Computer Engineering Commons^™

Differentiating Cyberbullies And Internet Trolls By Personality Characteristics And Self-Esteem, Lauren A. Zezulka, Kathryn C. Seigfried-Spellar

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Cyberbullying and internet trolling are both forms of online aggression or cyberharassment; however, research has yet to assess the prevalence of these behaviors in relationship to one another. In addition, the current study was the first to investigate whether individual differences and self-esteem discerned between self-reported cyberbullies and/or internet trolls (i.e., Never engaged in either, Cyberbully-only, Troll-only, Both Cyberbully and Troll). Of 308 respondents solicited from Mechanical Turk, 70 engaged in cyberbullying behaviors, 20 engaged in only trolling behaviors, 129 self-reported both behaviors, and 89 self-reported neither behavior. Results yielded low self-esteem, low conscientiousness, and low internal moral values for …