Summary

The article explores the psychological motivations behind cyber trolling, linking it to personality disorders such as sadism, narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, collectively known as the "dark tetrad."

Abstract

The article "Why Do Trolls Troll: The Psychology Of The Cyber Troll" delves into the malicious behavior of internet trolls, defining trolling as the deliberate provocation of others online to elicit a negative emotional response. It highlights that trolls derive pleasure from inflicting psychological pain, often driven by an inflated sense of self-importance and a belief in their intellectual and moral superiority. The piece references scientific literature and expert opinions from sources like Psychology Today and Mayo Clinic to explain the psychological profiles of trolls, including traits associated with sadistic personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and psychopathy. The article also introduces the concept of the "dark tetrad," a set of personality traits that trolls commonly exhibit, and suggests that ignoring trolls may be an effective way to mitigate their behavior since they thrive on the attention and distress they cause.

Opinions

Cyber trolls are motivated by a desire to hurt others and a sense of superiority, enjoying the distress they cause.
Sadism is a key factor in trolling behavior, with trolls experiencing pleasure from being cruel and demeaning.
Trolls often have an "idealistic" belief they feel compelled to protect, attacking those who challenge their views without remorse or conscience.
Internet trolls are associated with the "dark tetrad" of personality traits: sadism, psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism.
Trolls lack empathy and may manipulate and deceive others to achieve their goals, often appearing charming and normal on the surface.
The article suggests that the worst response to a cyber troll is to give them attention, as they feed off the gratification it provides.
The author posits that cyber trolls have a mental disorder, emphasizing the importance of the "dark tetrad" in understanding their behavior.

Why Do Trolls Troll

The Psychology Of The Cyber Troll

No doubt you’ve encountered them online. Mostly hanging out in forums and groups dedicated to specific subjects. You’ll find them online in religious groups, political groups, and other specialized groups. They will be an anti-whatever group they are trolling. It’s the cyber troll.

First, let’s define trolling. “In scientific literature, internet trolling is defined as malicious online behavior, characterized by the aggressive and deliberate provocation of others. “Trolls” seek to provoke, upset and harm others via inflammatory messages and posts.” Quote from TheConversation.com

The desire to hurt others and the sense of superiority they feel towards the target motivate cyber trolls. Sadism is one of the key factors involved in trolling. The person experiences pleasure from being cruel and demeaning others.

What is a sadist? Someone with Sadistic Personality Disorder.

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels (edited by author)

PsychologyToday.com defines sadistic personality disorder as “Unusually harsh treatment/discipline towards someone under their control. Amusement from witnessing the psychological/physical pain of others, including animals. Has lied to harm/inflict pain on others. Operates through intimidation or terror to get others to comply.”

Cyber trolls usually have an inflated ego, believing they have every right to attack the beliefs of others. This is because they honestly think they are better than everyone else and smarter than everyone else. They deem themselves right, and anyone who disagrees with them is wrong.

Usually, the troll has some “idealistic” belief they feel they are protecting. Some of these ideologies can be racism, religion, gender, politics, health, etc. The list continues on and on.

When they find a person or group with a viewpoint that challenges what they believe, they attack. They have no remorse, no conscience, and feel justified in what they do.

They thoroughly enjoy what they do since they believe they are superior and love to see others upset by something they said.

Psychology Today describes internet trolls as “Narcissists, Psychopaths, and Sadists”.

According to Mayoclinic.org “Narcissistic personality disorder — one of several types of personality disorders — is a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration, troubled relationships, and a lack of empathy for others.”

These are people who always have to be the center of attention. They have no problem hurting others to get what they want and will go to any lengths to achieve it.

Experts define psychopathy as “a condition characterized by the absence of empathy and the blunting of other affective states. Callousness, detachment, and a lack of empathy enable psychopaths to be highly manipulative.” Quote from Psychology today.

Psychopaths can act like normal people, which makes them difficult to spot. Though they appear to be normal and charming, their true nature is one of total depravity. They have no conscience.

Experts have found internet trolls have what is called the dark tetrad. Science Direct says “the Dark Tetrad of personality: trolling correlated positively with sadism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism, using both enjoyment ratings and identity scores. Of all personality measures, sadism showed the most robust associations with trolling and, importantly, the relationship was specific to trolling behavior.”

Harleytherapy.co.uk says: “Machiavellianism in psychology refers to a personality trait that sees a person so focused on their own interests they will manipulate, deceive, and exploit others to achieve their goals.”

Some cyber trolls are proud to be a troll. They feel as if they have made some grand achievement similar to winning the first-place prize in a highly publicized contest.

In conclusion:

Cyber trolls have a mental disorder called the dark tetrad.

I think the worst thing you can do to a cyber troll is not pay attention to them. Having dark tetrad disorder, they feed off attention and the pain of others. If they aren’t getting the gratification they are seeking, they will most likely move on to their next mark.

References:

The conversation.com — https://tinyurl.com/ycxkuk4c

Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/writing-integrity/202008/why-do-people-troll-online

https://tinyurl.com/26h9rd86

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/psychopathy

Science Direct: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886914000324

Psychologytoday.com: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-online-secrets/201409/internet-trolls-are-narcissists-psychopaths-and-sadists

MayoClinic.org: https://tinyurl.com/bdy8wdkc

HatleyTherapy.co.uk https://www.harleytherapy.co.uk/counselling/machiavellianism-psychology.htm

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