The Perceived Effects of Cyberbullying in Adulthood in the Workplace

Dissertation Manuscript

Submitted to Northcentral University

School of Psychology

in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

by

MELISSA LEE DARK

San Diego, California

February 2018




ProQuest Number: 13806985




All rights reserved

INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.

In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.






ProQuest 13806985

Published by ProQuest LLC (2019 ). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author.


All rights reserved.
This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code
Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.


ProQuest LLC.
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346
DocuSign Envelope ID: F994D103-E4BC-4B51-9ABF-E9D3BA3EE948

Approval Page

The Perceived Effects of Cyberbullying in Adulthood in the Workplace

By
Melissa L. Dark

Approved by the Doctoral Committee:

PhD 02/21/2019 | 11:13:34 PST

Nancy Lees
Dissertation Chair: INSERT NAME Degree Held Date

PhD 02/21/2019 | 20:06:07 MST

Committee Member: Bettye

INSERT Griffin
NAME Degree Held Date

02/25/2019 | 07:33:14 MST

Ph.D.

INSERT
Committee Member: Richard NAME Degree Held
Remedios Date
ProQuest Number: (THIS PAGE IS FOR PROQUEST INFORMATION)

ii
 Abstract

Cyberbullying is a fairly new phenomenon, and little is known about its effects. Results of

studies conducted with children, adolescents, and young adults indicate that the effects of

cyberbullying may be similar to that of face-to-face bullying (Wiseman, 2012). Recent studies

have focused on traditional bullying in adults in the workplace and have shown that bullying can

cause high turn-over rates for companies, deter productivity and work performance, and reduce

motivation (Coetzee & van Dyk, 2018). In this qualitative study, the perceived effects of

workplace cyberbullying were investigated from the victims’ and the witnesses’ perspectives.

Participants recruited from two ‘cyberbullying’ Facebook pages completed open-ended questions

that elicited employees’ descriptions of the perceived effects of cyberbullying in the workplace,

including their perceptions of the physical and psychological effects of cyberbullying on

coworkers, the bully’s role in the workplace (e.g., supervisor or coworker), and the mode (email,

texting, etc.) by which the bullying occurred. The findings of this study found that of the 18

victim participants and 3 witness participants who experienced workplace cyberbullying 76%

were targeted by a colleague whereas 38% were bullied by a manager. Of the victims of

bullying, 48% were upset or depressed, 48% had a loss of productivity or had a difficult time at

work or working. Forty-three percent experienced the workplace cyberbullying on social media

and another 43% were bullied through email. The findings of this study aligned with results of

previous research that had indicated that workplace cyberbullying causes many issues for the

employee as well as the organizations that employ them. Based on the findings from this study, it

is recommended that further research be conducted that include previous victims of

cyberbullying in order to see if the perceived effects ever change once out of the environment

iv
which would be even more beneficial to organizations and help them to implement proper

policies, procedures, and even proper training for HR in this area.

v
 Acknowledgement

There are many people that I am grateful for during this long journey. First, I want to

thank my colleagues at Rowan College Gloucester County for not only listening but offering

their experience through this process. A special thanks to Barbara Turner and Stacey Callaway

who helped a great deal in getting through the trail study. I want to thank Dr. Nancy Lees for

guiding me through this process and dealing with my many phone calls, text, and emails. Thank

you to David Woods from Workplace Bullying and Andrew Mitchell from Stop Workplace

Bullying Now! Facebook pages for letting me post my links.

Thank you to the love of my life Raymond for supporting me every step of the way and

taking the baby out of the house so I could get work done in peace and be able to concentrate.

Thank you to my mom whom I wouldn’t have been able to finish without her help on my loans

and to my dad who constantly reminded me that he was unbelievably proud of me. Thank you to

my mother-in-law Arlene for always offering to take the baby so I could work. Lastly, thank you

to my kids Jeremy, Jennifer, and Joseph who without knowing it, motivated me to get through.

Love you all so much!

vi
 Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1

Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................................... 3

Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................. 3
Theoretical/Conceptual Framework.......................................................................................... 4
Nature of the Study ................................................................................................................... 6
Research Questions ................................................................................................................... 7
Significance of the Study .......................................................................................................... 8
Definitions of Key Terms ......................................................................................................... 8
Summary ................................................................................................................................... 9

Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 11

Theoretical Foundations.......................................................................................................... 11
What is Bullying? ................................................................................................................... 15
Differences between Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying. .............................................. 17
Early Literature on Bullying—History of Research on Bullying ........................................... 24
What is Cyberbullying? .......................................................................................................... 25
The Evolution of Cyberbullying. ............................................................................................ 32
Legal Issues with Cyberbullying ............................................................................................ 40
Reporting Cyberbullying ........................................................................................................ 43
Solutions to Cyberbullying ..................................................................................................... 47
Summary ................................................................................................................................. 48

Chapter 3: Research Method ......................................................................................................... 51

Research Methodology and Design ........................................................................................ 51

Population and Sample ........................................................................................................... 53
Materials/Instrumentation ....................................................................................................... 55
Study Procedures .................................................................................................................... 57
Data Collection and Analysis.................................................................................................. 57
Assumptions............................................................................................................................ 58
Limitations .............................................................................................................................. 59
Delimitations ........................................................................................................................... 59
Ethical Assurances .................................................................................................................. 60
Summary ................................................................................................................................. 60

Chapter 4: Findings ....................................................................................................................... 63

Trustworthiness of Data .......................................................................................................... 64

Participant recruitment ............................................................................................................ 65
Description of the sample ....................................................................................................... 66
Participant demographics and profiles .................................................................................... 66
Data collection ........................................................................................................................ 66
Data analysis ........................................................................................................................... 67
vii
 Results ..................................................................................................................................... 70
Evaluation of Findings ............................................................................................................ 78
Findings and how they relate to the conceptual framework. .................................................. 79
Summary ................................................................................................................................. 81

Chapter 5: Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusion ..................................................... 83

Implications............................................................................................................................. 85
Recommendations for Practice ............................................................................................... 89
Recommendations for Future Research .................................................................................. 90
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 90

References ..................................................................................................................................... 93

Appendix A: IRB Approval Letter ............................................................................................. 104

Appendix B: Workplace Cyberbullying Victim Questionnaire .................................................. 105

Appendix C: Workplace Cyberbullying Witness Questionnaire ................................................ 106

Appendix D: Preliminary List of Starter Codes (PLSC) ............................................................ 107

Appendix E: Invitation to Participate in Research ...................................................................... 109

Appendix F: Informed Consent Form ......................................................................................... 110

Appendix G: Facebook Page Permission .................................................................................... 114

Appendix H: Trial Study............................................................................................................. 122

Appendix I: Identified Themes from Participants’ Surveys ...................................................... 123

viii
 List of Tables

Table 1. Identified Themes by Participant .................................................................................... 69

Table 2. Definitions of Starter Codes .......................................................................................... 73

Table 3. Identified Major Themes by Participants........................................................................ 75

Table 4. Survey Questions Related to Research Question One .................................................... 87

Table 5. Survey Questions Related to Research Question One (a)............................................... 87

Table 6. Themes identified in Response to Research Question One and One (a) ........................ 88

ix
 List of Figures

Figure 1. Data Collection Process ................................................................................................. 66

Figure 2. Reduced Codes or Themes Identified from Survey Analysis ....................................... 71

Figure 3. Word Frequencies of Survey ......................................................................................... 79

x
 1

Chapter 1: Introduction

Workplace bullying has been wreaking havoc on employees and the companies at which

they work for quite some time (Rai & Agarwal, 2016). Since the advancement of technology,

bullying has been made easier and can give the perpetrator anonymity if needed (Wiseman,

2012). Cyberbullying is the way for coworkers, supervisors, etc. to bully others without having

to be face-to-face (Coetzee & van Dyk, 2018). Social media is one of the ways that a person can

become a victim of cyberbullying, but it does not stop there. Emails or text are also considered

ways that someone can get cyberbullied (Coetzee & van Dyk, 2018).

Because cyberbullying is a fairly new phenomenon, little is known about the perceived

effects of it, however, the studies that have been conducted with children, adolescents, and young

adults have shown that cyberbullying is at least similar in effects to that of face-to-face bullying

(Wiseman, 2012). Current studies about traditional bullying in adults and the workplace have

shown that bullying can cause high turn-over rates for companies, deter productivity and work

performance, and cause a lower motivational state of mind in the victim (Coetzee & van Dyk,

2018). High turnover rates are very expensive for companies because of the cost incurred during

the hiring process, drug testing, background checks, training, etc. of each new employee

(Coetzee & van Dyk, 2018). Research has shown that 72.7% of adults who have indicated that

they experienced cyberbullying in adulthood were cyberbullied by a colleague or co-worker

(Kowalski, Toth, & Morgan, 2018).

