Individual and Familial Risk and Protective Factors in Cyberhate Involvement

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

With increasing polarization and radicalization in our global society, cyberhate has received increased attention. Cyberhate is defined as hatred against others based on certain group characteristics (e.g., ethnicity, religion) and is carried out via information and communication technologies. This paper symposium brings together four papers to explore risk and protective factors associated with cyberhate involvement. The authors of the first paper found that sense of belonging to a religious community, perceived importance of religion, and religious activity were related positively to cyberhate perpetration among young people (15-25 years old) from Finland, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States. In the second paper, the authors revealed that offline school victimization was related positively to cyberhate victimization, and positive attitudes toward racism and xenophobia increased cyberhate perpetration among French adolescents. The authors of the third paper revealed that witnessing cyberhate increased self-help (i.e., telling the aggressor to stop), and that those individuals who witnessed hate advocating violence were more likely to intervene in cyberhate. Authors of the fourth paper found that family support strengthened the positive relationship between instructive parental mediation and adolescents’ use of effective coping strategies for cyberhate victimization among adolescents from Cyprus, Germany, Greece, India, Spain, South Korea, and Thailand. Overall, this symposium brings together data on cyberhate from 12 countries and three world regions and involves describing predictors of cyberhate perpetration, victimization, bystanding, and defending. Collectively, these novel studies highlight the key role that individual and familial factors play in young people’s cyberhate involvement.

Sub Unit

• Technology, Media & Child Development

Chairs

• Michelle Faye Wright, Pennsylvania State University, University Park

• Sebastian Wachs, University of Potsdam

Individual Presentations

• Testing the Routine Activity and Problem Behavior Theories to Understand Young People’s Involvement in Cyberhate. A Cross-national Study - Presenting Author: Angela Mazzone, Dublin City University; Non-Presenting Author: Sebastian Wachs, University of Potsdam; Non-Presenting Author: Tijana Milosevic, Dublin City University; Non-Presenting Author: Michelle Faye Wright, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Non-Presenting Author: James O'Higgins Norman, Dublin City University; Non-Presenting Author: Catherine Blaya, Université Côte d’Azur

• Who are the Young People Involved in Cyberhate Perpetration? - Presenting Author: Catherine Blaya, Université Côte d’Azur; Non-Presenting Author: Alessandro Bergamaschi, Université Côte d’Azur; Non-Presenting Author: Seyedafshin Shekarforush, Université Côte d’Azur

• Reacting to Cyberhate: Correlates of Self-Help and Toleration - Presenting Author: Matthew Costello, Clemson University; Non-Presenting Author: James Hawdon, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Non-Presenting Author: Ashley Reichelmann, Virginia Tech University; Non-Presenting Author: Atte Oksanen, Tampere University; Non-Presenting Author: Pekka Räsänen; Non-Presenting Author: Izabela Zych, Cordoba University; Non-Presenting Author: Vicente J Llorent, Cordoba University; Non-Presenting Author: Catherine Blaya, Université Côte d’Azur; Non-Presenting Author: John Ryan, Virginia Tech University

• Building up Adolescents’ Resilience Towards Cyberhate: The Role of Parental Mediation and Family Support - Presenting Author: Sebastian Wachs, University of Potsdam; Non-Presenting Author: Michelle Faye Wright, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Non-Presenting Author: Manuel Gámez-Guadix, Autonomous University of Madrid