A new study is claiming that online trolls are more than just simply mean, they’re psychopaths and sadists as well.

The paper, Trolls just want to have fun, was a result of the combined efforts from three different Canadian universities. It was published in the Personality and Individual Differences journal, and surveyed several hundred people.

They found that there was a higher correlation of psychopathy, sadism, and general lack of regard when dealing with the manipulation or deception of others in those who troll online. The paper says that “… it might be said that online trolls are prototypical everyday sadists.”

Over the years the reputation of the online troll has grown and it really isn’t that much of a surprise to find out that they share very similar traits to someone who is a sadist. The anonymous nature, for the most part, of the internet can definitely bring out the darker side in a lot of people.

[via Washington Post, image via eirikso’s flickr]