Dataset Information

Cyber-bullying among university students: Concurrent relations to belief in a just world and to empathy.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to investigate concurrent relations of belief in a just world (BJW), justice experiences, and empathy to cyber-bullying perpetration and victimization. Our theoretical framework contained a distinction between personal and general BJW and between affective and cognitive empathy. Due to theory and recent research, we expected students' BJW, lecturer and fellow student justice, and empathy to relate negatively to cyber-bullying perpetration. Furthermore, BJW and academic justice experiences are also expected to negatively relate to cyber-bullying victimization. In order to test our hypotheses, we conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study with N = 663 German university students (M _age = 22.6, SD _age = 3.5; 68% female). Gender, internet use, and social desirability were considered as control variables. A structural equation model showed that students' personal BJW, academic justice experiences, and both empathy dimensions but not general BJW negatively related to cyber-bullying perpetration. Additionally, students' personal BJW and academic justice experiences but not general BJW or empathy were associated with cyber-bullying victimization. Male students and those with a low social desirability were more likely to report cyber-bullying perpetration and victimization. Altogether, not only university students' personal BJW and empathy but also their academic justice experiences related to cyber-bullying perpetration or victimization. Thus, researchers should develop strategies aiming to prevent or reduce cyber-bullying. Those should simultaneously foster students' personal BJW and empathy as well as an academic environment characterized by just behavior of lecturers and students.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03239-z.

SUBMITTER: Donat M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9155235 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:Bullying victimization by peers is highly prevalent in childhood and adolescence. There is convincing evidence that victimization is associated with adverse mental health consequences. In contrast, it has been found that perpetrators suffer no adverse mental health consequences. These findings originate from Western countries such as Germany but have rarely been investigated in collectivistic societies such as China. Furthermore, it has been rarely studied whether positive intrapersonal characteristics (e.g., personal resilience and self-efficacy) and interpersonal positive resources (e.g., social support) may mediate the impact of bullying on mental health. The current study used a path analytic model to examine, firstly, whether previous bullying experiences (both victimization and perpetration) are associated with current positive and negative mental health in university students and, secondly, whether these influences are mediated by social support, resilience, and self-efficacy. The model was tested in 5,912 Chinese and 1,935 German university students. It was found that in both countries, higher victimization frequency was associated with lower levels of social support, personal resilience, and self-efficacy, which in turn predicted poorer mental health. Moreover, and only in China, perpetration was negatively associated with social support and personal resilience but not self-efficacy. In contrast, in the German sample, perpetration experience was found to enhance one's self-efficacy, and the later was associated with better mental health. The results support a mediation model in which social support, personal resilience, and self-efficacy partially mediate the influence of victimization on mental health in both countries. For the relationship between perpetration and mental health, self-efficacy was the only full mediator in Germany, whereas in China, both social support and personal resilience were partial mediators. In conclusion, peer victimization has adverse effects on mental health in both Germany and China. Only in China, however, is perpetration also associated with adverse mental health outcomes. In contrast, getting ahead by bullying in an individualistic society such as Germany is associated with increased self-efficacy and mental health. The differences found between an individualistic country and a collectivistic country have important implications for understanding and planning interventions to reduce bullying.

Dataset Information

Cyber-bullying among university students: Concurrent relations to belief in a just world and to empathy.

Supplementary information

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets