingcommentsonline.Asexpected,DarkTetradscoreswerepositivelycorrelatedwithcommentingfrequency.Partialcorrelations(alsodisplayedinTable1)indicatedthatcontrollingforInternetuse(=6.61,=3.14)didnotaffect Mean Personality Score (Standardized(Non-Commenter) Debating IssuesChattingTrolling OtherFavorite Activity when Posting Comments Online Machiavellianism Narcissism Direct Sadism Vicarious Sadism Fig.1.DarkTetradscoresasafunctionoffavoriteonlineactivityinStudy1.Errorbarsrepresentstandarderrors. ResponsestotheCASTarecommonlycollectedon7-pointscales;here5-pointratingscaleswereusedtostayconsistentwiththeSD3.Thisstatementisfromtheevolving(andoftentrolled)RulesoftheInternetE.E.Buckelsetal./PersonalityandIndividualDifferencesxxx(2014)xxx…xxx Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Buckels,E.E.,etal.Trollsjustwanttohavefun.PersonalityandIndividualDifferenceshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016 thoseassociations.Amongcommenters,commentingfrequency=0.82,=0.83)waspositivelycorrelatedwithoverallInternet(81)=.35,.001,butwaspositivelyassociatedwithtrollingenjoymentevenwhencontrollingforoverallInternetuse,(78)=.27,=.01. Alsoasexpected,sadism,psychopathy,andMachiavellianismscoreswerepositivelycorrelatedwithself-reportedenjoymentoftrolling,alls�.37(seeTable1),evenwhencontrollingforoverallInternetuse,alls�.39.Narcissism,incontrast,wasnotcorrelatedwithtrollingenjoyment,butwasinsteadpositivelycorrelatedwithenjoyingdebatingissuesimportanttothem.Vicarioussadismwassimilarlypositivelycorrelatedwithenjoymentofdebating,whileenjoymentofchattingwasnegativelycorrelatedwithpsychopathy. Turningnexttoscoresontheshorttrollingindex,GAITscoreswerestronglyassociatedwithcommenterstrollingenjoyment,(83)=.71,.001.Critically,GAITwaspositivelyassociatedwithscoresofallDarkTetradmeasures(seeTable1 andespeciallystronglywithsadism(s�.55).Amongcommenters,GAITscoreswerepositivelycorrelatedwithcommentingfrequency,(80)=.43,.001,andremainedsowhencontrollingforoverallInternetuse,(78)=.47,.001.Acrossallparticipants,menhadstrongerGAITscores(=1.78,=0.92)thandidwomen(=1.34,=0.62),(530)=7.29,.001,=.63.ParticipantswithstrongerGAITscorestendedtobeyounger(.001),lowerinconscientiousness.001)andagreeableness(.001),andmar-ginallyhigherinopenness(=.13,=.08),ascomparedtotheirlowGAITcounterparts.Scoresonextraversionandneuroticismwereunrelated,s&#x-244;&#x.700;.50.3.2.1.UniquecontributionsoftheDarkTetradtotrolling ToexaminetheuniquecontributionsoftheDarkTetradontrollingenjoyment,weconductedamultipleregressionanalysiswithdatafromthesubsampleofcommenters.Totalsadism,Machiavellianism,narcissism,andpsychopathywereenteredaspredictorsoftrollingenjoyment.Thisanalysisindicatedthatsad-=0.53,(78)=4.21,=.002,andMachiavellianism,=0.23,(78)=2.23,=.03,wereuniquepredictorsoftrollingenjoyment.Incontrast,whencontrollingfortheotherDarkTetradscores,narcissismwasnegativelyassociatedwithtrollingenjoy-(78)==.001,andpsychopathywasunrelatedtotrollingenjoyment,=.89.ThepatternofassociationwasunaffectedbycontrollingforoverallInternetuse. WerananidenticalanalysisforscoresontheGAITscalewithdatafromthefullsample.Aswasthecasefortrollingenjoyment,sadismpredictedstrongerGAITscores,=0.61,(735)=15.41, .001,evenwhencontrollingforscoresontheDarkTriadmea- sures.Psychopathywasalsoaunique(thoughweaker)predictorofGAITscores,=0.10,(734)=2.43,.001.Machiavellianismandnarcissismwerenotsigni“cant,s&#x-237;&#x.600;.75.3.2.2.Mediationviatrollingenjoyment Becausetheassociationsbetweensadismandtrollingwerepar-ticularlystrong,weranamediationanalysistoexamineif,amongcommenters,ratedenjoymentoftrollingexplainedtherelation-shipbetweensadismandGAITscores. Inotherwords,wesoughttotestthehypothesisthatsadismleadstotrollingbehaviorsare.Signi“cancewastestedwithbothSobelstestandabootstrapped95%con“denceintervalforthestandardizedindirecteffect(constructedwith10,000re-samplesandapercentiledistribution). Recallthat,amongcommenters,sadismscoreswerestronglyassociatedwithratedtrollingenjoyment.Aregressionanalysisindicatedthatenjoymentoftrollingwas,inturn,positivelyassoci-atedwithGAITscoreswhencontrollingforsadism,=0.48,(80)=6.31,.001.Themediatedeffectofsadismthroughenjoy-mentwassigni“cant,Sobels=4.10,.001;95%CI=[0.09,0.45].Itremainedsigni“cantevenwhencontrollingforscoresontheDarkTriad,Sobels=3.44,.001;95%CI=[0.10,0.51].Thedi-recteffectofsadismwassubstantiallyreduced,butremainedsig-ni“cantwhencontrollingfortrollingenjoyment,=0.40,(80)=5.07,.001,indicatingpartialmediation.Analternativemediationanalysisfoundnosupportfortheoppositecausaldirec-tion;thestandardizedindirecteffectofGAITonsadismviatrollingenjoymentwasnotsigni“cant,Sobels=0.74,=.46;95%CI=[0.09,0.25]. 4.Generaldiscussion Thepresentresearchwasthe“rsttoexaminecomprehensivepersonalitypro“lesofInternettrolls.Acrosstwostudiesandtwomeasuresoftrolling,thepersonalityprojectionsoftrollsemergedinQuadrantIIoftheInterpersonalCircumplex(Wiggins,1995thatis,HighAgencyandLowCommunion(Jones&Paulhus,).Inotherwords,theydisplayedhighlevelsoftheDarkTetradtraitsandaBFIpro“leconsistentwiththosetraits.Itwassadism,however,thathadthemostrobustassociationswithtrollingofanyofthepersonalitymeasures,includingthoseoftheBigFive.Infact,theassociationsbetweensadismandGAITscoreswereso Table1AssociationsofDarkTetradvariableswithcommentingbehaviorandenjoymentinStudy2.PersonalityscaleCommentingfrequencyCommentingfrequency(controllingforoverallInternetuse)Ratedenjoyment:GAITscoresTrollingDebatingChattingMakingfriendsSadismTotal.43.21.07.12.68DirectSadism.35.17.65DirectPhysical.35.19.04.20.62DirectVerbal.32.15.56VicariousSadism.39.03.55Machiavellianism.33.14.34Narcissism.27.09.23.19.21.18Psychopathy.23.21.55.05;.01;.001.Alltestsaretwo-tailed.GAITscoreswereacompositeoffouritemscapturingtrollingbehavior,enjoyment,andidentity. Thepatternsofassociationswerecomparableacrossthestudentandcommunity