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The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between subjective well-being (SWB) and exposure to online hate material using samples of Finnish and American youth and young adults. The authors aim to identify socio-demographic determinants of SWB and the social ties prevalent both online and offline that may be relevant to the discussion of how hate material associates with well-being.

The data are derived from online survey responses from both Finnish (n=555) and American (n=1,014) young people aged 15-30. The authors control for the possible effects of social trust, offline friendships, online victimisation and economic status, which have been found to associate with SWB in earlier studies.

The findings show a clear association that highlights the uniformity in how negatively intended material online affects young people, despite the inclusion of a cross-national comparison. The study confirms previous work concerning happiness and life satisfaction.

The survey used was not designed solely to address issues of SWB and as such a more targeted set of questions may have resulted in more in-depth data. Also, structural determinants of SWB, social spheres, and tie strength were analysed through proxy measures.

The findings concerning new variables linked to well-being and victimization in the cross-national context provide a new point of reference in terms of online hate being associated with happiness.

The authors consider a number of descriptive characteristics, determining the relationship between these variables and participants’ happiness. Through this cross-national data set, new comparisons were made possible between internet users of both countries. The study combines many earlier findings with new variables and theoretical frameworks to add new perspectives to the understanding of how well-being is affected online among young people.

Purpose – This chapter investigates if Ronald Aker’s Social Structure Social Learning (SSSL) theory can help explain who is involved with the production of online materials considered hateful or extremist.

Methodology/Approach – After discussing how SSSL can account for becoming exposed to online extremism and then becoming involved in its production, the authors conduct a logistic regression on data from 1,008 American adults that predicts if they produced online hate materials with variables derived from SSSL.

Findings – Results strongly support SSSL. While structural factors such as the respondents’ differential social organization, differential social location, and differential location in the social structure predict production of online hate materials, the effect of these factors is largely mediated once social learning variables are included in the model. Specifically, the respondents’ general definitions related to violence, specific definitions related to hate speech, and differential association accounts for variation in the production of online hate materials.

Originality/Value – This research contributes to the literature in two primary ways: (1) the authors investigate a critical, yet understudied, factor involved in the radicalization process; and (2) the authors demonstrate that a leading criminological theory applies to this form of deviance. This research also suggests key variables for creating strategies for countering violent extremism.

The prevalence of online hate material is a public concern, but few studies have analyzed the extent to which young people are exposed to such material. This study investigated the extent of exposure to and victimization by online hate material among young social media users.

The study analyzed data collected from a sample of Finnish Facebook users (n = 723) between the ages of 15 and 18. Analytic strategies were based on descriptive statistics and logistic regression models.

A majority (67%) of respondents had been exposed to hate material online, with 21% having also fallen victim to such material. The online hate material primarily focused on sexual orientation, physical appearance, and ethnicity and was most widespread on Facebook and YouTube. Exposure to hate material was associated with high online activity, poor attachment to family, and physical offline victimization. Victims of the hate material engaged in high levels of online activity. Their attachment to family was weaker, and they were more likely to be unhappy. Online victimization was also associated with the physical offline victimization.

While the online world has opened up countless opportunities to expand our experiences and social networks, it has also created new risks and threats. Psychosocial problems that young people confront offline overlap with their negative online experiences. When considering the risks of Internet usage, attention should be paid to the problems young people may encounter offline.

This study expands our knowledge about exposure to online hate material among users of the most popular social networking sites. It is the first study to take an in-depth look at the hate materials young people encounter online in terms of the sites where the material was located, how users found the site, the target of the hate material, and how disturbing users considered the material to be.

Trust is one of the key elements in social interaction; however, few studies have analyzed how the proliferation of new information and communication technologies influences trust. The authors examine how exposure to hate material in the internet correlates with Finnish youths’ particularized and generalized trust toward people who have varying significance in different contexts of life. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to provide new information about current online culture and its potentially negative characteristics.

Using data collected in the spring of 2013 among Finnish Facebook users (n=723) ages 15-18, the authors measure the participants’ trust in their family, close friends, other acquaintances, work or school colleagues, neighbors, people in general, as well as people only met online.

Witnessing negative images and writings reduces both particularized and generalized trust. The negative effect is greater for particularized trust than generalized trust. Therefore, exposure to hate material seems to have a more negative effect on the relationships with acquaintances than in a more general context.

The study relies on a sample of registered social media users from one country. In future research, cross-national comparisons are encouraged.

The findings show that trust plays a significant role in online setting. Witnessing hateful online material is common among young people. This is likely to have an impact on perceived social trust. Hateful communication may then impact significantly on current online culture, which has a growing importance for studying, working life, and many leisure activities.

Since the publication of Immanuel Wallerstein's The Modern World‐System in 1974, world‐systems theory has become a prominent explanatory framework for both political and economic international relations. Despite having its critics, world‐system theory continues to stimulate valuable theoretical discussion and empirical research. This special issue is devoted to samples of this work. Included in this issue are articles from well‐established world‐system theorists such as Giovanni Arrighi, Terry Boswell, and Christopher Chase‐Dunn. In addition, the influence world‐system theory is having on a new generation of scholars is exemplified in the work of Shawn McEntee. The international appeal of world‐system's theory is represented by the article by David Spener and Fernando Pozos Ponce.