Traditional bullying has been found to not only cause psychological problems but

physical problems such as headaches, stomachaches, tiredness, and even to the extent of suicide

(Wiseman, 2012). Cyberbullying can have a greater impact because when an employee is a

victim of cyberbullying, it not only reaches more people, but the victims cannot find safety once
 2

they leave their jobs and go home (Wiseman, 2012). The cyberbullying can continue even when

the work day is over, unlike face-to-face bullying, resulting in more issues for the victim.

Technology, social media, and the Internet are all useful tools for a business to grow and

promote but when employees take advantage of these tools, not only do the businesses suffer but

the employees at which the cyberbullying is aimed do too. Research in this area is so important

because this issue will only increase as technology grows and becomes more advanced.

Research may also provide information that may be used to develop policies and procedures that

would aide in handling cyberbullying that currently is taking place in the workplace. Policies

and procedures must be put in place so that employees can continue to be productive in their job

and the companies can continue to thrive without having to worry about high turnover rates.

Current research has found that cyberbullying in the workplace can cause

counterproductive work behaviors to manifest and that more research is needed in order to find

other issues that the employee could display and how it would affect a company if no procedures

were put in place (Keskin, Akgün, Ayar, Kayman, 2016). Also, because the effects of

cyberbullying have been studied in adolescents and young adults, demonstrating negative impact

on the victim, it is important to study adults because negative consequences may carry over into

adulthood. Studies on adolescents have found that adolescents that were cyberbullied presented

higher levels of loneliness and lower levels of social well-being than those who identified as not

being a victim of cyberbullying (Halpern, Pina, & Vasquez, 2017).

It cannot be assumed that people just stop cyberbullying or stop being a victim of

cyberbullying because they got older. It has also been found that those who use face-to-face

bullying are more likely to cyberbully (Lazuras, Barkoukis, & Tsorbatzoudis, 2017).

Cyber-victimizations more often occur among those who are victims of traditional bullying, and
 3

victims of traditional bullying may actually change roles and become the person who

cyberbullies (Lazuras et al., 2017).

Statement of the Problem

The problem addressed by this study is that adults in the workplace are being affected by

cyberbullying. The general problem is that as technology advances, common forms of bullying

are also advancing. Bullying has moved to an anonymous form known as cyberbullying; and

ease of use makes it that much more popular as a means of harassment. Cyberbullying comes in

many forms and can include denigration, verbal fights, cyberstalking, exclusion, pretending to be

someone, and outing (Smith, 2015). Once only thought to be a problem amongst adolescents and

young adults, cyberbullying has moved into the workplace, affecting not only the employees but

the employers as well. The specific problem is that the impact of cyberbullying has on adults in

workplaces are not known.

Cyberbullying education, including effects, is prevalent in schools but lacking in the

workplace resulting in a lack of legal actions against those who commit cyberbullying in the

workplace (Kowalski et al., 2018). Knowing the perceived effects that cyberbullying can have

on the employees as well as the business can help employers implement procedures to counteract

these issues. The negative consequences, if this problem is not solved, are increased issues with

employees and the workplace as well as rising cost for the company because of high turn-over

rates.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the impact that cyberbullying has on

adults in the workplaces. The study was conducted by administering open-ended questionnaires

to participants online. The phenomena of interest is cyberbullying and its perceived effects. A
 4

descriptive design, with the intent of describing and understanding a phenomenon little explored,

workplace cyberbullying, was used. Materials included open-ended questionnaires and analysis

was conducted by using an open coding method where themes were identified. The responses

were analyzed and grouped to determine the different themes using such factors as word

repetition and key words. The population and sample size that was needed was 20-25 male and

female workers, between the ages of 21-65.

The research was conducted by collecting data via the internet for workers located in the

United States. Participants were recruited via posts to Facebook groups and sent to a screening

questionnaire on SurveyMonkey. If the participants met all requirements, they were given the

informed consent and continued onto the questionnaire. The participants had to be current

victims or witnesses at the job in which they identified as being cyberbullied. This study

examined what the perceived effects of cyberbullying on employees are. Since current studies

have found that cyberbullying is very prominent in adolescents and young adults, it is expected

that as these youths grow, the incidence for cyberbullying in later adulthood will be more

prominent, making the research that much more critical (Jenaro, Flores, & Frías, 2018).

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

Albert Bandura’s Moral Disengagement Theory and Icek Ajzen’s Theory of Planned

Behavior serve as theoretical foundations for this research study. Moral Disengagement Theory

is described as a way in which people rationalize their unethical actions (Bandura, 2002). This

theory aligns with the intent of this study because it shows why people may feel justification to

commit acts of cyberbullying. According to Bandura, (2002), moral disengagement focuses on

the cognitive restructuring of inhumane actions into a benign moral justification and safeguards

should be built into social systems that would uphold moral and compassionate behavior and
 5

reduce cruelty. Using Moral Disengagement Theory in cyberbullying research can help identify

whether the settings may afford selective activation in areas of moral disengagement and be a

valuable asset for cyber-safety programs that the employers can implement (Runions & Bak,

2015). It will also be useful for understanding how online workplace setting may differentially

afford moral disengagement and aide in planning intervention programs and reduce cyber-

aggression (Runions & Bak, 2015).

Theory of Planned Behavior proposes that a person’s behavior is reflected by three

variables including subjective norms, attitude, and Perceived Behavioral Control (Cyberbullying

among students: An application of Theory of Planned Behavior, 2017). Subjective norm relates

to how a persons’ perception of the surrounding environment relates to their behavior and

attitude is the degree to which a person displays either positive or negative attitude towards a

particular behavior (Cyberbullying among students: An application of Theory of Planned

Behavior, 2017). Theory of Planned Behavior also incorporates Perceived Behavioral Control

which is an individual’s’ perception of the extent at which a persons’ performance of a specific

behavior is either difficult or easy (Cyberbullying among students: An application of Theory of

Planned Behavior, 2017). According to Ajzen, (1991), applying the Theory of Planned Behavior

to a particular area, in this case cyberbullying, can provide useful information in any attempt to

actually understand the person’s behaviors or to implement interventions that can be effective in

changing those behaviors. The Theory of Planned Behavior aligns with the intent of this study

because it provides a connection between behavior and beliefs. The foundation of beliefs can

provide descriptions that are needed to gain information about a person’s behavioral

determinants and it is thought that it is the level of beliefs that we can learn the unique factors

that cause a person to engage in cyberbullying and cause others to follow (Ajzen, 1991). This
 6

study may contribute to the theory by demonstrating a person’s environment, including the

virtual environment, does in fact affect their behavior and perception of the behavior.

Both Theory of Planned Behavior and Moral Disengagement Theory are interrelated in

research on cyberbullying. In elements of Theory of Planned Behavior, such as Perceived

Behavioral Control, the effortlessness of acting on a certain behavior, in this case cyberbullying,

makes it easier for the cyberbully to commit these acts because of the lower risk of getting

caught with the anonymity offered by the internet (Pabian & Vandebosch, 2014). And with

Moral Disengagement Theory, the offender can justify his act in order to feel that he or she is not

doing anything wrong. Both theories play a role in understanding why co-workers may bully. If

someone understands why it is happening, safeguards can be put in place to help the victims so

that they may continue to work in peace.

Nature of the Study

The researcher conducted a descriptive qualitative study in order to gain an understanding

of how employees perceive the effects of cyberbullying in the workplace. The researcher used

semi-structured questionnaires with open-ended questions to elicit employees’ reports of the

perceived effects of cyberbullying among adults in the workplace. Adults aged 21 and higher

across the United States who are employed and identify as being current victims and/or witnesses

of workplace cyberbullying were invited to participate in this study.

Through a qualitative research design which includes semi-structured questionnaires with

open-ended questions, the study addressed the research questions, interpreting the results through

the lens of Albert Bandura’s Moral Disengagement Theory and Icek Ajzen’s Theory of Planned

Behavior. Open-ended questionnaires offer several benefits when trying to study an undesirable
 7

behavior. Open-ended questions can reassure the researcher that all issues have been covered

and increase response rates (O’Cathain & Thomas, 2004).

A qualitative method was chosen for this study because qualitative methodology can

produce a description of the participants’ feeling, opinions, and experiences, as well as interpret

the meaning of the participants’ actions (Rahman, 2016). Qualitative research is also important

when studying a subject such as cyberbullying because it encompasses a larger range of

epistemological viewpoints, different research methods, and interpretive techniques of trying to

understand human behavior (Rahman, 2016).

