Personality and internet trolling: a validation study of a Representative Sample

Abstract

To date, characteristics of the internet “troll” have largely been explored in general community samples, which may lack representation of the sample of interest. In this brief report, we aimed to evidence the role of gender and the personality traits of sadism, psychopathy, extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness in a sample of individuals who self-report having perpetrating trolling behaviours. Participants (N = 163; 50.3% women; Mage = 27.35, SD = 8.78) were recruited via social media advertisements and completed an anonymous online questionnaire. The variables explained 55.5% of variance in trolling. We found self-reported trolls were more likely to be men and have higher psychopathy, higher sadism, and lower agreeableness. Findings of this representative sample have implications for understanding, managing, and preventing this antisocial online behaviour.