Trolling is an uncivil behavior that is increasingly prevalent in online social interactions. This study sought to understand trolling by examining the psychological predictors that motivate trolling behaviors, as well as perceptions of trolling among 438 Reddit users. A path analysis indicated the motivation of schadenfreude mediates the relationship between personality traits (i.e., the dark triad) and trolling. Outspokenness neither directly nor indirectly predicted trolling. Results also showed that Reddit users motivated by schadenfreude and users who exhibit trolling behaviors view trolling as not being a dysfunctional or undesirable response to online discourse. In addition, those with schadenfreude considered the practice of trolling to be functional/comprehensible. Those who merely observe trolling on Reddit did not consider trolling to be a functional part of online discourse. Age, time spent on Reddit, and the dark triad did not predict functional or dysfunctional perceptions of trolling, but gender played a role.

拖钓是一种不文明的行为，在在线社交互动中越来越普遍。本研究试图通过检查激发拖钓行为的心理预测因素以及 438 名 Reddit 用户对拖钓的看法来了解拖钓。路径分析表明幸灾乐祸的动机调节了人格特征（即黑暗三合会）和拖钓之间的关系。直言不讳既不直接也不间接预测拖钓。结果还表明，受幸灾乐祸的 Reddit 用户和表现出拖钓行为的用户认为拖钓不是对在线话语的功能失调或不良反应。此外，那些幸灾乐祸的人认为拖钓的做法是实用的/可以理解的。那些仅仅观察 Reddit 上的 troll 的人并不认为 trolling 是在线讨论的功能部分。年龄、在 Reddit 上花费的时间和黑暗三合会并不能预测对 troll 的功能性或功能失调的看法，但性别起了作用。