Writing in Psychology Today, psychiatrist Grant Hilary Brenner describes the addictive dating app experience of swiping through thousands of photos of potential matches as a “feeding frenzy” for internet trolls.

As dating apps are still a relatively new concept, there is little scientific data available on the experience of trolling on such apps, although one notable study cited by Brenner did seek to understand why people choose to troll their potential dates. The research, conducted earlier this year, defined trolling as “communication online with intention of being provocative, offensive or menacing, in an attempt to trigger conflict and cause victims distress for the trolls own amusement”.

The study, which included 357 adults aged 18-60, found that personality traits of psychopathy, sadism and dysfunctional impulsivity were all correlated with trolling behaviour, while the men in the sample scored higher than the women on what researchers call the ‘Dark Triad’. This encompasses personality aspects such as narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy, with people in this category agreeing to statements such as “I insist on getting the respect I deserve” and “I like to use clever manipulation to get my way”.

Unsurprisingly, the research paints a heavily disturbing image of a dating app troll.

However, it is important to note one particular finding of the study: that women scored similarly to men on trolling behaviour. Whereas previous research into trolling on social media has found men are more likely to be the perpetrators of such damaging behaviour, the results of this study showed no preference for gender. This, Brenner notes, could be because of the nature of dating apps themselves. “Users may be more prone to express whatever sadistic impulses they have on an app like Tinder, which is more immediate and potentially anonymous,” he writes.

And concluding the study, the researchers added, “The dating app troll, like the online troll, is sadistic, psychopathic, and dysfunctionally impulsive. Interestingly, unlikely the general online troll, the current results show that dating app trolls are equally likely to be male or female.”

When did modern dating become so brutal?