Abstract
Cyberbullying is associated with the expansion of digital devices and the Internet. In Italy and other European and non-European countries, the phenomenon is growing. Young people who suffer from cyberbullying develop psychopathological symptoms of anxiety, depression, and social phobia that can lead to extreme acts, such as suicide. The pressure, the sense of isolation, and helplessness experienced by cyber-victims also affect their family and the school context. Cyberbullying is acted through digital tools, it is often anonymous, and aims to destroy and psychologically humiliate the victim. There are various forms of cyberbullying that involve different reactions and consequences. However, few studies have focused on adolescents’ perception of cyberbullying. Youths often engage in aggressive behaviors, ignoring the feelings and reactions of the victims. Based on these considerations, our article aims to provide a general overview of the spread of the phenomenon and to understand the various types of cyberbullying and its consequences on victims. We will also illustrate a brief evaluation conducted in Italian schools investigating the perception of cyberbullying in a sample of 600 Italian adolescents (11–14 years old). Our work aims to investigate the cognition and the personal perception of youths about cyberbullying and its consequences and to promote educational interventions within and outside the context of school.
Highlights
Recent technological developments have led to the progressive evolution of the human relationship concept
Our study explores the personal perception of cyberbullying by youths, taking into account the following types of cyberbullying: Harassment; Tricky or Outing; Denigration; Exclusion; Impersonation, with the aim to: (a) evaluate the general perception of cyberbullying motivation; (b) assess the identification process with the victim and the gender attribution of the cyberbullying acts; (c) evaluate the participants’ tendency to perform cyberbullying, and (d) identify possible gender differences in the personal perception of cyberbullying
In the last few years, there has been a surge of research on cyberbullying, investigating the diffusion and the consequences of the phenomenon
Summary
Recent technological developments have led to the progressive evolution of the human relationship concept. Voluntary access to social networks and online communities implies immediate proximity mediated by the web (Pratono, 2018; Auriemma et al, 2020). This evolution in human relations happened very quickly and mainly involved younger generations (Eleuteri et al, 2017). Cyberbullying or electronic bullying is one of the well-known risks of this technological evolution and consists of voluntary and repeated actions against one or more individuals, through the use of computers and electronic devices (Aboujaoude et al, 2015). Cyberbullying is characterized by the following elements: voluntary act, the behavior is intentional and not accidental; repeated act, the behavior is repeated over time
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