Crossref JGate SDG Google Scholar Open Access Creative Commons WorldCat OCLC DORA Scilit Semantic Scholar SDG
Psychological Underpinnings of Online Trolling: The Interplay of Ambivalent Sexism and Dark Triad Personality Traits
ARTICLE PDF FILE

Keywords

Online trolling
Ambivalent sexism
Dark triad
Significant
Psychopathy

Categories

How to Cite

Kohli, N., & Kesari, V. (2026). Psychological Underpinnings of Online Trolling: The Interplay of Ambivalent Sexism and Dark Triad Personality Traits. South India Journal of Social Sciences, 24(1), 116-120. https://doi.org/10.62656/

Abstract

Online trolling is an act, which may include deception, aggression and abuse against individuals online. It results in emotional distress to the victim and can lead to extreme consequences like withdrawing or quitting social media, mental health difficulties and others. This study was conducted to understand the relationship between online trolling, ambivalent sexism towards women and dark triad personality traits (machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism). Cross-Sectional Design was followed and purposive sampling was done. A total of 42 individuals from the 18 to 25 years age group were taken in the sample with 22 female participants and 20 male participants. Ambivalent Sexism Inventory-Short Form (ASI-SF), Dark Triad Dirty Dozen (DTDD) scale and a 7-items scale developed by authors for online trolling, were employed for collecting the data. Statistical analysis involved descriptive statistics, Pearson’s Correlation, Independent Samples t Test and Simple Linear Regression using the Jamovi software. Correlational analysis revealed significant relationships between online trolling and ambivalent sexism, machiavellianism and psychopathy. There were significant gender differences on online trolling and ambivalent sexism, with males scoring higher than females. Lastly, it was found that dark triad personality traits and ambivalent sexism significantly predicted online trolling. Future implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

ARTICLE PDF FILE

References

1. Buckels, E.E., Trapnell, P.D. and Paulhus, D.L. (2014) 'Trolls just want to have fun,' Personality and Individual Differences, 67, pp. 97–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016.

2. Craker, N. and March, E. (2016) 'The dark side of Facebook®: The Dark Tetrad, negative social potency, and trolling behaviours,' Personality and Individual Differences, 102, pp. 79–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.043.

3. Glick, P. et al. (2000) 'Beyond prejudice as simple antipathy: Hostile and benevolent sexism across cultures.,' Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(5), pp. 763–775. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.79.5.763.

4. Glick, P. and Fiske, S.T. (1996) 'The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism.,' Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), pp. 491–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.491.

5. Hamarta, E., Akat, M. and Akbulut, Ö.F. (2023) 'Dark triad personality and online trolling: the mediating role of empathy,' European Journal of Psychology and Educational Research, volume–6–2023(volume–6–issue–1–march–2023), pp. 45–53. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejper.6.1.45.

6. Jonason, P.K. and Webster, G.D. (2010) 'The dirty dozen: A concise measure of the dark triad.,' Psychological Assessment, 22(2), pp. 420–432. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019265.

7. Lee, G. and Soonah, A. (2023) 'Anonymity and gender effects on online trolling and cybervictimization,' Journal of Cybersecurity Education Research and Practice, 2023(1). https://doi.org/10.32727/8.2023.14.

8. Leite, Â., Cardoso, S. and Monteiro, A.P. (2023) 'Dark personality traits and online behaviors: Portuguese versions of cyberstalking, online harassment, flaming and trolling scales,' International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(12), p. 6136. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20126136.

9. Lopes, B. and Yu, H. (2017) 'Who do you troll and Why: An investigation into the relationship between the Dark Triad Personalities and online trolling behaviours towards popular and less popular Facebook profiles,' Computers in Human Behavior, 77, pp. 69–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.08.036.

10. Lumsden and Morgan (2017) 'Cyber-trolling as symbolic violence: Deconstructing gendered abuse online,' in The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Violence. Routledge.

11. Makim, F. and Shetty, V. (2018) 'The relationship between age, gender and the dark triad of personality,' Indian Journal of Mental Health(IJMH), 5(1), p. 24. https://doi.org/10.30877/ijmh.5.1.2018.24-27.

12. Mikołajczak, M. and Pietrzak, J. (2014) 'Ambivalent sexism and religion: connected through values,' Sex Roles, 70(9–10), pp. 387–399. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-014-0379-3.

13. Mikołajczak, M., & Pietrzak, J. (2013) ‘The structure of ambivalence toward women in Poland,’ Unpublished raw data.

14. Moor, L. and Anderson, J.R. (2019) 'A systematic literature review of the relationship between dark personality traits and antisocial online behaviours,' Personality and Individual Differences, 144, pp. 40–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.027.

15. Norman, J.O. (2020) 'Tackling Bullying from the Inside Out: Shifting Paradigms in Bullying Research and Interventions,' International Journal of Bullying Prevention, 2(3), pp. 161–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-020-00076-1.

16. Rollero, C., Peter, G. and Tartaglia, S. (2014) 'Psychometric properties of short versions of the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory and Ambivalence Toward Men Inventory.,' TPM. Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 21(2), pp. 149–159. https://doi.org/10.4473/tpm21.2.3.

17. Sánchez-Hernández, M.D., Herrera, M.C. and Expósito, F. (2024) 'Is Online Disinhibition Related to Cyberdating Abuse Perpetration through Moral Disengagement? The Moderating Role of Gender, Sexism, and Cybervictimization,' Sex Roles, 90(7), pp. 938–959. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-024-01480-3.

18. Volkmer, S.A. et al. (2023) 'Troll story: The dark tetrad and online trolling revisited with a glance at humor,' PLoS ONE, 18(3), p. e0280271. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280271.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2026 South India Journal of Social Sciences

Disclaimer: This site displays third-party advertisements provided through Google AdSense. We do not control the content of these ads and do not endorse any products or services advertised. Ad revenue helps minimize APCs and supports the ongoing maintenance, development, and open accessibility of this academic journal.