CYBERBULLYINGClass Discussion Facilitation (Applied Social Psychology)

DISCUSSION FLOW

What we know (focus on social psych component)

How the phenomenon is being studied

What factors/variables influence the problem area

How is it being addressed

WHAT WE KNOWTechnology has changed the way the world operates and the way humans relate to each other – as an extension of our real lives and as an independent mechanism

Perpetrators and victims are only estimated, not all cases are reported (bullyingstatistics.org)

Over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online, and about the same number have engaged in cyberbullying

More than 1 in 3 young people have experienced cyberthreats

Over 25% of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cellphones or the internet

Well over half of young people do not tell their parents when cyberbullying occurs

WHAT WE KNOWThe media highlights some cases and these captured national and global attention: Ryan Halligan (1989-2003), Megan Meier (1992-2006), Jessica Logan (1990-2008), Hope Sitwell (1996-2009), Tyler Clementi (1991-2010), Amanda Todd (1996-2012)

WHAT WE KNOWPopularly, cyberbullying has been held synonymous with:

Cyber stalking – entails the repeated pursuit of an individual using electronic or internet capable devices (Reyns et al, 2012)

Cyber harassment – engaging in an act or behavior that torments, annoys, terrorizes, offends, or threatens an individual via email, instant messages, or other means with the intention of harming that person

Often cited definition (Smith et al, 2008 from Olweus, 1993 definition of face-to-face bullying):

Cyberbullying (CB) consists of long-term aggressive, intentional, repetitive acts by one or more individuals, using electronic means, against an almost powerless victim.

Taxonomy• flaming (i.e., an online fight),

• harassment (i.e., repetitive, offensive messages sent to a target),

• outing and trickery (i.e., soliciting personal information from someone and then electronically sharing that information with others without the individual’s consent),

• exclusion (i.e., blocking an individual from buddy lists),

• impersonation (i.e., posing as the victim and electronically communicating negative or inappropriate information with others as if it were coming from the victim),

• cyber-stalking (i.e., using electronic communication to stalk another person by sending repetitive threatening communications),

• sexting (i.e., distributing nude pictures of another individual without that person’s consent), and

• revenge porn (i.e. distributing sexually explicit media shared by ex-partners)

Unique Features of CB

• Ease of access and unlimited audience

• Decreased inhibition

• Potential for anonymity

• Decreased social control

• Lack of non-verbal cues

HOW IT IS BEING STUDIED

Varying operational definitions

Varying electronic media, depending on what were available when the study was conducted

Compared with traditional bullying

Single-item and multi-item questionnaires

Samples usually from 10-year olds to adolescents, varying age ranges

Mostly self-reports

Correlational studies

Analytical Frameworks

Social information processing

Social cognitive

General Aggression Model (GAM)

Analytical Framework:

Aggression Model

Mehari, Farrel, and Le (2014)

Analytical Framework:

General Aggression Model

Kowalski, Guimetti, Schroeder, and Lattaner (2014)

FACTORS:

Individual and Situational

Gender

Age

Motives

Personality

Psychological states

Socio-economic status and technology use

Values and perceptions

Other maladaptive behavior

Provocation and perceived support

Parental involvement

School climate

Perceived anonymity

General Aggression Model:

Correlates for Cyberbullying (CB)

Forest plot for meta-analyses of cyberbullying

CB IMPLICATIONS:

mitigation and associated risks

Increased exposure = increased susceptibility to CB or CV

Empathy as key to individual protection from engaging in CB

School variables inversely linked to engagement in CB (i.e. school climate, school safety)

Intake of higher amounts of drugs and alcohol

Obtaining lower levels of academic achievement

Higher levels of anxiety, loneliness, and depression; lower levels of self-esteem and life satisfaction

General Aggression Model:

Correlates for Cyber Victimization (CV)

Forest plot for meta-analyses of cyber victimization

CV IMPLICATIONS:

mitigation and associated risks

School safety

School climate

Perceived support

Social anxiety

Frequency of internet use

Risky online behavior

Common between CB and CV

Mitigating factor: School variables (i.e. school climate, school safety) - hence, most interventions are school-based

Risk factor: Anxiety - sign that both CB and CV experience stress

Moderators of CB/CV Relations

Grade level

•As students reach the peak bullying age, the results indicate that youth tend to experience both CV and TV in 7th through 10th grade

Country of origin

•Comparisons only possible between NA and Europe

•relationships between CV and loneliness, self-esteem, TV, and TB, as well as between CB and self-esteem and TV were all stronger in North American samples than in European/Australian samples

Moderators of CB/CV Relations

Single-item vs multiple-item measures

•effect sizes tended to be larger for the relationships between CV and social anxiety and CV and CB when multiple items were used to measure CB/CV

Provision of a bullying definition or the word “bully”

•providing a definition or mentioning the word “bully” in the measure of CB/CV resulted in smaller relationships of CV with age and CB with age, TV, and CV than if a definition or the word “bully” was not included

Moderators of CB/CV Relations

Measurement of traditional bullying

•when TB or TV had also been measured, there were smaller relationships between CB and depression and CB and CV

Gender

•as the percentage of the sample that was female increases, the relationship between cyber- victimization and depression increases

HOW IT IS BEING ADDRESSED:

Some Current InitiativesCOST-Action IS0801: Cyberbullying

Research working group (Switzerland-Germany) (2009)

New concepts for teacher training, anti-cyberbullying materials (2009)

CyberTraining Project (2008-2010)

Investigation into forms of school bullying and cyberbullying among pre-adolescents (2007-2009)

Cyberbullying and Cyber Harassment laws and policy statements

Awareness raising through different media (online websites, printed publications)

ReferencesDehue, F. (2013). Cyberbullying Research: New Perspectives and Alternative Methodologies. Introduction to the Special Issue. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology Vol 23: 1-6. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibraray.com) DOI: 10.1002/casp.2139

Genta, M.L., Brighi, A., and Guarini, A. (2009), European Project on Bullying and Cyberbullying Granted by Daphne II Programme. Zeitschrift fur Psyhologie/Journal of Psychology 2009, Vol 217 (4): 233-239.

Hazelwood, S.D. & Koon-Magnin, S. (2013). Cyber Stalking and Cyber Harassment Legislation in the United States: A Qualitative Analysis. International Journal of Cyber Criminology July-December 2013, Vol 7 (2): 155-168.

ReferencesJager, T. (2009). CyberTraining: A Research-Based European Training Manual on Cyberbullying. Zeitschrift fur Psyhologie/Journal of Psychology 2009, Vol 217 (4): 233-239.

Katzer, C. (2009). Cyberbullying in Germany: What Has Been Done and What is Going On. Zeitschrift fur Psyhologie/Journal of Psychology 2009, Vol 217 (4): 222-223.

Kowalski, R.M., Guimetti, G.W., Schroeder, A.M., Lattaner, M.R. (2014). Bullying in the Digital Age: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Cyberbullying Research Among Youth. Psychological Bulletin. Vol 140 (4):1073-1137.

References

Mehari, K.R., Farell, A.D., and Le, A.-T.H (2014, August 11). Cyberbullying Among Adolescents: Measures in Search of a Construct. Psychology of Violence. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037521

Smith, P.K. and Sittichai, R. (2009). COST Action IS0801. Zeitschrift fur Psychologie/Journal of Psychology 2009, Vol 217 (4): 233-239.

Six Unforgettable Cyberbullying Cases. Published online at http://nobullying.com/six-unforgettable-cyber-bullying-cases/

-Cyberbullying-Prepared by Eden T. Gallardo forApplied Social Psychology (1st Semester, 2014)