Chapter 7 Cyberbullying: Perceptions of Bullies and Victims

Abstract

This study presents findings leading to the conclusion that cyberbullying in massively multiplayer online (MMO) games can be conceptualized, measured and at least partially explained as a normative phenomenon, similar to Latane & Darley's (1970) bystander inaction hypothesis. An overall sample of N=372 respondents to an online survey provided information on their daily amount of Internet use and daily amount of time engaged in playing in MMO games. Scales for the assessment of both cyberbullying victimization and bullying itself were developed. Victims of cyberbullying appear more sensitive to bullying incidents albeit no more likely than game players who have engaged in bullying to intervene in preventing it. Perpetrators of cyberbullying, however, also appear to be heavily invested in both Internet use and MMO game play and that could amplify an individual's aggressiveness as a player in turn making it more likely they will engage in cyberbullying. The study concludes with a qualitative examination of MMO game player narrative self-explanations for nonintervention in cyberbullying that parallels Latane and Darley's explanation of bystander nonintervention in face-to-face threatening or emergency contexts.

Citation

Kulovitz, K.L. and Mabry, E.A. (2012), "Chapter 7 Cyberbullying: Perceptions of Bullies and Victims", Wankel, L.A. and Wankel, C. (Ed.) Misbehavior Online in Higher Education (Cutting-Edge Technologies in Higher Education, Vol. 5), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 105-126. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2044-9968(2012)0000005009