Trolling is a situational social role rather than a fixed personality trait.
Evidence
Acting as a troll is not so much a personality trait as a social role one assumes in a particular context. However, it should be much easier to assess which of these roles a person should be assigned if that person is known. — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 319
Categorization
- DEFINE: Useful reframing that redefines troll behavior as role-contingent rather than characterological.
- XREF: connects to: Trolling is a personality-driven abuse of conversational decorum linked to sadism and psychopathy — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 986