A descriptive design was chosen for this study because qualitative descriptive studies use

a more naturalistic inquiry which is important when studying workers natural response to

cyberbullying (Lambert & Lambert, 2012). Descriptive studies also incorporate features from

other design types. For example, if a comparative analysis was used in examining the data

produced by the study, it may resemble grounded theory but since it is not producing a theory

from the data collected, it is a descriptive study (Lambert & Lambert, 2012).

Research Questions

The problem is adults in the workplace are being affected by cyberbullying. The purpose

of this descriptive qualitative study was to explore the impact that cyberbullying has on adults in

the workplaces. The following research questions guided this study:

RQ1. How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying in the

workplace?

RQ1a. How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying on

coworkers?
 8

Significance of the Study

This study is important because workplace cyberbullying can have an emotional and

physical health impact on the victim as well as cause work disruption (Keskin et al., 2016). By

identifying the emotional and physical impacts, organizations may develop and implement

prevention programs in order to remedy the problem. These results will also contribute to the

topics of adult cyberbullying in the workplace in the current literature.

Much of the current literature focuses on youth and adolescents, however, this problem

will continue as the youth and adolescents that are currently cyberbullies age and more forms of

social media and types of technology emerge. By addressing the issues that are caused by

cyberbullying, adults can function as more productive employees. The results can be used to fill

in any gaps between cyberbullying and adults in the workplace and can be useful for employers

in identifying cyberbullying that may be occurring in the organization. This study will contribute

to Moral Disengagement Theory by identifying the settings, including virtual settings, that may

afford selective activation in areas of moral disengagement and be a valuable asset for cyber-

safety programs that the employers can implement (Runions & Bak, 2015). This study will also

contribute to the Theory of Planned Behavior by demonstrating how a person’s virtual

environment does in fact affect their behavior and perception of the behavior.

Definitions of Key Terms

The following list of key terms is important to the topic of cyberbullying and these terms

may not be common knowledge to someone who is not familiar with cyberbullying.

Bully. A bully is an overbearing person who makes it a habit to intimidate or harass

weaker people (Dictionary.com, n.d.).

 9

Cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is using the internet and cell phones to intentionally harm

someone (Reio & Ledesma Ortega, 2016). It is also defined as using modern technology to

embarrass, threaten, humiliate, or intimidate another as well as gain power over them (Bauman,

2011).

Traditional Bullying. Traditional bullying, like cyberbullying, is used to intimidate and

harass others however adds the element of physical dominance and the bully and victim are face-

to-face (Lee, Hong, Resko, & Tripodi, 2017).

Social Media. Social Media is application and websites that offer a means of

communication that are used by much of the population to share information and offers a way for

people to develop social and professional contacts (Dictionary.com, n.d.)

Summary

This study is prepared and presented in five chapters. Chapter 1 details how, with the

advancements in technology, traditional bullying has moved into an electronic version know as

cyberbullying. Knowing the perceived effects that cyberbullying can have on the employees as

well as the business can help employers implement procedures to counteract these issues.

The problem this phenomenon has created for employees is demonstrated and the study

is guided by the questions, how do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying in

the workplace and how do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying on

coworkers? The impact that cyberbullying has on adults in the workplace are not known. The

negative consequences, if this problem is not solved, are increased issues with employees and the

workplace as well as rising cost for the company because of high turn-over rates.

Albert Bandura’s Moral Disengagement Theory and Icek Ajzen’s Theory of Planned

Behavior serve as theoretical foundations for this research study. The purpose of this study was
 10

to explore the impact that cyberbullying has on adults in the workplaces. The study was

conducted by administering open-ended questionnaires to participants online. A descriptive

design, with the intent of describing and understanding a phenomenon little explored, workplace

cyberbullying, was used.

The significance of this study is that workplace cyberbullying can have an emotional and

physical health impact on the victim as well as cause work disruption (Keskin et al., 2016). The

results can be used to fill in any gaps between cyberbullying and adults in the workplace and can

be useful for employers in identifying cyberbullying that may be occurring in the organization.

This chapter also discusses the qualitative procedures used and definitions of the terms. Chapter

2 will continue with literature review and theoretical framework. The purpose of Chapter 2 is to

provide the reader with a comprehensive review of the literature related to cyberbullying in the

workplace.
 11

Chapter 2: Literature Review

As technology advances, traditional workplace bullying is also changing form. The

traditional face-to-face act of bullying has become an easier task for the bully by offering

anonymity so that one can harass co-workers by denigration, verbal fights, cyberstalking,

exclusion, pretending to be someone, and outing (Smith, 2015). Chapter 2 provides an extensive

review of the literature and research related to cyberbullying in the workplace.

Chapter 2 will be divided into sections that include: Moral Disengagement Theory,

Theory of Planned Behavior, differences between traditional bullying and cyberbullying, effects

of traditional bullying, what is bullying, early literature on bullying, what is cyberbullying,

history of cyberbullying with adolescents, and the evolution of cyberbullying. The chapter

continues with how adults cyberbully, why adults cyberbully, co-workers as bystanders, legal

issues with cyberbullying, reporting cyberbullying, employer responses to cyberbullying,

workplace policy, and solutions to cyberbullying. The purpose of this qualitative study is to

explore the impact that cyberbullying has on adults in the workplaces.

This literature review consists of literature pulled from the following EBSCO databases:

PsycARTICLES, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection, PsycINFO, and ScienceDirect.

The keywords used either individually or combined include: cyberbullying, traditional bullying,

face-to-face bullying, employer responses, Moral Disengagement Theory, Theory of Planned

Behavior, legal issues, evolution, technology, effects, co-workers, reporting, workplace policies,

solutions, and adults.

Theoretical Foundations

Two theories provide the foundation for this study of cyberbullying in the workplace.

These theories include Albert Bandura’s Moral Disengagement Theory and Icek Ajzen’s Theory
 12

of Planned Behavior. Both theories play a role in understanding why co-workers may bully. If

someone understands why it is happening, safeguards can be put in place to help the victims so

that they may continue to work in peace.

Moral Disengagement Theory. Moral Disengagement Theory is described as a way in

which people rationalize their unethical actions (Bandura, 2002). This theory aligns with the

intent of this study because it shows why people may feel justified to commit acts of

cyberbullying. When peoples’ actions are conflicting with their moral standards, it is moral

disengagement that allows them to distance themselves and avoid such emotions as guilt or

shame (Runions & Bak, 2015).

Moral Engagement Theory is applicable to many human tendencies such as aggression.

It is an important framework for understanding the enactment of morality in aggressive behavior

such as cyberbullying (Runions & Bak, 2015). Moral Disengagement Theory has been well

documented as one of the most observed predictive variables of cyberbullying (Wang, Yang,

Yang, Wang, & Lei, 2017).

Moral Disengagement Theory helps in understanding the components of cyberbully such

as why someone would commit it or why someone may be a victim. It is imperative to recognize

all aspects of cyberbullying in order to really understand the perceived effects of it on the victim.

Studies have been conducted on cyberbullies to see if there was a link between those who

identified as cyberbullies and moral disengagement.

One study found that those who identified as cyberbullies as well as victims showed a

significantly higher level of moral disengagement (Renati, Berrone, & Zanetti, 2012). Since the

participants will be identifying themselves as victims of cyberbully, Moral Disengagement

Theory can be applied to this study to further understand the extend of issues that cyberbullying
 13

can cause a victim. The researchers also mentioned that moral disengagement involves

dehumanization of the victim in order to endorse immoral behaviors because the cyberbullies

view the victim as subhuman and that they do not deserve to be considered within the frame of a

conventional moral codex therefore blaming the victim and making their actions acceptable

(Renati et al., 2012).

When looking at moral disengagement in the general bullying context, it is the process

that allows those who censure bullying to actually bully others by disengaging their own moral

standards in each episode of bullying, so they do not feel as though they lost any self-regard

(Bussey, Fitzpatrick, & Raman, 2015). Friends also play a role in moral disengagement and

cyberbullying. Friends can affect individual cognitions about bullying others by distorting the

severity or the consequences of bullying, using euphemism to label the behavior, minimizing the

victim’s agentive role, or blaming the victim (Sijtsema, Rambaran, Caravita, & Gini, 2014).

