Internet Trolling and Everyday Sadism: Parallel Effects on Pain Perception and Moral Judgment

Objective: To clarify the association between online trolling and sadistic personality; and provide evidence that the reward and rationalization processes at work in sadism are likewise manifest in online trolling. Method: Online respondents (total N = 1,715) completed self-report measures of personality and trolling behavior. They subsequently engaged in one of two judgment tasks. In Study 1, respondents viewed stimuli depicting scenes of emotional/physical suffering, and provided ratings of (a) perceived pain intensity and (b) pleasure experienced while viewing the photos. In Study 2, the iTroll questionnaire was developed and validated. It was then administered alongside a moral judgment task. Results: Across both studies, online trolling was strongly associated with a sadistic personality profile. Moreover, sadism and trolling predicted identical patterns of pleasure and harm minimization. The incremental contribution of sadism was sustained even when controlling for broader antisocial tendencies (i.e., the Dark Triad, callous-emotionality, and trait aggression). Conclusion: Results confirm that online trolling is motivated (at least in part) by sadistic tendencies. Coupled with effective rationalization mechanisms, sadistic pleasure can be consummated in such everyday behaviors as online trolling.

研究目标：旨在阐明网络恶搞与虐待狂人格之间的关联，并提供证据表明，在虐待狂心理中起作用的奖励和合理化过程同样也体现在网络恶搞行为中。研究方法：在线受访者（总计N = 1,715）完成了关于人格和网络恶搞行为的自我报告测量。随后，他们参与了两种判断任务之一。在第一项研究中，受访者观察描绘情感/身体痛苦场景的刺激物，并对（a）感知到的痛苦强度和（b）在观看照片时体验到的愉悦度进行评分。在第二项研究中，开发了并验证了iTroll问卷，随后在道德判断任务中进行了施测。研究结果：在两项研究中，网络恶搞与虐待狂人格特征均显示出强烈的关联。此外，虐待狂和网络恶搞预测了相同的愉悦感和伤害最小化模式。即使在控制了更广泛的反社会倾向（即黑暗三联征、冷漠情感和性格攻击）的情况下，虐待狂的增量贡献依然得到维持。研究结论：结果证实，网络恶搞（至少部分）是由虐待狂倾向所驱动的。结合有效的合理化机制，虐待狂的愉悦感可以在网络恶搞等日常行为中得到实现。