Workplace cyberbullying toward the Arab minority in Israel: gender differences in attitudes and attribution of blame

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current study examined gender differences among Israeli Jews in attitudes and attribution of blame regarding workplace cyberbullying directed against Israeli Arabs. Three hundred and nineteen Jewish Israeli adults (65.3% female) participated in the study. The participants read a scenario with either a male or a female victim and rated the attribution of blame of the perpetrator and the victim, the severity of perpetration and the severity of punishment. ANCOVA indicated a significant main effect of observer gender and a significant interaction between participant gender and victim gender. Women perceived workplace cyberbullying as more severe, attributed more blame to the perpetrator, and were in favor of giving harsher punishments to the perpetrator, but this difference manifested only in cases of male victims. In female victim cases, there was no significant gender difference between the participants. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of gender differences in attitudes and blame attributions regarding workplace cyberbullying, specifically when the victim belongs to a minority group, and highlights the gender interplay of both participants and victims.