Theory of Planned Behavior. Theory of Planned Behavior proposes that a person’s

behavior is reflected by three variables including subjective norms, attitude, and Perceived

Behavioral Control (Cyberbullying among students: An application of Theory of Planned

Behavior, 2017). Subjective norm relates to how a persons’ perception of the surrounding

environment relates to their behavior and attitude is the degree to which a person displays either

positive or negative attitude towards a particular behavior (Minnesota State University, 2018)

Theory of Planned Behavior also incorporates Perceived Behavioral Control which is an

individual’s’ perception of the extent at which a persons’ performance of a specific behavior is

either difficult or easy (Minnesota State University, 2018).

The use of social media and other forms of electronic communication have become an

intrinsic part of most people’s lives (Cheung & To, 2016). Because of this, Theory of Planned
 14

Behavior has been applied to describe people’s behavior when conducting online activities.

Theory of Planned Behavior is generally applied to all volitional activities and can predict

specific behavior across occasions, situations, and different forms of actions (Jafarkarimi,

Saadatdoost, Sim, & Hee, 2016). One of the core elements of Theory of Planned Behavior is the

intention and refers to a person’s readiness to perform a given behavior (Jafarkarimi et al., 2016).

When social media users develop a favorable attitude toward co-creation within social

media, they are more prone to use social media for co-creation activities. Users who consider

themselves to be more heavily influenced by their peers to co-create are more prone to follow the

behavior of their peers (Cheung & To, 2016). This includes the activity of cyberbullying. One

study that aimed at finding the link between risky online behavior and the Theory of Planned

Behavior found that prototype favorability, which is how someone judges their perception of a

normal person to engage in online risky behavior, emerged as a strong predictor of willingness to

actually engage in online risky behavior (Branley & Covey, 2018).

Both Theory of Planned Behavior and Moral Disengagement Theory are interrelated in

research on cyberbullying. In elements of Theory of Planned Behavior, such as Perceived

Behavioral Control, the effortlessness of acting on a certain behavior, in this case cyberbullying,

makes it easier for the cyberbully to commit these acts because of the lower risk of getting

caught with the anonymity offered by the internet (Pabian & Vandebosch, 2014). And with

Moral Disengagement Theory, the offender can justify his act to feel that he or she is not doing

anything wrong. Both theories play a role in understanding why co-workers may bully which in

understanding why it is happening, safeguards can be put in place to help the victims so that they

may continue to work in peace.

 15

What is Bullying?

The following section of literature review will look at what the meaning of bullying is.

Volk, Dane, and Marini, 2014, defined bullying as exposed, repeatedly and over a period of time,

a negative action by another person. It is important to define bullying more specifically as goal-

directed behavior in order to be consistent with research in bullying literature, and because

greater specificity may afford researchers more theoretical, methodological, and applied benefits

(Volk et al., 2014). Another researcher defines bullying as having three components of

purposeful, imbalance, and continual and as well bullying occurs in both physical, social and

emotional context and is committed by a more powerfully person to one that is less powerful

(Youn Ah, 2018).

Bullying is also associated with contrasting social responses (Volk, Veenstra, &

Espelage, 2017). It is likely to be seen by by-standers as more negative than other forms of

aggression, however, people tend to show a stronger tendency to associate themselves with

powerful people who can directly help them obtain their own goals (Volk et al., 2017). Bullying

can be covert or overt and is frequently missed by managers and supervisors but usually well

known by many employees in the organization (Shu-Ching, Hsiu-Hung, & Tsair-Wei, 2017).

Traditional bullying also comes in many forms. These forms can include physical,

verbal, and social bullying (Case, 2015). Punching, hitting, pushing, etc. are all examples of

physical bullying (Case, 2015). Even mean or rude gestures can count as physical bullying

(Case, 2015). Verbal bullying consists of saying or writing hurtful things to one another such as

name calling, teasing, threatening to harm one another and social bullying consist of intentional

aggression that can damage or defame someone’s reputation (Case, 2015). Some examples of

social bullying can include spreading rumors, public embarrassment, etc. (Case, 2015). From a
 16

business standpoint, bullying intentions or behaviors are hard to understand because there are

formidable organizational approvals to such malicious conduct in the workplace (Piotrowski,

2012). Many researcher definitions of workplace bullying also add that targets of bullies usually

are unable to defend themselves against bullying attacks (Wilson & Nagy, 2017). These can

include legal risks to the bully and damage to corporate reputation (Piotrowski, 2012).

Workplace bullying is different from the general definition of bullying. Workplace

bullying is a repeated behavior that can offend, humiliate, sabotage, or negatively affect a

person’s work when there is an imbalance of power (Privitera & Campbell, 2009). This type of

bullying is also considered to occur when one or more workers perceive themselves to be the

target of ongoing and systematic negative acts on at least a weekly basis extending over a period

of 6 months (Privitera & Campbell, 2009). Like traditional bullying, workplace bullying consists

of an imbalance of power between the bully and the victim in addition to the victim’s attribution

of the bully’s intent to cause harm (Privitera & Campbell, 2009).

Workplace bullying has even been compared to domestic violence by The Workplace

Bullying Institute (Manners & Cates, 2016). This type of bullying in the workplace resembles

the experience of a spouse that is battered because the abuser will inflict pain when and where

they choose which keeps the victim unaware when it will happen again and giving false hope

that they are safe during periods of peace of unknown duration (Manners & Cates, 2016). The

victim is also kept close to the bully by the nature of their relationship, husband to wife or co-

worker to co-worker (Manners & Cates, 2016). According to research conducted by The

Workplace Bullying Institute, 2007, 58 percent of the bullying targets are female, sixty-two

percent of the perpetrators are men, 75 percent of bullying happens when the bully belongs to a
 17

protected category, and Hispanics and African Americans are more likely to experience bullying

in the workplace over all other races

(Hall & Lewis, 2014).

Bullying in the workplace can also be categorized as downward, horizontal, or upward

bullying. Upward bullying has the most risk for repercussion because it involves an employee

bullying their manager or supervisor (Zhang & Leidner, 2018). Horizontal bullying is basically

co-workers bullying other co-workers and lastly downward bullying is the most aggressive form

and involves managers bullying their subordinates (Zhang & Leidner, 2018). Downward

bullying is the most common type seen in the workplace and often leads to a conditioning effect

in which the managers grow accustomed to justifying their behavior (Zhang & Leidner, 2018).

Managers who bully usually were a victim of bullying themselves by their superiors and since

they have experienced the pain of downward bullying as opposed to horizontal or upward

bullying, they can easily rationalize their own behavior of bullying (Zhang & Leidner, 2018).

Other research has indicated that supervisors who bully are generally careless, shoddy,

vulnerable, and anxious (Wilson & Nagy, 2017).

This section was able to demonstrate how different researcher define bullying. It is

important to define bullying more specifically as goal-directed behavior in order to be consistent

with research in bullying literature (Volk et al., 2014). Many of the studies conducted on

bullying found that the findings were descriptive and correlative, so therefore cannot be used to

make casual claims as to why bullying behavior transpires (Kowalski et al., 2018).

Differences between Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying.

Workplace bullying may be in the form of traditional bullying or cyberbullying. Both

types of bullying, traditional and cyberbullying, can have a negative impact on adults in the
 18

workplace, however, there are several differences between the two. There are not only

differences between how the two types of bullying are carried out, but how they affect their

targets as well (Kowalski et al., 2018). Bullying involves repeated harm to a weaker person and

qualifies as immoral behavior because it impacts the welfare and rights of the victims, however,

the lack of social censer that cyberbullying enables through the lack of face-to-face interaction

means that the social restraints tied with traditional bullying are not a factor which enhances the

role of personal factors in cyberbullying that are prominent in the association between bullying

and morality (Bussey et al., 2015).

The most observable difference between traditional bullying and cyberbullying is how it

is carried out. Traditional bullying is carried out face-to-face, and is based on physical contact

and power imbalance, whereas cyberbullying is anonymous, can reach a greater audience, and

utilizes multiple means from mobile phones to social media (Lazuras et al., 2017). Dooley,

Pyzalski, and Cross (2009) conducted a theoretical and conceptual review of cyberbullying

versus traditional bullying. The first component mentioned the differences between the two is

the description that is used to describe each one.

For traditional bullying, the act when committed must be aggressive, intentional,

repetitive, and with a power imbalance (Dooley et al., 2009). However, cyberbullying is

deliberate, repeated, and hostile but lacking the power imbalance that is demonstrated in

traditional bullying (Dooley et al., 2009). Another component mentioned the differences

between both types of bullying is what is considered repetitive. When it comes to traditional

bullying, it is argued that what makes it bullying is the repetitive nature of the acts that are

intended to cause harm and not the actual nature of the behavior (Dooley et al., 2009).

