<p>According to this study, there really is a correlation:
<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellianism_narcissism_psychopathy.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellianism_narcissism_psychopathy.html</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The research, conducted by Erin Buckels of the University of Manitoba
  and two colleagues, sought to directly investigate whether people who
  engage in trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall
  in the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism (willingness to
  manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and
  self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and
  sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others).</p>
  
  <p>It is hard to overplay the results: The study found correlations,
  sometimes quite significant, between these traits and trolling
  behavior. What’s more, it also found a relationship between all Dark
  Tetrad traits (except for narcissism) and the overall time that an
  individual spent, per day, commenting on the Internet.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The research document itself can be found here:
<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886914000324" rel="nofollow">http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886914000324</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-23T17:04:03.563Z
You haven't mentioned any clear link to "real-world" vandalism here. It seems likely that these traits would relate to vandalism, and maybe establishing that would be as simple as adding another study demonstrating so, but since that was the original question, I think it's important to add something like that, or at least acknowledge any such assumption you're making.
Nick Stauner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-23T10:34:08.147Z
2014-05-23T10:34:08.147Z
Berit Larsen
<p>I did some searching but I was not able to find anything substantial on this topic either for or against. I am mainly trying to figure out whether online trolling is a way of redirecting otherwise destructive offline behavior.</p>

<p>So, is there a correlation between online vandalism (trolling) and offline vandalism (damaging/defacing public property)?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-06-22T03:31:46.143Z
@what That would be valid for the mild effortless trolls. However, there are a large number of people who post very elaborate and well thought out joke/spam posts. These individuals, I think would be the ones who would have similar urges in their day to day life as well, but I may be wrong.
asheeshr
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-06-29T14:29:40.677Z
@what So there will probably be zero correlation between the two. Why dont you write that up as an answer?
asheeshr
<social-psychology><attitudes><forensic-psychology>
Is there a correlation between online and offline vandalism?
asheeshr
# Is there a correlation between online and offline vandalism?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-06-21)

I did some searching but I was not able to find anything substantial on this topic either for or against. I am mainly trying to figure out whether online trolling is a way of redirecting otherwise destructive offline behavior.

So, is there a correlation between online vandalism (trolling) and offline vandalism (damaging/defacing public property)?

**Tags:** social-psychology, attitudes, forensic-psychology

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: @what That would be valid for the mild effortless trolls. However, there are a large number of people who post very elaborate and well thought out joke/spam posts. These individuals, I think would be the ones who would have similar urges in their day to day life as well, but I may be wrong.  
> **username_0**: @what So there will probably be zero correlation between the two. Why dont you write that up as an answer?  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-05-23. Score: 2

According to this study, there really is a correlation:
<http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellianism_narcissism_psychopathy.html>

> The research, conducted by Erin Buckels of the University of Manitoba
> and two colleagues, sought to directly investigate whether people who
> engage in trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall
> in the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism (willingness to
> manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and
> self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and
> sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others).
>
> It is hard to overplay the results: The study found correlations,
> sometimes quite significant, between these traits and trolling
> behavior. What’s more, it also found a relationship between all Dark
> Tetrad traits (except for narcissism) and the overall time that an
> individual spent, per day, commenting on the Internet.

The research document itself can be found here:
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886914000324>

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: You haven't mentioned any clear link to "real-world" vandalism here. It seems likely that these traits would relate to vandalism, and maybe establishing that would be as simple as adding another study demonstrating so, but since that was the original question, I think it's important to add something like that, or at least acknowledge any such assumption you're making.  

---

