The power of Schadenfreude: predicting trolling behavior and perceptions among Reddit users.

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051211021382

Commentary

This study analyzes and investigates the psychological characteristics of people who engage in trolling behavior on the Internet.

Trolling, also known as trolling, is a non-civic behavior that is becoming more prevalent in online social interactions.

By examining the psychological predictors that motivate trolling behavior and the perceptions of trolling among 438 Reddit users, the researchers attempted to understand trolling. Path analysis showed that Schadenfreude motivation mediated the relationship between personality traits (Dark Triad) and trolling, and that frankness did not directly or indirectly predict trolling.

The results indicate that Reddit users motivated by Schadenfreude and exhibiting trolling behavior view trolling as a less dysfunctional or undesirable response to online discourse. People with these characteristics consider the practice of trolling to be functional/understandable, while those who only observe trolling on Reddit do not view trolling as a functional part of online discourse.

Age, time spent on Reddit, and the Dark Triad did not predict perceptions of trolling as functional or dysfunctional, but gender did play a role.