Beel, Daniel (2024) Somewhere Beyond the Screen: Unmasking Predictors of Trolling in Australian Adults. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
As the internet becomes increasingly globalised, understanding trolling behaviours online is becoming critical. While previous trolling research has examined the predictive value of the Dark Tetrad personality traits and online disinhibition on trolling behaviours, few studies have explored boredom and internet perceptions as predictors. The aim of this study was to explore psychopathy, sadism, boredom, online disinhibition, and internet perceptions as predictors of trolling in a sample of Australian adults. Data was collected using an online survey that included the Global Assessment of Internet Trolling-Revised (GAIT-R), the Short Dark Triad, the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale (SSIS), a Short Boredom Proneness Scale, the Measure of Online Disinhibition, and Internet Perceptions Scale. The sample consisted of 118 Australian adults aged 18 and over. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses. Psychopathy, sadism, boredom, online disinhibition, and internet perceptions were found to positively correlate with trolling. For the hierarchical regression, while the overall model was significant, boredom and internet perceptions did not emerge as significant unique predictors of trolling. This study further contributes to our understanding of predictors of trolling by using previously unexplored variables.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current – Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Wellbeing (1 Jan 2022 -) |
| Supervisors: | Associate Professor Marrington, Jessica |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Jan 2026 00:49 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Jan 2026 00:49 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | trolling, boredom, internet perceptions, online disinhibition, Australian adults |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1701 Psychology > 170106 Health, Clinical and Counselling Psychology |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520302 Clinical psychology 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520304 Health psychology 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520303 Counselling psychology |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53076 |
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