Empirical Assessment of Cyber Harassment Victimization: A Comparative Study of the United States and South Korea

• In Event: New Frontiers in Cross-National Research on Victimization

Abstract

Although cyber harassment has been the subject of many studies in recent years, little research has been conducted to comparatively assess cyber harassment victimization via the application of cyber-routine activities theory. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the phenomenon of cyber harassment through a comparison of college students in the United States and South Korea. This empirical study analyzed the self-report data, which were derived from 274 college students at Massachusetts’s area in the United States and 314 college students at Seoul Metropolitan city area in South Korea. The findings of this study indicated that two major factors from cyber-routine activities theory – lack of cybersecurity management on social networking sites and online risky behavior – have influenced the likelihood of cyber harassment victimization in the United States and South Korea. Policy implications are discussed.

Authors

• Kyung-shick Choi, Boston University

• Timothy Scott, Boston University

• Hee-Kyung Park, Seoul University