Peer-group pressure as a moderator of the relationship between attitude toward cyberbullying and cyberbullying behaviors on mobile instant messengers

Approach versus Avoidance: A Self-Regulatory Perspective on Hypocrisy Induction in Anti-Cyberbullying CSR Campaigns

Governments, institutions, and brands try various intervention strategies for countering growing cyberbullying, but with questionable effectiveness. The authors use hypocrisy induction, a technique for subtly reminding consumers that they have acted contrary to their moral values, to see whether it makes consumers more willing to support brand-sponsored anti-cyberbullying CSR campaigns. Findings demonstrate that hypocrisy induction evokes varying reactions depending on regulatory focus, mediated by guilt and shame. Specifically, consumers who have a dominant promotion (prevention) focus feel guilt (shame), which motivates them to overcome their discomfort by supporting (avoiding) an anti-cyberbullying campaign. Moral regulation is drawn as a theoretical underpinning to explain various consumer reactions to hypocrisy induction, the moderating role of regulatory focus, and mediating role of guilt and shame. The research contributes to the literature and provides practical implications by explaining when and why brands can use hypocrisy induction to persuade consumers to support social causes through the lens of moral regulation theory.

The impact of strain, constraints, and morality on different cyberbullying roles: A partial test of Agnew's general strain theory

The strain has been well studied in traditional bullying, and recent research has begun to explore it in cyberbullying behavior. Drawing from General Strain Theory, the current study empirically examined the relationship between strain and the cyberbullying behavior of perpetrators and bully-victims, respectively. Meanwhile, this study also considered the influences of the protective variables (e.g., constraints and morality) on the strain, which may potentially reduce the risks of participating in cyberbullying. The sample comprised 928 Chinese internet users (Male = 490, Female = 438) aged between 16 to 50. We identified the prevalence of cyberbullying in China, in which the percentages of cyberbullying perpetrators, cyberbullying victims, and cyber bully-victims were 23.40, 23.20, and 37.40%, respectively. This study mentioned a noteworthy phenomenon: cyberbullying victims quickly became cyberbullying perpetrators when they were cyberbullied. Secondly, according to the binary logistic regression, we hold that the strain was significantly related to cyberbullying behaviors, as individuals with low levels of self-control showed a higher tendency to participate in cyberbullying. As for protective factors, the results showed that constraints and morality can reduce the negative consequences of strain and then against cyberbullying, exploring the possibilities of using constraints and morality as variables to decrease strain and prevent cyberbullying. Thus, the unique values of this study are using the GST theory to investigate the empirical link between strain and cyberbullying between different roles in a new cultural and social background, demonstrating that negative emotion and low self-control had influences on strain and cyberbullying behaviors. Meanwhile, this study also contributes by discussing the implications for future research and practicing efforts targeting how to decrease the risks of cyberbullying engagement, for example, we suggest that the prevention and intervention of cyberbullying should adopt a cross-sectoral response to help individuals to view cyberbullying, vent dissatisfaction and relieve strain in the right way.

Why the Victims of Bullying Are More Likely to Avoid Involvement When Witnessing Bullying Situations: The Role of Bullying Sensitivity and Moral Disengagement

Recent studies have suggested a link between bullying victimization and passive bystander behaviors, such as more outsider behaviors and fewer defender behaviors. However, little is known about the internal mechanism underpinning this relation. The present study aimed to examine the direct and indirect relationships between bullying victimization and two types of bystander behaviors (defender behavior and outsider behavior), considering the possible mediator role of bullying sensitivity and moral disengagement among Chinese adolescents. Participants were 435 primary school students aged from 11 to 13 years (M = 12.27, SD = 0.69) who completed measurements of bullying victimization, bullying sensitivity, moral disengagement, and bystander behaviors. The results of the total effect model indicated that bullying victimization was positively related to outsider behavior and negatively related to defender behavior. The results from the structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis showed that bullying sensitivity mediated the relationship between bullying victimization and defender behavior. The relationship between bullying victimization and outsider behavior was mediated by moral disengagement, as well as the multiple mediation of bullying sensitivity and moral disengagement. These results highlight the roles of bullying sensitivity and moral disengagement in explaining the relation between bullying victimization and bystander behavior among adolescent students. The findings provide important implications for developing intervention programs aiming at school bullying prevention.

Theoretically Predicting Cyberbullying Perpetration in Youth With the BGCM: Unique Challenges and Promising Research Opportunities

The psychological variables and processes germane to cyberbullying need additional empirical attention-especially for adolescent samples. Myriad studies and meta-analytic reviews have confirmed the deleterious psychological and behavioral consequences of being cyber-victimized. We argue that one method to curtail such effects is to inform interventions aimed at reducing cyberbullying perpetration regarding the why and for whom cyberbullying is likely. This review expands on these issues and emphasizes the Barlett Gentile Cyberbullying Model (BGCM) as the only validated cyberbullying-specific theory to predict cyberbullying perpetration. Our principal thesis is that the wealth of research validating the BGCM has been with adult samples and applying the BGCM to adolescents presents both challenging and exciting research opportunities for future research and intervention development in youth.

Socioeconomic Effects in Cyberbullying: Global Research Trends in the Educational Context

Nowadays, cyberbullying has become a problem of social harassment in numerous educational centres worldwide. New communication technologies have provided the perfect support for the development of this type of harassment in peer relationships, in addition to being linked to broad social and economic circumstances. In this study, the global trends of the socioeconomic implications of cyberbullying in the educational context have been analysed, from 2004 to 2019. Thus, a bibliometric analysis has been applied to 1128 articles, obtaining results of the evolution of scientific activity in this period. The articles are mainly associated with the thematic areas of Social Sciences, Psychology, Medicine and Computer Science. Seven main thematic axes have been detected, highlighting those related to the psychological aspect, adolescence, and the school environment. Likewise, the link of the main authors, institutions, and countries to these lines of research has been detected. The evidence has shown the interest and relevance of this topic at the international level. Future research lines propose different analyses about how certain socioeconomic factors influence this psychological harassment inside and outside the classroom.

The effects of the justice system on mental health

Anyone involved in legal proceedings will warn you that a long-drawn-out legal battle will drain your mental health. This study aimed to assess the psychological effects of being processed by the justice system. The sample consisted of 360 subjects, residents in Spain. Were administered a questionnaire on the experience of contact with the justice system, a temporal perspective inventory, locus of control, psychological reactance, coping strategies, health self-efficacy, and psychosomatic symptomology. Results revealed significant differences between plaintiffs and defendants, although it was also confirmed that both parties showed greater pessimism about the future. So, the former were more pessimistic about the future, used poor strategies for protecting their health, and had less empathy. In contrast, coincidentally in some variables, defendants had a more negative outlook on life, and in general more psychosomatic symptomology. The health of the group with the longest exposure to legal proceedings was the most deteriorated.