Online trolls are sick,
sadistic people. No really.
A new personality study shows
that internet trolls have psychopathic, Machiavellian, and sadistic
traits. All traits which are found in what psychologists call the Dark Tetrad.
For the purpose of
clarity, Wikipedia defines a troll as:
“a person who sows discord on the Internet by
starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or
off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or
blog), either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers
into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic
discussion.”
Here’s how the study was carried out.
Three researchers, Erin
Buckels (University of Manitoba), Paul D. Trapnell (University of
Winnipeg) and Delroy L. Paulhus (University of British Columbia), carried out a
study in order to assess the personality traits of online trolls.
These were the
three most common personality traits found in people who
say they troll the internet often.
The study began by
first identifying the trolls. This was done by asking study
participants to answer questions about their online habits, such as ‘What
do you enjoy doing most?’.
Participants of the
study were given options like ’debating issues that are
important to you,’ ‘chatting with others,’ ‘making new friends,’ and ‘trolling
others.’
The researchers found
that 41 percent of internet users were “non commenters.”
Only 5.6 percent of
those who said they do comment online could be classified as trolls.
Sadism was the most common trait among trolls.
The
researchers also asked questions to help them identify Dark
Tetrad traits. They were able to pin point these
traits by asking participants to respond to statements
such as:
- ‘I have sent people to shock websites for the lulz.’
- ‘I like to troll people in forums or the comments section of websites.’
- ‘I enjoy griefing other players in multiplayer games.’
- ‘The more beautiful and pure a thing is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt.’
The study showed that
those who said they spend a lot of time commenting online, also said that
trolling others was what they most enjoyed doing on the internet. As it
turns out, the Dark Tetrad traits were also very common within
the same group.
While psychopathic and
Machiavellian traits were common in the group,
the study found that sadism was the most common
trait of online trolls. The authors of the study theorize
that the internet may create an outlet for sadistic people, who don’t
often get the chance to act out their desire to harm others, in every
day social settings.
Here’s a graph showing
the results of the study:
Do not feed the trolls.
Understanding the
psychology of trolls can be helpful when it comes to dealing with them
online. For example, people with Machiavellian traits just want to
manipulate the conversation, as well as the people who are involved in it.
This type of person isn’t going to take part in an honest discussion of the
issues, no matter what you do.
It is also pointless to
try to reason with a psychopath, or to expect such a person to have empathy for
others. Someone with these traits doesn’t have the ability to feel
emotions like empathy, sympathy or concern for others.
A sadist gets pleasure
out of knowing that he or she has upset someone. The more you argue or
fight with a sadistic person, the more he or she gets out of the
exchange.
… And some trolls are paid by Fox News.
Not all trolls will fall
into these groups, of course. Some trolls are paid to harrass people online,
like the commenters hired by Fox News and other right wing media
outlets. On the other hand, it’s easy to think that even paid trolls share
these traits.
If they didn’t, it seems unlikely they’d take a low paying
job that consists of doing nothing but harassing others all day. Since
it’s hard to tell one type of troll from the next, the best solution
is just not to engage them all.
More on trolls from AI.