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Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews. It's admittedly my favorite scientific field of

大家好，我是DNews的Laci Green。我必須承認這是我最愛的科學領域：

all: internet trollology. I grew up on AND work on the internet in many capacities, so

網路酸民現象。不管是我的成長背景還是工作都和網路息息相關，

trolls have always been a point of fascination for me. Who are these a-holes who seem to

所以我一直對酸民現象很感興趣。到底是哪群X蛋

take pleasure in saying and doing hurtful things to others on the web -- these "trolls"

能把自己的快樂建築在網路謾罵與傷害他人上。這些「酸民」

who derail interesting discussion in favor of an epic (but meaningless) flame war?

會把整條討論串弄得歪樓，藉此引戰，但為毫無意義的筆戰

A new study published in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences finds there's more....or

「個人特質與個體差異」的期刊中，一篇新研究指出酸民的行為

maybe just as much...to trolls as meets the eye. They found that the people who engage

不是表面上看起來那麼簡單。他們發現有這種

in this behavior online have some striking personality traits in common. Particularly,

網路行為的人，通常也會有些驚人的特質。特別有

traits that are found in the "Dark Tetrad": Machiavellian tendencies, psychopathy, sadism,

「暗黑四人格」的特質。其中包括馬基維利傾向（狡猾且愛騙人的傾向）、精神病態、虐待、

and narcissism. Those who fall in the Dark Tetrad may appear charming at first, but they

自戀。有暗黑四人格的人一開始可能會顯得很好親近，

are ultimately self concerned, callous, and lack empathy for others. The cherry on the

但終究會顯露出自私、無情、缺乏同理心的特質。火上加油

sundae is the sadism -- sadistic personality types truly enjoy seeing others in distress.

就是種虐待傾向，有虐待特質的人很享受看著別人焦慮不安

The Dark Tetrad is the perfect villain.

暗黑四人格就是典型的反派

Compared to the general population, study participants who reported that they enjoy

研究指出與大眾相比，聲稱喜歡引戰的受試者

trolling have much higher rates of these Dark Tetrad traits - most notably is their unusually

擁有暗黑四人格的比例也較高。最顯著的是

high rates of sadism. The study was conducted by evaluating the personality traits of participants

虐待特質，而且高得不尋常。這項研究是針對受試者的個人特質

against what they use the internet for. Those who engage in purposefully inflammatory behavior

和他們使用網路的目的。不過特愛引戰的那群人

make up a very small percentage of internet users on the whole, though -- only 5%. Compare

只佔了整個網路族群的一小部分 – 5%。

that to the 41% of users who don't comment at all, period.

而有41%的人不會在網路上留言，結束。

So what does this mean? Well, first off: the sadistic group is the smallest, but the loudest.

所以這代表什麼？首先，有虐待特質的那群人是最小的，卻也是最大聲的

The researchers believe that the anonymity and social acceptance of "trolling" creates

研究者認為在網路上，匿名性和對「酸民」的接受度造就了

a safe space for real life sadists to indulge themselves. Offline, there are more consequences.

這個環境，一個能讓現實中的虐待狂縱慾的安全環境。網路世界外會有更多的後果

It also means that there's more to a troll than simple mischief. Internet trolling could

這也表示酸民不只是調皮而已。網路引戰的舉動可以

be an indicator of disturbing behavior offline. And...it also calls to question the effectiveness

引申為這人在現實中的無禮行為。這也顯示出一個問題：

of "not feeding the trolls". Sadists find their behavior intrinsically motivating, so

「如果不去理會酸民呢？」虐待狂的行為像是內建驅動程式，

even if they never get a response -- simply acting on the nasty impulse is pleasurable

就算他們得不到回應，單單做出這種噁心舉動還是會

in and of itself.

讓他們感到快樂

What I've noticed in the past 5, 10 years is that there is a change slowly coming over

我有注意到近五到十年，網路漸漸

the internet. As the web becomes more intertwined with our REAL lives and identities -- and

改變了。網路世界與我們的生活、真實身分日漸相連，

less of the anarchistic playground it used to be in the olden golden days, it will be

而非昔日的網路，像是三不管地帶，

harder for people to indulge in everyday sadism on the web. YouTube itself has contributed

現在大家更難在網路上肆無忌憚的發言。YouTube本身也

to the movement toward internet civility by forcing many users to have their comments

朝網路禮儀邁進，它強迫使用者在留言時

connected with their name. You know, with that G+ revamp we were all so fond of...

連帶顯示姓名，也就是修改後的google plus 系統，人人都愛

So guys, what do you make of internet trolls? Share your thoughts down below, and we'll

所以你們認為酸民是怎樣呢？在下面分享你的想法，而我們

catch you next time on DNews for some more science updates.

下次DNews見，也會給你更多的科學新知