Repetition is actually one of the most important elements when defining bullying (Patchin &
 19

Hinduja, 2015). If someone were to push someone in the hallway once and never again, that

would not be considered bullying but if that continued repeatedly, it would be labeled as bullying

(Patchin & Hinduja, 2015).

Traditional bullying is a repeating act whereas cyberbullying can occur with one single

act and can extend to multiple environments (Asher, Stark, & Fireman, 2017). Another

difference is the number of adults that are bullied. Twenty percent of one research study that

looked at a total of 3,699 were cyberbullied compared to only 7.5% who were bullied in the

traditional way (Kowalski et al., 2018). It was also shown that traditional bullying differed from

cyberbullying by intention, acceptability, and severity with traditional bullying perceived as the

most severe and having the most intention of harm (Kowalski et al., 2018).

There are also differences when it comes to effects of each type of bullying. Traditional

bullying only takes place where the victim is and resulted in a higher degree of embarrassment

whereas cyberbullying resulted in a higher degree of anger (Asher et al., 2017). Also, victims of

traditional bullying were more likely to seek help compared to using avoidance techniques when

dealing with cyberbullying (Asher et al., 2017). Most victims of cyberbullying report that they

experience at least one form of traditional bullying, and relational and verbal forms showed the

most overlap with cyberbullying (Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015). Compared to traditional

bullying, cyberbullying has a higher rate of victims internalizing and externalizing symptoms

(Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015). A single act of online cruelty can be considered bullying

because of the permanence of such things as pictures or videos online for anyone to see and can

have the same, or even worse, effects than traditional bullying (Dooley et al., 2009).

There are, however, some similarities between the two types of bullying. Traditional

bullies tend to engage in cyberbullying more than that of a non-bully and victims of traditional
 20

bullying experienced cyberbullying more often than that of a non-victim (Lazuras et al., 2017).

Even with these slight similarities, many research studies have found many differences between

the two types of bullying (Dooley et al., 2009).

Effects of traditional bullying. Since traditional bullying has been around for quite

some time, extensive research has been done to investigate the effects of traditional bullying.

Findings have shown that bullying leads to physical health complaints and other work-related

negative effects on the employee (Piotrowski, 2012). There is also a link between workplace

bullying and sick leave or sick time being used (Wilson & Nagy, 2017).

Other effects that research has found include a higher intention to leave the organization,

PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and increased risk to cardiovascular disease, and a

decrease in emotional health (Wilson & Nagy, 2017). The effects of traditional bullying in the

workplace do not just stop when the workday is over but can spill over into a worker’s personal

life as well (Creasy & Carnes, 2017). Implications of bullying can include drinking problems,

individual distress, work-family conflict, emotional exhaustion, and poor-job performance.

It is also thought that the effects are greatest for someone who experiences both face-to-

face bullying and cyberbullying (Waasdorp & Bradshaw, 2015). These issues have all been

found to be associated with employees who are being bullied by their supervisor or project

manager (Creasy & Carnes, 2017). Micromanaging is thought to be a form of bullying.

Micromanaging tells the employee that the manager has a lack of trust, autonomy and

recognition (Trad & Johnson, 2014). Micromanaging is seen by some employees as bullying if

the manager has personal motives or subjective reasons for doing it (Trad & Johnson, 2014).

These effects are focused on management cyberbullying of the victim; however, co-

workers can also cause issues with employees within the organization. Trad and Johnson, 2014,
 21

wanted to see how bullying would affect job performance and the work environment among co-

workers in the particular field of radiation therapy. Prior research has shown that 35% of

Americans have experienced bullying in the workplace with an additional 15% having witnessed

some form of bullying at work (Trad & Johnson, 2014). In this research study that focused on

radiation therapy, a health field which has been found to have the highest incidence of bullying,

the researchers found that out of the 308 participants, 194 of them indicated that they

experienced bullying either at their current jobs or previous radiation therapy job (Trad &

Johnson, 2014). This result shows that almost 63% of the participants experienced bullying in

the workplace which is a significant amount and that it effected their job performance as well as

their job satisfaction (Trad & Johnson, 2014). Other studies have indicated that some effects of

being bullying by a co-worker can include workplace withdrawal, decline to physical health, and

even suicidal ideation (Creasy & Carnes, 2017). However, bullying that is perpetrated by

supervisors or managers produces more of the negative correlates of victimization then if a co-

worker were to display the same exact behavior (Kowalski et al., 2018).

Another health field that has research showing effects of bullying is nursing. In this

health field, it is thought that the newer nurses are bullied by experienced nurses (Ren & Kim,

2017). Ren and Kim, 2017, wanted to test a proposed structural question model in which

elements such as bullying experiences, conflict management, and psychological empowerment

predict a persons’ psychological well-being among nursing student during their clinicals. After

data analysis was conducted on self-reporting questionnaires, it was found that the effects on

psychological well-being include depression, lower self-esteem, and even lower academic

satisfaction (Ren & Kim, 2017). Mediation by conflict management styles and psychological
 22

empowerment eased the negative effect of bullying on a persons’ psychological well-being (Ren

& Kim, 2017).

Bullying can also affect students who work under others during training or in the case of

a nurse, their clinicals. This can lead to a nurse second guessing their academic path and lead

them to switch majors which is time consuming and costly for the student (Ren & Kim, 2017).

Yet another study that examined bullying behavior in the nursing field found that the employees

defined bullying as a person who is teased repeatedly in a way that they do not like however they

commented that bullying does not exist if both nursing students are the same strength or power,

and it is not bullying if the nursing student is teased in a friendly way (Shu-Ching et al., 2017).

Traditional bullying, unlike cyberbullying, also lets the perpetrator see the effect it causes on the

victim (Vranjes, Baillien, Vandebosch, Erreygers, & De Witte, 2017).

Besides the health field, the education field has also been shown to experience issues of

bullying (Reed, 2016). A study by Reed, 2016, focused on how non-tenured faculty describe the

effects of bullying on emotional well-being however previous studies in university academia are

said to be under reported for fear of retaliation. The researcher used ten senior/tenured faculty in

order to get their story that involved bullying and this was done by using date collection

consisting of interviews (Reed, 2016). Constant comparison and thematic analysis were used to

find that fear and confusion were the two main themes indicated (Reed, 2016).

An important issue of workplace bullying is the potential that bullying behavior will

become a negative exemplification in which other employees may, in turn, model (Reed, 2016).

Fear in the areas of job loss, physical/mental harm, fear of the unknown, and loss of self-worth

are usually experienced by victims (Reed, 2016). Negative outcomes displayed by victims

usually consist of decreased self-esteem, anger, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and physical illness
 23

(Reed, 2016). Not only do victims display negative outcomes, but they also displayed negative

effects which included thoughts that remaining at their job is not worth the cost to their self-

esteem and self-health (Reed, 2016). Three dimensions explain the nature of bullying behavior

among university staff including exclusion and discrimination, person-related belittlement, and

professional undermining (Meriläinen, Sinkkonen, Puhakka, & Käyhkö, 2016). The nature of

such bullying outlined as sophisticated, psychologically emphasized inappropriate behavior

(Meriläinen et al., 2016).

Research has not only looked at the effects of bullying but has looked at the long-term

effects of bullying. This, however, will not be the case for cyberbullying for some time since it

is such a new phenomenon. Nonetheless, it is still important to find the long-term effects of

traditional bullying to gauge what someone may experience later down the line.

Wolke and Lereya, 2015, reviewed prior research in order to find all the lasting effects

that have been shown from bullying on adolescents and adults. There are both physical and

mental effects. For adolescent victims, it was found that they are at a higher risk for somatic or

psychosomatic problems and more often develop internalizing problems, anxiety disorder, or

depression disorder (Wolke & Lereya, 2015). For adults, the victims describe their encounters as

traumatic and that they fostered fear and confusion within them that extended to their personal

life and compromised their emotional security, physical health, social learning, ego development,

and their hierarchy of even basic needs (Reed, 2016). Victims have also reported that they have

a harder time making or keeping friends and are less likely to live with a partner (Wolke &

Lereya, 2015).

Over time, internalizing problems can increase and there is an increased risk of self-harm

or suicidal thoughts for those who have been bullied (Wolke & Lereya, 2015). Furthermore, if a
 24

person was bullied in primary school, they will display personality symptoms and psychotic

experiences by adolescence (Wolke & Lereya, 2015). For adults, research shows that they are at

an increased risk for displaying psychotic experiences and having suicidal ideation, attempts, and

completed suicides as well as poor general health, lower educational qualifications, bad financial

management, earn less than their peers, and have trouble making and keeping friends (Wolke &

Lereya, 2015).

