Abstract
The present study investigates stereotypical beliefs about cyber bullying in terms of myths, a well applied concept in the study of beliefs concerning sexual aggression. The level of acceptance of cyber bullying myths (low vs. high) and the relation of myth acceptance to a number of demographic variables such as gender, field of studies, frequency of Internet use and type of online activity are examined. Also, beliefs about the forms, in terms of severity, and motives with respect to the acceptance of cyber bullying myths are assessed. University undergraduates from the Democritus University of Greece (n = 304) participated in the study. First, they completed a new measure assessing stereotypical beliefs about cyber bullying. Then, they ranked cyber bullying forms in terms of severity and they evaluate 5 different motives of cyber bullying. Exploratory factor analysis along with reliability testing yielded a 32 item scale with satisfactory psychometric properties. Overall, participants were found to accept cyber bullying myths moderately. Men, science and technology students, high users of the Internet and those who prefer chatting, gaming and social media when online found to accept myths higher, except those regarding the perpetrator. Significant differences regarding the ranking of cyber bullying forms and t he assessment of motives were also obtained with respect to the variables mentioned above.
Highlights
People often use stereotypes to explain and justify violence and aggressive behavior [55]; [29]
In the case of aggressive behavior towards women, namely sexual assault or rape, several empirical studies (Suarez & Gadalla, [82]) point that people explain this behavior on the basis of stereotypical beliefs that tend to blame the victim and exonerate the offender
Rape myths were introduced in the social psychological literature by M Burt [18] as prejudicial, stereotypical, or false beliefs about rape that are widely shared and serve to explain and justify male sexual violence against women
Summary
People often use stereotypes to explain and justify violence and aggressive behavior [55]; [29]. In the case of aggressive behavior towards women, namely sexual assault or rape, several empirical studies (Suarez & Gadalla, [82]) point that people explain this behavior on the basis of stereotypical beliefs that tend to blame the victim and exonerate the offender. A common feature of these scales is that when assessing myths they tend to focus their attention on the beliefs regarding the responsibility of the violent behavior In other words, they attempt to assess myths in terms of denial, downgrading or justification of the behavior and they seem to care less for the assessment of the content of the widespread stereotypical beliefs regarding the victim or the perpetrator directly. It is a methodological choice very consistent to the initial conceptualization of myths which seems, in turn, to narrow the scope of the study of myths and obstruct the assessment of these stereotypical beliefs per se
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