Abstract
Due to the progress in information technology, cyber-bullying is becoming one of the most common forms of interpersonal harm, especially among teenagers. The present study (N = 548) aimed to investigate the relation between perceived parenting style (in terms of autonomy support and psychological control) and cyber-bullying in adolescence. Thereby, the study tested for the intervening role of adolescent need satisfaction (i.e., autonomy and relatedness), empathic concern towards others, and adolescents’ recognition of full humanness to cyber-bullying offenders and victims. Findings revealed both a direct and an indirect relation between parenting and cyber-bullying. More specifically, parental psychological control directly predicted cyber-bullying, whereas parental autonomy support related to less cyber-bullying indirectly, as it was associated with the satisfaction of adolescents’ need for autonomy, which predicted more empathic concern towards others, which in turn differentially related to recognition of humanness to victims and bullies. The discussion focuses on the implications of the current findings.
Highlights
Cyber-bulling constitutes a common problem in adolescence, as a meaningful proportion of teenagers is involved in such experiences
The first model was specified with Autonomy Support (AS) and Psychological Control (PC) as predictors of Cyber-bullying
Autonomy and Relatedness were included as intervening variables between the parenting variables and Cyber-bullying
Summary
Cyber-bulling constitutes a common problem in adolescence, as a meaningful proportion of teenagers is involved in such experiences. Cyber-bullying can be defined as the aggressive and intentionally repeated act conducted by an individual or a group of individuals using technology for electronic contact against a victim (Smith et al 2008). It includes every experience with any form of online harassment and may impact its victims on various levels (e.g., psychological, emotional, social, etc.; Hinduja and Patchin 2009). Research has shown that individuals involved in traditional bullying often get involved in cyber-harassment (Hemphill et al 2012). These similarities have led researchers to suggest that cyberbullying and traditional bullying are closely related, pointing out that electronic media is another medium through which individuals who already aggress offline, can aggress online as well (Werner et al 2010)
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