Cyberbullying perpetration on social media: A situational action perspective

Abstract

The advent of social media platforms has made cyberbullying a growing concern. Current studies primarily investigate singular individual-level or environmental-level factors, yet cyberbullying is a multifaceted phenomenon that cannot be fully understood through single-dimensional perspectives. In this research, we draw on situational action theory (SAT) to explore how cyberbullying develops on social media by examining the synergistic effect of individual propensity and criminogenic exposure. Our empirical results reveal that individuals’ cyberbullying behavior is predominantly influenced by previous habits and exposure to the cyberbullying behavior of important others. Furthermore, individuals tend to employ neutralization techniques to rationalize their cyberbullying behaviors.