The Individual or the Class: A Multilevel Analysis of Cyberbullying Behavior in School Context

• In Event: Aggression, Bullying, and Fear in a Media-Rich Environment: High-Density Session

Abstract

In previous research, cyberbullying was often analyzed from an individual-based perspective. The literature on traditional bullying in school, however, shows the socio-structural character of the phenomenon. We transferred these considerations to the media-based context of cyberbullying and explained this behavior using individual predictors, the social position of a person as well as context effects of the school class. In order to obtain individual and socio-structural data, we conducted a survey study in German schools (N=5656). Using network data and multilevel modeling, we show that attributes of the school class contributed only to a small extent to the risk of being involved in cyberbullying. On the individual level, previous experience with bullying in school as well as an intensive, unrestricted social use of the Internet were the strongest predictors of cyberbullying behavior. Based on these findings, the underlying social mechanisms and consequences for prevention and intervention strategies are discussed.

Authors

• Ruth Festl, University of Hohenheim

• Michael Scharkow, U of Hohenheim

• Thorsten Quandt, University of Muenster