Ｗe can’t seem to escape them, but who are these people, and what do they look like when we evaluate them scientifically?

我們似乎都無法逃離他們，但是這些人是誰呢？而如果我們站在科學的角度評估他們，他們看起來長什麼樣子呢？

While many people do enjoy chatting and debating issues online, approximately 5.6% of individuals self-identify as trolls, or say they enjoy trolling online.

當許多人享受在網路上交流和辯論時事，大約有 5.6% 的人認為自己是網路酸民，或說他們很喜歡在網路上酸別人。

So, scientists decided to study a group of 1200 internet users to understand these trolls in particular, and found a myriad of something called ‘dark traits’.

所以，科學家決定研究一群 1200 位的網民以了解酸民的特徵，然後發現了很多所謂的「黑暗人格」。

Specifically, online trolls were found to display high levels of psychopathy, narcissism, and most specifically, sadism; that is, people who enjoy the pain of others.

具體來說就是，網路酸民展現了高度精神病、自戀狂的特徵，而且尤其是「享受虐待」的人格特質，也就是說，他們享受別人的痛苦。

Now, most people tend to avoid inflicting pain on others, and if we do, we experience guilt or remorse. But for sadists, cruelty can be exciting and pleasurable.

大部分的人都傾向避免對他人施加痛苦，而如果我們不小心造成別人的痛苦，我們會覺得內疚或懊悔，但是對這些擁有虐待型人格特質的人來說，殘酷的行為是刺激且愉悅的。

These people aren’t necessarily serial killers or bad people, but they get an emotional reward when causing or observing the suffering of others.

這些人不一定要是連續殺人狂或是壞人，但是當他們造成或是看到別人痛苦的時候，他們會得到情緒上的回饋。

In fact, there’s even a category called ‘everyday sadism’ that highlights how sadistic traits are present in many people, not just sexual deviants or criminals.

事實上，甚至還有一種分類叫做「日常病態」，就是強調許多人其實都有享受虐待的特徵，不只局限於性變態或是罪犯。

For example, many of us enjoy a good fight during a sports game or the thrill of a violent movie, right?

舉例來說，我們大多數人都喜歡運動比賽裡面的精彩競爭，或是暴力電影的恐怖情節，對吧？

If you were given the choice of the following four jobs, which would you choose? a) killing bugs, b) helping an experimenter kill bugs, c) cleaning dirty toilets, or d) enduring pain from ice water?

如果你可以選擇下列的四種工作機會之一，你會選那一個？a) 殺蟲、 b) 幫助實驗人員殺蟲、 c) 清理骯髒馬桶， d) 忍受待在冰水裡的痛苦。

Studies show that those who choose to kill bugs have higher scores on a scale measuring sadistic impulses.

研究顯示，選擇殺蟲工作的人在衡量虐待傾向衝動的表上，得到比較高的分數。

But internet trolls show very high levels of sadism and have fun distressing others by being argumentative and disruptive.

但網路酸民展現出非常高度的虐待傾向，而且他們在批評或是挑撥他人、造成別人痛苦時，自己也覺得很有趣。

Studies have also documented a link between these individuals and anti-social behavior.

研究也同時證明了這一些人和反社會行為之間的連結。

So, are these individuals different in real life?

那麼，這些人在現實生活中有不一樣嗎？

Not likely—the studies suggest that these traits carry over into their regular day-to-day and reflect one’s actual personality.

並沒有——研究顯示這些特性也會被帶到他們的日常生活中，並且反映了他們的真實人格。

But since the internet offers anonymity, antisocial individuals can connect with similar others while distancing themselves from their acts in terms of personal responsibility.

但是因為網路有匿名的功能，反社會的人可以跟其他同類型的人同連結，同時不認為自己應該對自己的行為負責。

The unfortunate part is that trolls not only comment more but receive more replies than the average user, suggesting they are quite successful at luring others in.

不幸的是，網路酸民不只留言比較多，還比一般用戶得到更多的回覆，顯示他們在誘使別人跟他們對話這方面還滿成功的。

On top of this, negative feedback only stimulates a harsher response from trolls, and their behavior becomes worse over time with more feedback.

除此之外，負面的回應只會刺激酸民說出更尖銳的回覆，而他們的行為也會隨著越多的回覆變得越來越糟糕。

So, the next time you’re being trolled, just remember, they want to disrupt you, and they feed off of your unhappiness.

下次如果你被酸民酸，只要記住，他們想要造成分裂，而且他們就是以你的不快樂為生。

Ignore them, and you’re likely to diminish their effort.

不要理會他們，或許你就可以弱化他們的力量。

Need more science? Here’s a playlist of our latest videos that you can binge-watch.

想要知道更多科學知識？這裡有我們最新影片的播放清單，可以讓你一次看個夠。

And if you never wanna miss our videos, simply go to our channel on your device’s YouTube app, and hit the little bell which turns on notifications for our videos.

如果你不想要錯過任何我們的影片，只要用你手機上的 YouTube 到我們的頻道，然後按下那小鈴鐺，就會開啟影片通知功能。

YouTube will send you a message each time we release a video, and subscribe for more weekly science videos!

YouTube 會在每一次我們上傳新影片的時候通知，你也別忘了要訂閱看到更多每週科學影片！