There is also effects of traditional bullying on the organization as well. Research has

found that acts of bullying can deter productivity and work performance which can be costly to

an organization (Coetzee & van Dyk, 2018). Bullying also lowers job satisfaction which creates

higher turnover rates (Snyman & Loh, 2015). Since cyberbullying has been shown to cause

more of an impact on the victim then traditional bullying, it may also have more of an impact on

the organization as well.

Since both types of bullying, traditional and cyberbullying, can have a negative impact on

adults in the workplace, it is important to not only know the difference between the two but

know how the two types of bullying are carried out. Since traditional bullying has been around

for quite some time, extensive research has been done to investigate the effects of traditional

bullying. However, there is limited research on cyberbullying because advances in technology

are fairly new. There has also been little to no research on the theoretical construct of

cyberbullying and if using electronic media to commit cyberbullying is the same to engaging in

aggressive acts in tradition bullying interactions (Dooley et al., 2009).

Early Literature on Bullying—History of Research on Bullying

The following discussion examines early literature on bullying and history of research on

bullying. The very first research study on bullying was conducted by Dr. Dan Olweus in the
 25

1970’s (Hymel & Swearer, 2015). Based on Olweus research, bullying was defined as a

subcategory of interpersonal aggression and showed characteristics of intentionality, repetition,

imbalance of power, and abuse of power, all of which was the distinction between bullying and

other forms of aggression (Hymel & Swearer, 2015). However, this research study was

conducted in Scandinavia. Significant research on bullying did not hit North America until

tragedies such as Columbine hit in the 1990’s (Hymel & Swearer, 2015).

Since these tragic events occurred and teen suicide increased, attention in the media and

in academia rose which eventually inspired the 2011 U.S. White House Conference on Bullying

(Hymel & Swearer, 2015). This conference invited recognized scholars to critically review

current research and theory on bullying in order to inform future research and practice (Hymel &

Swearer, 2015). The first research study, however, that focused on workplace bullying was in

1990 by Leyman in which he pathed the way to subsequent research on this topic (Rai &

Agarwal, 2016).

What is Cyberbullying?

The meaning of cyberbullying is still emerging. Since many organizations have moved

to online work because of the increased efficiency and flexibility, the potential for new forms of

workplace aggression is there which is known as workplace cyberbullying (Vranjes et al., 2017).

Cyberbullying is commonly referred to as willfully committing harm to another person through

use of such items as phones or computers (Doane, Boothe, Pearson, & Kelley, 2016).

Technology can be abused to not only increase the scale and scope of bullying but the

duration as well (Cohen-Almagor, 2018). This type of bullying can follow victims into their

homes and be expressed on their personal electronic devices (Cohen-Almagor, 2018). The

audience for cyberbullying is much larger and can reach this audience much faster than
 26

traditional bullying (Cohen-Almagor, 2018). Sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat

are applications that a person could use to commit the act of cyberbullying. Facebook, being one

of the largest social media sites, has become such a popular way to bully because of high

perceived anonymity, low supervision, a larger audience, and no time limits (Frison,

Subrahmanyam, & Eggermont, 2016).

Ways in which sites such as Facebook are used to cyberbully are sending harmful

messages or posting pictures that are embarrassing as well as insulting comments and since

people have more access to social information, it makes it even easier to cyberbully (Frison et

al., 2016). Social media encourages cyberbullying because it allows people to interact, such as

commenting, sharing videos, and posting photos to another person’s page (Lowry, Moody, &

Chatterjee, 2017).

Revenge porn is another form of cyberbullying that can be used to hurt someone.

Revenge porn involves online sharing of videos or picture of a sexual nature without the victim’s

consent (El Asam & Samara, 2016). This can happen, for example, between co-workers who

may have dated and shared this type of sensitive material but then later broke up resulting in one

person using those images against the other.

Cyberbullying is a repetitive extensive harmful behavior and the consequences of these

acts of aggression are now considered as a mental and public issue (Ashiq, Majeed, & Malik,

2016). Even though some acts of cyberbullying can be benign, others can have detrimental

effects, such as suicide, on the victim (Lowry et al., 2017). Cyberbullying does not just happen

among co-workers and managers, but customers can also be cyberbullies. An example of this

would be an online customer that is causing the worker extreme stress and discomfort (Lowry et

al., 2017). However, since workers must maintain a clear, dynamic, and connected nature of the
 27

interaction with the customer, it is important that employees do not betray any anti-customer

sentiment while they themselves face customer bullying (D'Cruz & Noronha, 2014).

There are actually several groups of people that can be involved in cyberbullying.

Assistants are those who join into the acts of cyberbullying as well as add their own insults

(Cohen-Almagor, 2018). Reinforcers are there to encourage the cyberbully by providing them

with positive feedback (Cohen-Almagor, 2018). Watchers remain passive while watching but do

not interfere while outsiders move away from the cyberbullying and withdraw (Cohen-Almagor,

2018). Lastly, the defenders are there to actively intervene in order to protect the victim (Cohen-

Almagor, 2018). The only group of people that are not complicit in the acts of cyberbullying

against the victim are the defenders (Cohen-Almagor, 2018).

History of cyberbullying with adolescents. Cyberbullying can have a significant

impact on an adolescent’s psychological state. Researcher Dilmaç, (2017) aimed to find the

relationship between teens’ level of hopelessness and cyberbullying. The researcher hypothesize

that values influence hopelessness and cyberbullying and that hopelessness influences

cyberbullying (Dilmaç, 2017). The researchers found that there is a negative linear relationship

between adolescents’ values and their level of cyberbullying which indicates that an adolescents’

level of cyberbullying decreases as their values increase (Dilmaç, 2017). This study offers a

better assessment of adolescent attitudes as well as a better understanding of the importance of

values among adolescents and their cyberbullying behaviors. Many research studies aim at

finding the effects of cyberbullying on adolescents and interventions placed to prevent the effects

of cyberbullying on adolescents. Bauman and Newman, 2013, wanted to test the assumption that

cyberbullying may cause greater harm than conventional bullying. The researchers used

questionnaires to compare different scenarios of each cyberbullying and traditional bullying and
 28

found that distress is actually caused by the incident of bullying and not by how the bullying

occurred. Even though there was no indication that cyberbullying is more harmful, the

researchers do stress the importance of implementing strategies to help victims by the actual

severity of the bullying and not how they were bullied.

Another research study on adolescents and cyberbullying used previous studies to

examine the evidence of cyberbullying interventions for teens who are experiencing symptoms

of depression because of being a victim of cyberbullying (Reed, Cooper, Nugent, & Russell,

2016). Literature review was conducted by searching the University of Tennessee online library

using key terms and focused on 12-18-year-old who were victims of cyberbullying and the

theoretical framework for this article discusses that social identity theory may explain why teens

yearn to be a part of group thus leading to participating in online harassment of peers (Reed et

al., 2016). After review of several articles, the authors concluded that many of the research

articles findings show evidence that engaging in cyberbullying, either as the victim or aggressor

can be a contributor to depression (Reed et al., 2016). Unfortunately, cyberbullying among

adolescents is ranked the lowest anxiety-producing stimuli due to parents feeling far removed

from the issue (Choo, 2015).

Parents and adolescents generally have different views when it comes to cyberbullying

and the link with social media use. Teens feel the need to use social media as a means to

construct their social identity (Oberst, Wegmann, Stodt, Brand, & Chamarro, 2017). This need

can become obsessive thus leading to addictive tendencies towards usage of social media.

Parents feel that excessive use among teen on social media sites will lessen their involvement

with their real-world environment and any school issues they may have (Oberst et al., 2017).

Some key components that lead to certain cyberbullying theories look at usage of social media
 29

among adolescents. Adolescents that display higher levels of depression will engage in higher

levels of social comparison and feedback seeking (Nesi, Miller, & Prinstein, 2017).

Also, increased use of social media can have a negative impact on the psychological

well-being of an adolescent and depressed teens tend to have a higher usage rate of social media

then that on non-depressed teens (Radovic, Gmelin, Stein, & Miller, 2017). Addictive behaviors

towards information technology such as social media are showing signs of psychological issues

among adolescents as well as the fear of missing out (Oberst et al., 2017).

Even though past research has found an association between the two, the actual cause and

effect link has not been found (Reed et al., 2016). Prior studies have also been done to compare

cyberbullying with substance abuse in adolescents. Researchers Selkie, Kota, Chan, and

Moreno, 2015, studied the relationship between involvement in cyberbullying and depression or

alcohol use by female college students. The researchers used logistic regression to test the

associations between the involvement of cyberbullying and depression or problem drinking. The

authors found that 27% of the participants were victims of cyberbullying, 17.4% had signs of

depression, and 37.5% had a drinking problem. These findings suggest that those with any

involvement in cyberbullying had increases odds of depression and alcohol use and those who

were actually victims had an increased odd of depression (Selkie et al., 2015).