ResultswereidenticalwhenomittingGAITitemsoverlappingwithenjoyment,leavingapuremeasureoftrollidentityandbehavior(2items;=.65).Theimpactofsadismontrollidentity/behaviorwasmediatedbyenjoyment:Sobels=2.90,=.004;95%CIforthestandardizedindirecteffect=[0.03,0.30].Thedirecteffectwasalsosigni“cant,95%CI=[0.28,0.61]withaBCacorrection.E.E.Buckelsetal./PersonalityandIndividualDifferencesxxx(2014)xxx…xxx Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Buckels,E.E.,etal.Trollsjustwanttohavefun.PersonalityandIndividualDifferences(2014),http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016 strongthatitmightbesaidthatonlinetrollsareprototypicaleverydaysadists(Buckelsetal.,2013).NotethattheDarkTetradassociationswerespeci“ctotrolling.Enjoymentofotheronlineactivities,suchaschattinganddebating,wasunrelatedtosadism. Subsequentanalysescon“rmedthattheDarkTetradassocia-tionswerelargelyduetooverlapwithsadism.Whentheiruniquecontributionswereassessedinamultipleregression,onlysadismpredictedtrollingonbothmeasures(trollingenjoymentandGAITscores).Incontrast,whencontrollingforsadismandtheotherDarkTetradmeasures,narcissismwasactuallynegativelyrelatedtotrollingenjoyment.GiventhatcontrollingforoverallInternetusedidnotaffecttheseresults,personalitydifferencesinbroaderten-denciesofInternetuseandfamiliaritycannotexplainthe“ndings. Inthe“nalanalysisofStudy2,wefoundclearevidencethatsa-diststendtotrollbecausetheyenjoyit.Whencontrollingforenjoyment,sadismsimpactontrollingwascutnearlyinhalf;andtheindirecteffectofsadismthroughenjoymentwassubstan-tial,signi“cant,andremainedsigni“cantwhencontrollingforoverlapwiththeDarkTriadscores.These“ndingsprovideapreli-minaryglimpseintothemechanismbywhichsadismfosterstroll-ingbehavior.Bothtrollsandsadistsfeelsadisticgleeatthedistressofothers.SadistsjustwanttohavefunandtheInternetistheir Study2alsofoundstrongpositiverelationsamongonlinecom-mentingfrequency,trollingenjoyment,andtrollingbehaviorandidentity,pointingtohighlevelsofconsistencyamongthemea-sures.Our“ndingsaddtoaccumulatingevidencelinkingexcessivetechnologyusetoantisociality(Carr,2011;Juvonen&Gross,2008;Phillips&Butt,2006;Rosenetal.,2013).Thecausaldirectionoftheseassociationsisyetunclear.Doantisocialpersonsusetechnol-ogymorethanothersbecauseitfacilitatestheirnefariousgoals/motives?The“ndingsofthisstudysuggestthatthisisindeedthecase,butmoreempiricalworkisneeded.Someauthorsgofur-thertoarguethatuseofInternettechnologyactuallyshiftsusersinanantisocialdirection(Carr,2011;Immordino-Yang,Christodou-lou,&Singh,2012;Suler,2004 TheInternetisananonymousenvironmentwhereitiseasytoseekoutandexploreonesniche,howeveridiosyncratic.Conse-quently,antisocialindividualshavegreateropportunitiestocon-nectwithsimilarothers,andtopursuetheirpersonalbrandofselfexpressionthantheydidbeforetheadventoftheInternet.Onlineidentityconstructionmaybeimportanttoexamineinre-searchontrolling,especiallyintermsofantisocialidentity(uszek&Hyland,2011;Walters,2007)anditsroleintrollingbehavior.Thetrollpersonaappearstobeamaliciouscaseofavir-tualavatar(Dunn&Guadagno,2012;McCreery,Krach,Schrader,&Boone,2012),re”ectingbothactualpersonality(Dunn&Guadag-no,2012;McCreeryetal.,2012)andonesidealself(Bessière,Seay,&Kiesler,2007).Ourresearchsuggeststhat,forthosewithsadisticpersonalities,thatidealselfmaybeavillainofchaosandmayhem…theonlineTricksterwefear,envy,andlovetohate:thecyber- References Andreassen,C.S.,Grif“ths,M.D.,&Gjertsen,S.R.