Abstract
The negative effects of traditional bullying and, recently, cyberbullying on victims are well-documented, and abundant empirical evidence for it exists. Cybervictimization affects areas such as academic performance, social integration and self-esteem, and causes emotions ranging from anger and sadness to more complex problems such as depression. However, not all victims are equally affected, and the differences seem to be due to certain situational and personal characteristics. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence (PEI) and the emotional impact of cybervictimization. We hypothesize that EI, which has previously been found to play a role in traditional bullying and cyberbullying, may also affect the emotional impact of cyberbullying. The participants in our study were 636 university students from two universities in the south of Spain. Three self-report questionnaires were used: the “European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire,” the “Cyberbullying Emotional Impact Scale”; and “Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24.” Structural Equation Models were used to test the relationships between the analyzed variables. The results support the idea that PEI, by way of a moderator effect, affects the relationship between cybervictimization and emotional impact. Taken together, cybervictimization and PEI explain much of the variance observed in the emotional impact in general and in the negative dimensions of that impact in particular. Attention and Repair were found to be inversely related to Annoyance and Dejection, and positively related to Invigoration. Clarity has the opposite pattern; a positive relationship with Annoyance and Dejection and an inverse relationship with Invigoration. Various hypothetical explanations of these patterns are discussed.
Highlights
Cyberbullying has been defined as intentional, unjustified attacks carried out repeatedly using computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices from which victims cannot defend themselves (Patchin and Hinduja, 2012)
The results indicated a good-fit for the measurement model, except for the Chi-square: X2S−B = 102.95; DF = 49; non-normed fit index (NNFI) = 0.99, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.99; goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.98; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.038; SRMR = 0.047; expected crossvalidation index (ECVI) = 0.78
The results obtained in this study show that cyberbullying is a problem, albeit not an excessively serious one, among university students
Summary
Cyberbullying has been defined as intentional, unjustified attacks carried out repeatedly using computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices from which victims cannot defend themselves (Patchin and Hinduja, 2012). Especially those sustained over a period of time, cyberbullying is or may be harmful to its victims. Cyberbullying victimization has been associated with negative emotions such as sadness, shame, guilt, loneliness, and helplessness (Ortega et al, 2009, 2012b; Sahin, 2012), psychosomatic problems (Carter, 2011; Beckman et al, 2012), depressive symptomatology (Perren et al, 2010; Olenik-Shemesh et al, 2012), anxiety symptomatology (Sontag et al, 2011), low selfesteem and having a negative self-concept (Didden et al, 2009), and with alcohol, tobacco, and drug use (Ybarra and Mitchell, 2004). Considerable overlap has been identified between cybervictimization and traditional victimization (Gradinger et al, 2009; Katzer et al, 2009; Del Rey et al, 2012)
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