Examining online trolling among adult social media users

The proliferation and accessibility of internet technologies have enabled more person to participate social media platforms. This situation has influenced the way in which individuals communicate and share information. Social media platforms offer many benefits to individuals, but they have also give rise to negative and destructive behaviors known as trolling. Online trolling behavior is a term that includes negative behaviors aimed at provoking, humiliating, or disturbing users. Online trolling behavior not only causes negative experiences for individuals in their use of social media but also causes them to experience various psychological problems. Therefore, understanding the nature of online trolling behavior has become important. Although studies have indiciate that online trolling behavior can be motivated by a desire for vengeance, the nature of the relationship between vengeance and trolling behavior and the factors that influence its emergence are elucive. Therefore, the current study was designed to explore the relationship between online trolling behavior and vengeance. Hence, the main objective of this study was to examine the serial mediating role of empathy and impulsivity in the relationship between vengeance and online trolling behavior among adult social media users. For this objective, a correlational design was used based on quantitative research approach. The study group consisted of 749 participants, including 549 women, 193 men, and 7 participants who did not wish to identify their gender, aged between 18 and 67. Data was collected using a Personal Information Form, The Online Trolling Scale, The Vengeance Scale, The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11, and The Toronto Empathy Questionnaire. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 27.0 software. To examine assumptions of the statistical analyses, outlier, normality, and multicollinearity analyses were performed. In the current study, Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between variables. The serial mediation model was examined using Model 6 in the PROCESS Macro. According to the results of the correlation analysis, online troll behavior was found to be associated with vengeance, impulsivity, and empathy, significantly. Results of the mediation analysis showed that empathy and impulsivity play a serial mediation role in the relationship between vengeance and online troll behavior. These findings were discussed within the context of the literature, and recommendations were made.