(2013).Therelationshipsbetweenbehavioraladdictionsandthe“ve-factormodelofpersonality.JournalofBehavioralAddictions,2,90…99. Baughman,H.M.,Dearing,S.,Giammarco,E.,&Vernon,P.A.(2012).Relationshipsbetweenbullyingbehavioursandthedarktriad:Astudywithadults.PersonalityandIndividualDifferences,52,571…575. Bessière,K.,Seay,A.F.,&Kiesler,S.(2007).Theidealelf:IdentityexplorationinWorldofWarcraft.CyberPsychologyandBehavior,10,530…535. Boduszek,D.,&Hyland,P.(2011).Thetheoreticalmodelofcriminalsocialidentity:Psycho-socialperspective.InternationalJournalofCriminologyandSociologicalTheory,4,604…615 Buckels,E.E.,Jones,D.N.,&Paulhus,D.L.(2013).Behavioralcon“rmationof everydaysadism.PsychologicalScience,24,2201…2209. Buckels,E.E.,&Paulhus,D.L.(2013).Comprehensiveassessmentofsadistictendencies(CAST).Unpublishedmeasure,UniversityofBritishColumbia. Carr,N.(2011).Theshallows:WhattheInternetisdoingtoourbrains.NewYork,NY:W.W.Norton&Company Dunn,R.A.,&Guadagno,R.E.(2012).Myavatarandme…Genderandpersonalitypredictorsofavatar-selfdiscrepancy.ComputersinHumanBehavior,28,97…106. Fanti,K.A.,&Kimonis,E.R.(2013).Dimensionsofjuvenilepsychopathydistinguishbullies,bully-victims,andvictims.PsychologyofViolence,3,396…409. Furnham,A.,Richards,S.C.,&Paulhus,D.L.(2013).TheDarkTriadofpersonality:A10-yearreview.SocialandPersonalityCompass,7,199…216. Graham,L.T.,&Gosling,S.D.(2013).Personalitypro“lesassociatedwithdifferentmotivationsforplayingWorldofWarcraft.Cyberpsychology,Behavior,andSocialNetworking,16,189…193. Hardaker,C.(2010).Trollinginasynchronouscomputer-mediatedcommunication:Fromuserdiscussionstoacademicde“nitions.JournalofPolitenessResearch,6 Herring,S.,Job-Sluder,K.,&Scheckler,R.(2002).Searchingforsafetyonline:Managingtrollinginafeministforum.TheInformationSociety,18,371…384. Hyde,L.(1998).Trickstermakesthisworld.NewYork:FarrarStraus&Giroux Immordino-YangChristodoulou,J.A.,&Singh,V.(2012).Restisnotidleness:Implicationsofthebrainsdefaultmodeforhumandevelopmentandeducation.PerspectivesonPsychologicalScience,7,352…364. John,O.P.,&Srivastava,S.(1999).TheBig-Fivetraittaxonomy:History,measurement,andtheoreticalperspectives.InO.P.John&L.A.Pervin(Eds.),Handbookofpersonality:Theoryandresearch(pp.102…139).NewYork:Guilford Joiner,R.,Gavin,J.,&Duf“eld,J.(2005).Gender,Internetidenti“cation,andInternetanxiety:CorrelatesofInternetuse.CyberPsychology&Behavior,8,371…378. Jones,D.N.,&Paulhus,D.L.(2014).IntroducingtheShortDarkTriad(SD3):Abriefmeasureofdarkpersonalitytraits.Assessment,21,27…40. Jones,D.N.,&Paulhus,D.L.(2010).Differentprovocationstriggeraggressioninnarcissistsandpsychopaths.SocialPsychologicalandPersonalityScience,1 Jones,D.N.,&Paulhus,D.L.