Interactional effects of adverse childhood experiences, psychopathy, and everyday sadism on Internet trolling

Abstract

Internet trolling is defined as maladaptive and antisocial behavior on the Internet. This exploratory study examined the interactional effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and “dark” personality traits, including psychopathy and everyday sadism, on engaging in Internet trolling. Japanese participants (N = 447, 51.2 % women) completed questionnaires assessing Internet trolling, ACEs, and dark personality traits. The results showed that ACEs, psychopathy, and everyday sadism were positive predictors of Internet trolling. Moreover, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that these dark personality traits were significantly associated with increased Internet trolling only in individuals with high ACE scores. These results suggest that ACEs moderate the effects of dark personality traits on Internet trolling. I discuss the implications of these findings for strategies to reduce antisocial Internet behavior.