Cyberbullying can also have a sexual element, even with adolescents, and have a more

damaging effect such as self-harm and suicidal ideation (Coburn, Connolly, & Roesch, 2015).

Hamm et al., 2015, also did extensive research on what the impact of cyberbullying on an

adolescent’s psychological state was but their research consisted of analyzing many research

studies that were already done in this area. They used 11 databases with a 12-year span dated

from January 1, 2000 until January 14, 2012 and by using two independent reviewers, were able
 30

to include the studies that reported primary research, evaluated the use of social media in the

context of cyberbullying and included children or adolescents (Hamm et al., 2015). The

researchers were able to locate 36 studies that matched their criteria. A majority of the

participants were between the ages of 12 and 18 with a prevalence of cyberbullying at a

percentage of 23. Among these studies, five reported consistent correlation whereas the other

five reported a weak correlation between cyberbullying and anxiety. Ten of the studies found a

correlation between cyberbullying and depression and the five studies that researched suicide and

the link to cyberbullying found conflicting results (Hamm et al., 2015). This study was able to

show how inconsistent research has been in this area. The only positive correlation has been

with cyberbullying and the link with depression, but all other areas are contradictory.

The most significant research conducted on teens regarding cyberbullying is the link with

cyberbullying and suicide. Researchers Messias, Kindrick, and Castro, 2014, used data from the

2011 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey to study the relationship between regular bullying as

associated with depression and suicide and cyberbullying. The respondents of the survey were

high school students from grades 9-12 throughout the United States (Messeas et al., 2014). The

authors found that girls are more likely to report being bullied overall, especially cyberbullying,

then boys whereas boys are more likely to report being bullying exclusively at school (Messeas

et al., 2014). The authors also found that 2-week sadness and suicidality items are highest

among the teens that reported both cyberbullying and in school bullying (Messeas et al., 2014).

The authors stress the immediate need to place interventions to prevent both forms of

cyberbullying and they also stress the importance of screening for depression and suicidal

thoughts of those teens who report being either cyberbullied or bullied at school (Messeas et al.,

2014). Adolescent cyberbullying victims tend to display lower self-esteem, higher depression,
 31

and higher loneliness and self-esteem, depression, and loneliness are thought to be interrelation

(Varghese & Pistole, 2017).

Unfortunately, many of the current research articles have contradictory findings when

trying to find the link among cyberbullying, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation in

adolescents. There is also a lack in research to why someone may cyberbully someone else. One

popular theory as to why someone may cyberbully another is Theory of Planned Behavior, which

proposes that a person’s behavior is reflected by three variables including subjective norms,

attitude, and Perceived Behavioral Control (Cyberbullying among students: An application of

Theory of Planned Behavior, 2017). After testing this theory, researchers found that the only

variable that tested true was the effect of subjective norms on the intention to cyberbully where

the other variables were not considered to play a part in the intention to cyberbully. This is

important to many adolescents and when they encounter all forms of cyber-insults, it can lead to

an adolescent to become depressed (Reed et al., 2016).

However, other researchers conclude that it is actually Social Information Processing Theory

which suggests that aggression is due to impairment of social problem solving (Bauman, Cross,

& Walker, 2015). And yet another theory that researchers believe is the reason one may

cyberbully is the General Strain Theory. The General Strain Theory states that individuals who

experience strain will take that and convert it to aggression thus leading to acts such as

cyberbullying (Bauman et al., 2015).

Protection Motivation Theory may also be considered a reason of electronic communication

safe behavior intentions and cyberbullying victimization (Doane et al., 2016). A study was

conducted to test a hypothesis of (1) perceived susceptibility, perceived severity of victimization,

response efficacy, and self-efficacy regarding electronic communication safe behavior would
 32

have a positive effect on communication safe behavior intentions, (2) that electronic

communication safe behavior intention would be negatively related to online risky behavior, and

(3) that electronic communication risky behavior would be associated with cyberbullying (Doane

et al., 2016). Results show that three out of the four PMT items were actually related to risky

behavior including perceived severity, response efficacy, and self-efficacy (Doane et al., 2016).

Other researchers aimed at finding how being the victim of cyberbullying relates to

internalizing and externalizing problems and found that there is a significant relationship

between peer cybervictimization and internalizing and externalizing problems however it still

does not explain why they may become a victim (Fisher, Gardella, & Teurbe-Tolon, 2016).

However, another researcher did find that maternal attachment anxiety could be an early warning

sign for either cyberbullying victimization or offending but was not clear as to which one

(Varghese & Pistole, 2017). If it is a risk factor for either being the victim or the offender, it

does not lead to a conclusive finding that would help further research in the area of why someone

would become a victim. The research also had huge limitations as most of the actual

respondents reported that they had no cyberbullying experience.

Knowing the meaning of cyberbullying is important when conducting research on it. Many

researchers describe cyberbullying in different ways and it is beneficial to use the multiple

definitions in any future research. Since cyberbullying has been studied frequently in

adolescents, using the findings to help guide research on adults can also be beneficial.

The Evolution of Cyberbullying.

The following section of literature review will look at the evolution of cyberbullying.

Some of the earliest research articles try to define cyberbullying. Early studies defined

cyberbullying as willful and repeated harm inflicted through electronic text however, as
 33

technology advanced, other forms of electronic communication were added into definitions of

cyberbullying (Patchin & Hinduja, 2015). However, bullying has been around way before

cyberbullying was even close to causing problems in peoples’ lives. Schoolyard bullying has

been growing over the past thirty years (Hendricks, Lumadue, & Waller, 2012).

Before technology was an option, bullying would consist of the traditional, or face-to-

face, type of harassment. There is even an evolutionary trend from elementary school through

adulthood. In elementary school, children may name call or hit each other but since they have

limited access to electronic devices, and when they do it is for educational programs, it generally

stays with the traditional bullying (Hendricks et al., 2012). As they move into middle school and

high school, they are given the opportunity to possess cell phones and they are given access to

computers with more freedom to interact with different websites (Hendricks et al., 2012).

Recently, cyberbullying has moved into the workplace. Before cyberbullying, however, there

was also traditional bullying in the workplace. During the 1990s, this type of bullying was

widely ignored by organizations (Piotrowski, 2012).

Since most work places are more hi-tech, evidence has shown that cyberbullying is the

preferred type of harassment among employees now (Piotrowski, 2012). Cyberbullying can even

go further resulting in cyberstalking. Cyberstalking is a more ominous and pernicious type of

abuse (Piotrowski, 2012). However, one may ask how prevalent is cyberbullying in the

workplace? A survey conducted by multiple universities showed that 8 out of 10 people have

experienced cyberbullying in the workplace within the last 6 months which shows a trend is

evolving (Manners & Cates, 2016).

Cyberbullying can also stem from people getting involved in risky online behavior either

in the workplace or with co-workers. The four main types of risky behavior include sharing
 34

embarrassing photographs of themselves or others, publicly sharing their location, engaging in or

sharing videos of risky pranks, and engaging in sexual communication with strangers (Branley &

Covey, 2018).

When looking at how research has evolved for bullying and cyberbullying, researchers

Zych, Ortega-Ruiz, and Del Rey, 2015, reviewed 309 articles that studied this phenomenon.

Their research found that the highest percentage of articles that were published early on focused

on the nature and dynamics of bullying whereas later studies on bullying and cyberbullying

focused on the related variables (Zych et al., 2015). Also, only a few highly cited articles

focused more on the involvement of minorities in bullying and even less looked at prevention

and intervention of bullying (Zych et al., 2015).

How adults cyberbully. There is a fine line between a co-worker who jokes around at

the expense of another co-worker and workplace cyberbullying. There is also a difference

between workplace cyberbullying and traditional workplace bullying (Zhang & Leidner, 2018).

In face to face bullying, the bully is able to see the damage they are doing as it occurs but in

workplace cyberbullying, they are able to inflict damage with being copresent (Zhang & Leidner,

2018). Not only are the bullies able to conceal their identities, but they are able to reach a larger

audience (Zhang & Leidner, 2018).

