An examination of psychosocial factors associated with malicious online trolling behaviors
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The original Trolling Behaviors Scale is a 3-item scale that measures the extent to which the participant debated with others online and had intentions to aggravate/irritate others online.
“Howard et al. [54] developed the 3-item scale that measures the extent to which the participant debated with others online and had intentions to aggravate/irritate others online.”
From Dark Personality Traits and Online Behaviors: Portuguese Versions of Cyberstalking, Online Harassment, Flaming and Trolling Scales (2023) · cites this paper as [54]
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“Research on malicious online behaviors such as cyberbullying (Caplan, 2018; Kumazaki et al., 2011), trolling (Buckels et al., 2014; Howard et al., 2019; Sest & March, 2017), and verbal violence in general (Gauducheau, 2019) can serve as a starting point.”
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“…social media can facilitate high-risk online behaviors such as sending sexually explicit messages (sexting), image-based sexual abuse, distribution of malware, trolling, and cyberstalking (Akram & Kumar, 2018; Cookingham & Ryan, 2015; Howard et al., 2019; Marcum et al., 2017; Powell et al., 2020).”
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“This demonstrates features of online trolling, defined as a ‘deliberate, deceptive and mischievous’ attempt to provoke reaction (Golf-Papez and Veer, 2017: 1339), causing substantial and negative consequences (Howard et al., 2019).”
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“…traits (Moor and Anderson 2019), social and peer norms (Chen, Ho, and Lwin 2017), moral beliefs (Johnen, Jungblut, and Ziegele 2018), empathy (Howard 2019), and negative mood states (Pieschl et al. 2013), to name but a few (for a review, see Chen, Ho, and Lwin 2017; Guo 2016; Kowalski et al.…”
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“…and Gold (2022) argue trolls fit within a broader taxonomy of political actors working on behalf of partisan organizations online; yet, most research on trolls describes ‘trolling behaviors’ primarily as online subversive activities (Braddock et al., 2022; Howard et al., 2019; Sest & March, 2017).”
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“A set of control variables were introduced in the regression analysis as they might confound our findings (see Doane, Kelley, Chiang, & Padilla, 2013, Lange & Crusius, 2015; Howard, Zolnierek, Critz, Dailey, & Ceballos, 2019).”
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- Authors
- Howard, K., Zolnierek, K. H., Critz, K., Dailey, S., & Ceballos, N.
- Affiliations
- Texas State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Howard, Krista
- Venue
- Personality and Individual Differences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-10
- Volume
- 149
- Pages
- 309-314
- ISSN
- 0191-8869 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2951493499
- Cited by
- 44
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 5.34
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Individual Differences (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Personality Traits and Psychology
- Keywords
- trolling, psychosocial predictors, social media use, university students, gender differences, downward social comparison, online harassment prevention
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