Attitudes and Beliefs Associated with Cyberbullying and Non-Consensual Sexting in Cisgender and Transgender Adults

Abstract

Cyberbullying and non-consensual sexting are prevalent and potentially harmful online behaviours. However, little is known about the attitudes and beliefs that underpin these behaviours in ciswomen and cismen and the extent to which they explain the online experiences of trans and gender diverse (TGD) people. A sample of 638 ciswomen, 722 cismen, and 146 TGD adults 18 to 66 years of age (M = 23.27, SD = 3.66), completed a survey of online perpetration behaviours, victimization experiences, and positive attitudes/beliefs about cyberbullying and sexting. MANCOVAs revealed significant gender differences in terms of both cyber and sexting perpetration and victimization. On average, ciswomen reported 8% less cyberbullying perpetration and 17% less non-consensual sexting perpetration than cismen, and experienced 77% more victimization from non-consensual sexting. TGD adults similarly reported 8% less cyberbullying perpetration than cismen, but also 65% less non-consensual sexting perpetration than cismen, as well as experiencing 77% more victimization from non-consensual sexts. MANCOVAs also revealed that cismen held more positive attitudes and beliefs about cyberbullying and sexting than ciswomen and TGD adults. Multigroup path analyses further revealed that positive attitudes and beliefs were related to perpetration behaviours but differently for different genders, with pro-cyberbullying attitudes/beliefs associated with perpetration behaviours in TGD adults, and pro-sexting attitudes/beliefs associated with perpetration behaviours in cisgender adults. These results highlight gender differences in online perpetration and victimization, extend this observation to TGD populations, and demonstrate the importance of underlying attitudes and beliefs.