Volume 47, Issue 1 p. 111-119
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Cross-cultural similarities and differences in the theoretical predictors of cyberbullying perpetration: Results from a seven-country study

Christopher P. Barlett

Corresponding Author

Christopher P. Barlett

Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Correspondence Christopher P. Barlett, Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, 300N Washington St, Gettysburg, PA 17325.

Email: cbarlett@gettysburg.edu

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Luke W. Seyfert

Luke W. Seyfert

Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

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Matthew M. Simmers

Matthew M. Simmers

Department of Psychology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

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Vivian Hsueh Hua Chen

Vivian Hsueh Hua Chen

Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

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Jaqueline Gomes Cavalcanti

Jaqueline Gomes Cavalcanti

Department of Psychology, Centro Universitário Uniesp, Cabedelo, Brazil

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Barbara Krahé

Barbara Krahé

Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

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Kanae Suzuki

Kanae Suzuki

Department of Library, Information and Media Science, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

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Wayne A. Warburton

Wayne A. Warburton

Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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Randy Yee Man Wong

Randy Yee Man Wong

Department of Information Systems and Operations Management, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

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Carlos Eduardo Pimentel

Carlos Eduardo Pimentel

Department of Psychology, Federal University of Paraiba, Brazil

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Marika Skowronski

Marika Skowronski

Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany

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First published: 27 August 2020
Citations: 20

Abstract

The Barlett Gentile cyberbullying model (BGCM) posits that correlated anonymity perceptions and the belief in the irrelevance of muscularity for online bullying (BIMOB) predict positive cyberbullying attitudes to predict subsequent cyberbullying perpetration. Much research has shown the BGCM to be the only published theory that differentiates traditional and cyberbullying while validly predicting cyberbullying. So far, however, the cross-cultural ubiquity has gone understudied. Thus, 1,592 adult participants across seven countries (USA, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, and Singapore) completed measures germane to the BGCM. Supporting the BGCM, the variables were significantly correlated for the entire sample, participants from independent cultures, and participants from interdependent cultures. However, the relationship between BIMOB and positive cyberbullying attitudes as well as the relationship between positive cyberbullying attitudes and cyberbullying perpetration were stronger for independent cultures. These results suggest that the BGCM postulates are mostly universal, but several relations appear to be culturally different. Theoretical implications are discussed.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Research data are not shared outside of members of the research team.

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