Community attitudes toward cyberbullying: the victim's age & sex matter

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Date
2013
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Publisher
University of Alabama Libraries
Abstract

The current study was the first to examine community attitudes of cyberbullying through vignettes, or hypothetical cyberbullying scenarios. This study had four specific aims: (1) to examine whether community attitudes of cyberbullying are biased depending on the victims' sex and age, (2) to examine whether community attitudes of cyberbullying differ depending on the type of cyberbullying incident (e.g., YouTube© video, Facebook© post), (3) to examine whether individuals cognitive dispositions effect their attitudes toward cyberbullying, (4) to examine whether individuals type and frequency of media exposure effects their attitudes toward cyberbullying, (5) to determine whether respondent's thought the cyberbully's First Amendment rights were being violated or not, (6) to examine if the demographics (e.g., sex or being a parent) of the respondent effect their sensitivity levels in each vignette. This study was conducted online using an Internet-based survey, which targeted respondents over the age of 19 located in the United States. Respondents were selected using online social media sites, chat rooms, and discussion forums. A 3 x 4 mixed-subjects design with 12 conditions was used, meaning that the survey included a series of three randomized vignettes and questions regarding community attitudes of the hypothetical scenarios provided. Results suggested that females are in general more sensitive to cyberbullying victims than males. Second, respondents were more sensitive to younger victims of cyberbullying. Third, males were more likely to believe the cyberbully's First Amendment rights had been violated when compared to females. Fourth, parents are overall more sensitive to victims of cyberbullying. Fifth, individuals who have low social values are less sensitive to victims of cyberbullying. Lastly, no relationship was found between media exposure and sensitivity levels. Overall, this study revealed numerous statistically significant findings, but with this type of research there are always limitations, which will be discussed.

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Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Keywords
Social research
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