(2012).Differentiatingthedarktriadwithintheinterpersonalcircumplex.InL.M.Horowitz&S.N.Strack(Eds.),Handbookofinterpersonaltheoryandresearch(pp.249…267).Hoboken,NJ:Wiley&Sons Juvonen,J.,&Gross,E.F.(2008).Extendingtheschoolgrounds?Bullyingexperiencesincyberspace.JournalofSchoolHealth,78,496…505. Lenhardt,A.(2013).Teens,smartphones&texting.Washington,DC:PewResearchCentersInternet&AmericanLifeProject.Retrievedfrom Linton,D.K.,&Power,J.L.(2013).Thepersonalitytraitsofworkplacebulliesareoftensharedbytheirvictims:Isthereadarksidetovictims?PersonalityandIndividualDifferences,54,738…743. Ljepava,N.,Orr,R.R.,Locke,S.,&Ross,C.(2013).PersonalityandsocialcharacteristicsofFacebooknon-usersandfrequentusers.ComputersinHumanBehavior,29,1602…1607. McCosker,A.(2014).Trollingasprovocation:YouTubesagonisticpublics.Convergence:TheInternationalJournalofResearchintoNewMediaTechnologies(inpress).doi:1354856513501413. McCreery,M.P.,Krach,K.S.,Schrader,P.G.,&Boone,R.(2012).De“ningthevirtualself:Personality,behavior,andthepsychologyofembodiment.ComputersinHumanBehavior,28,976…983. OMeara,A.,Davies,J.,&Hammond,S.(2011).Thepsychometricpropertiesandutilityoftheshortsadisticimpulsescale(SSIS).PsychologicalAssessment,23 Paulhus,D.L.,&Jones,D.N.(2014).Measuringdarkpersonalities.InG.J.Boyle,D.H.Saklofske&G.Matthews(Eds.),Measuresofpersonalityandsocialpsychological.SanDiego,CA:AcademicPress(inpress). Paulhus,D.L.,&Williams,K.M.(2002).Thedarktriadofpersonality:Narcissism,Machiavellianism,andpsychopathy.JournalofResearchinPersonality,36 Phillips,J.G.,&Butt,S.(2006).Personalityandself-reporteduseofmobilephonesforgames.CyberPsychology&Behavior,9,753…758. Rosen,L.D.,Whaling,K.,Rab,S.,Carrier,L.M.,&Cheever,N.A.(2013).IsFacebookcreatingiDisorders?Thelinkbetweenclinicalsymptomsofpsychiatricdisordersandtechnologyuse,attitudesandanxiety.ComputersinHumanBehavior,29,1243…1254. Shachaf,P.,&Hara,N.(2010).Beyondvandalism:Wikipediatrolls.JournalofInformationScience,36,357…370. Suler,J.(2004).Theonlinedisinhibitioneffect.CyberPsychology&Behavior,7 E.E.Buckelsetal./PersonalityandIndividualDifferencesxxx(2014)xxx…xxx 5 Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Buckels,E.E.,etal.Trollsjustwanttohavefun.PersonalityandIndividualDifferenceshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016 Walters,G.D.(2007).Thelatentstructureofthecriminallifestyle:Ataxometricanalysisofthelifestylecriminalityscreeningformandpsychologicalinventoryofcriminalthinkingstyles.CriminalJusticeandBehavior,34,1623…1637. Wiggins,J.S.(1995).InterpersonalAdjectiveScales:ProfessionalManual.Odessa,FL:PsychologicalAssessmentResources. Zweig,J.M.,Dank,M.,Yahner,J.,&Lachman,P.(2013).Therateofcyberdating abuseamongteensandhowitrelatestootherformsofteendatingviolence.JournalofYouthandAdolescence,42,1063…1077. E.E.Buckelsetal./PersonalityandIndividualDifferencesxxx(2014)xxx…xxx Pleasecitethisarticleinpressas:Buckels,E.E.,etal.Trollsjustwanttohavefun.PersonalityandIndividualDifferences(2014),http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016