The “online disinhibition effect” refers to the phenomenon of acting differently in online environments compared to face-to-face interactions. On the one hand, it may involve unusual acts of generosity and kindness or of sharing very personal things (e.g., secret fears, wishes, etc.) something called benign disinhibition. On the other hand, it may also involve visits to places that would never being explored in the real world (e.g., places of violence, crime, pornography, etc.) or acts of anger, harsh criticisms, rude language, hatred, or even threats (toxic disinhibition).
According to Suler (2004), at least six factors are involved in online disinhibition (whether benign or toxic) that intersect and interact with each other:
Dissociative anonymity (e.g., in online environment people can hide some or all of their identity so they may feel free to do or say whatever they want)
Invisibility (e.g., people cannot see each other, other people may not even know they are present at all, people do not have to worry about how others look or sound in response to what they say, etc.)
Asynchronicity (e.g., communication is asynchronous, people may experience this type of communication as “running away” after posting a hostile message, say mean things and not really worry about the consequences)
Solipsistic introjection (e.g., people feel the reading of posts or messages as a voice within their head)
Dissociative imagination (e.g., people may view online life as a kind of game with rules and norms that don’t apply to everyday life)
Minimization of status & authority (e.g., in online environments, everyone has an equal opportunity to voice him or herself, regardless of gender, race, wealth, or status so, people may be more willing to speak out or misbehave)
Of course, “the disinhibition effect” is not the only factor implicated in how people will behave in online environments. Individual differences and predispositions play important role. For example, personality traits or intensity of personal needs and feelings may play important role on how much an individual is susceptible to disinhibition.
Lowry et al (2016) reference various studies that state moral disengagement caused by online disinhibition results in a disregard for social morals. Indeed Liu et al (2022) refer to studies that show the link between online disinhibition and online antisocial behaviour.
Individuals who display callous and unemotional traits are also more at risk of becoming disinhibited online, leading to cyberbullying behaviour (Wright et al., 2019). Interestingly, those who experience trolling are more likely to engage in it themselves (March and Marrington, 2019, as cited in Liu et al., 2022).
There certainly is a cost benefit argument for engaging in online activity. The 'Be Kind' hashtag was widely shared by the same individuals who then continued to troll others. Perhaps there's a form of addiction / specific problematic internet use (David, 2001) to consider here?
The insight is that maybe those who have experienced trolling have contextualised it as part of 'the game' behind online interactions. As well as being a component of bullying, teasing can be a component of play. If interpreted as non-hostile in intent the teasing may be mutually enjoyable for both teaser and recipient (various studies cited by Eckert et al., 2020). This would explain why some people exposed to trolling online go on to be trolls themselves - they enjoyed being trolled, enjoy trolling and believe others will enjoy their trolling too. They may fail to perceive the trolling as being mean as they believe it a non-hostile joke.
References
Davis, R. A. (2001). A cognitive–behavioral model of pathological Internet use. Computers in Human Behavior, 17(2), 187–195.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0747-5632(00)00041-8
Eckert, J., Winkler, S. L., & Cartmill, E. A. (2020). Just kidding: the evolutionary roots of playful teasing. Biology Letters, 16(9), 20200370.
https://10.1098/rsbl.2020.0370
Liu, M., Wu, B., Li, F., Wang, X., & Geng, F. (2022). Does mindfulness reduce trolling? The relationship between trait mindfulness and online trolling: The mediating role of anger rumination and the moderating role of online disinhibition. Journal of Affective Disorders, 301, 36-43.
https://10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.023
Lowry, P. B., Zhang, J., Wang, C., & Siponen, M. (2016). Why Do Adults Engage in Cyberbullying on Social Media? An Integration of Online Disinhibition and Deindividuation Effects with the Social Structure and Social Learning Model. Information Systems Research, 27(4), 962-986.
https://10.1287/isre.2016.0671
Suler, J. (2004). The online disinhibition effect. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 7(3), 321-326.
Wright, M. F., Harper, B. D., & Wachs, S. (2019). The associations between cyberbullying and callous-unemotional traits among adolescents: The moderating effect of online disinhibition. Personality and Individual Differences, 140, 41-45.
https://10.1016/j.paid.2018.04.001