How adults cyberbully can include uploading inappropriate pictures of a coworker to

social media or spreading rumors about a colleague at a company party (Zhang & Leidner,

2018). Workplace cyberbullying exposes employees to negative treatment from supervisors, co-

workers, or subordinates by electronic form and can also include insulting remarks, and repeated

criticism of an employee’s errors (Zhang & Leidner, 2018). There are two main electronic

devices that are used by cyberbullies including computers for email or access to website and cell
 35

phones for text messaging and calls (Privitera & Campbell, 2009). They can also use multiple

outlets to attack a co-worker and can include e-mail, social media, text messages, etc. Written

communications can be manipulated by a bully by re-engineering a routine email flow and

intentionally excluding the full diversity of viewpoints that may have been expressed earlier in

the conversation (Ryan, 2016). .

Workplace cyberbullying also consist of three types of behavior including person related,

work related, and intrusive (Vranjes et al., 2017). Person related, and work related correspond

with any distinctions made in workplace bullying literature and refer to acts that respectively

target a person and make that person’s job difficult to perform (Vranjes et al., 2017). Work

related behaviors can include not sharing work-related information online and intrusiveness can

include invading a person’s privacy and making them feel pursued (Vranjes et al., 2017).

Why adults cyberbully. When it comes to adolescents, they are vulnerable to being a

cyberbully or being cyberbullied because they are not fully capable of understanding what the

relationship between a persons’ behavior is and the consequences to their behavior (Cohen-

Almagor, 2018). They also lack adequate ability to understand and weigh dilemmas, evaluate

their choices, and make sound decisions (Cohen-Almagor, 2018). However, victims of

cyberbullying, as well as witnesses, may wonder why an adult would cyberbully. Social learning

theory has been successful is trying to understand why people may cyberbully. This theory

explains and recognizes the nature of the bully and focuses on the behavioral aspect, cues, and

cognitive processes that are demonstrated (Ashiq et al., 2016).

Social cultural theory has also been used to understand why adults cyberbully because it

suggests that bullying is a consequence of power differences in different social groups (Ashiq et

al., 2016). Other findings of what makes a cyberbully show that they come from troubled homes
 36

and have a hard time fitting in (Ryan, 2016). By cyberbullying, they are compensating for their

own insecurities and shortcomings by attempted to assert force as well as inflict pain on co-

workers or peers (Ryan, 2016).

Workplace bullies tend to be outliers without close family and no friends and in an

attempt to undermine those that they are threatened by, they prey on the weak (Ryan, 2016). The

reward for committing or engaging in cyberbullying is often delays as compared to face-to-face

bullying, and this is thought to have an effect on how goals for these types of actions are formed

and pursued (Dooley et al., 2009). It was even found through studies that bullies find it easier to

cyberbully then to bully someone face-to-face (Asher et al., 2017).

There are psychological predictors that are present in cyberbullies (Ashiq et al., 2016).

Some of the predictors include lack of empathy, less empathic responsiveness, depression,

anxiety, and behavioral problems (Ashiq et al., 2016). These predictors are some of the reasons

that can drive someone to commit the act of bullying. Males are also more prone to cyberbully

because behavioral problems are usually higher in males (Ashiq et al., 2016). The Barlett

Gentile cyberbullying model has also been used to describe cyberbullies and is a social-cognitive

model that elucidates the psychological process involved with cyberbullying perpetration (Barlett

& Kowalewski, 2018). One of the key elements to this model is that it suggests that learning, via

the act of cyberbullying, leads to the development of perceptions of anonymity and the belief that

one’s muscularity is irrelevant in the online world which therefore leads to subsequent

cyberbullying perpetration (Barlett & Kowalewski, 2018). According to The Barlett Gentile

cyberbullying model, the only precursory to committing cyberbullying is positive cyberbullying

attitudes and one of these attitudes is believing that cyberbullying is the most appropriate method

to cause harm on someone (Barlett & Kowalewski, 2018). Also, many victims of face-to-face
 37

bullying resort to being the perpetrator of cyberbullying as a form of retaliation (Lazuras et al.,

2017).

A person’s personality is also a factor in trying to understand why a person would bully

another. Research has found that there are five factors that are used to gauge personality that is

consistent with being a bully. These factors include extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism,

openness to experience, and conscientiousness (Wilson & Nagy, 2017). A bully may

demonstrate a lower score in extraversion because they have difficulty engaging in new activities

or talking to people they do not know (Wilson & Nagy, 2017). A bully would also score low on

agreeableness because they are unlikely to be courteous as well as be abrasive in nature (Wilson

& Nagy, 2017). However, a bully would likely score high on neuroticism because people who

demonstrate neuroticism usually have high level of stress and anxiety (Wilson & Nagy, 2017).

They would generally score high on openness to experience because they are likely to be

unhappy with repetitive experiences and the bullying would be something new for them (Wilson

& Nagy, 2017). Also, a bully would generally score low on conscientiousness because these

types of personalities are usually diligent and timely in their tasks and take on a great deal of

responsibility (Wilson & Nagy, 2017). Emotional stability is also a factor in determining why

someone would cyberbully another. Anger, fear, and sadness have been the three most

substantive emotions when determining tendencies (Vranjes, Baillien, Vandebosch, Erreygers, &

De Witte, 2018). Anger can lead a person to act out against another and fear and sadness in

victims caused by the bully can make the perpetrator feel powerful therefore giving them

incentive to continue acts of bullying (Vranjes et al., 2018).

The victim’s characteristics can also dictate why someone would cyberbully another.

Women are more likely to be cyberbullied then men (Samnani & Singh, 2016). Older employees
 38

tend to be cyberbullied more than younger employees (Samnani & Singh, 2016) Ethnicity also

has been found to be a factor. Those of ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be cyberbullied

then white employees (Samnani & Singh, 2016).

A theory that has been applied to victims and why they are cyberbullied is Victim

Precipitation Theory. Victim precipitation Theory suggest that employees that appear more

vulnerable will tend to precipitate cyberbullying behavior from others and when an employee is

of a minority group at an organization, they may appear more vulnerable (Samnani & Singh,

2016). Victims of cyberbullying have been shown to have parents with higher parental stress

who used more of a permissive education style when they were growing up as well

(Garaigordobil & Machimbarrena, 2017).

Co-workers as bystanders. Bystanders’ roles are distinguished between constructive

and destructive and further subdividing into passive and active roles (Hellemans, Dal Cason, &

Casini, 2017). When it comes to cyberbullying, it does not just affect the victim but bystanders

as well. There also many factors that determine whether a co-worker would even defend their

colleague if they were to witness them being cyberbullied. Low moral disengagement, anti-

social conformity, high perceived control, and bad relationships with bullies were all found to

have links with high defending tendencies (Song & Oh, 2018). Co-workers are also more likely

to defend victims where there is a lack of other bystanders (Song & Oh, 2018). However,

bystanders may be hesitant to defend their co-worker for fear of being the next victim or lack of

effective countermeasures (Song & Oh, 2018). Low self-efficacy by the bystander is also a

precursor of the fear to intervene, along with external attribution (Hellemans, Dal Cason, &

Casini, 2017).
 39

The relationship between the victim and the bystanders is also an indicator of the

likelihood that the bystander will intervene. When co-workers are close to the victim, they are

more likely to exhibit helping behavior such as defending the victim and social support (Brody &

Vangelisti, 2016). However, victim’s friends are usually only limited to low-profile support

because a perpetrator will purposely intensify his or her attacks against those victims that are

receiving support from their co-workers (Wu & Wu, 2018).

Social identity was yet another factor that determines if a bystander steps in. If the victim

was part of the bystanders “in-group” they are more likely to defend them (Brody & Vangelisti,

2016). Lastly, because managers have authority over such things as performance appraisals and

promotions of all the employees, bystanders typically choose to tolerate the bullying behavior

out of fear that they will become the next victim (Wu & Wu, 2018).

Bystander’s issues start in early adolescents. Research has shown that individuals choose

peers who were similar in bullying and became more similar to friends in bullying over time, but

this is only present in early adolescence (Sijtsema et al., 2014). There was also evidence that

friends’ influence was stronger in young adolescents that displayed higher moral disengagement

and bullying was also indirectly influenced through friends’ moral disengagement (Sijtsema et

al., 2014). Lastly, young adolescents maintained friendships with peers who were similar in

defending (Sijtsema et al., 2014).

Cyberbullying has evolved quickly just as technology has. There are also a great deal of

factors when analyzing cyberbullying. It is not only important to know how adults cyberbullying

or why they cyberbullying one another but knowing the perceived effects to the bystanders is

important in research as well.

 40

Legal Issues with Cyberbullying

The following section of literature review will look at legal issues with cyberbullying.

Little is known about the legal implications of cyberbullying however, it can fall into many

categories of law that are already in place. Every location is different, so it is important to know

what the local laws are regarding this offense. For example, in the UK, there are many statutes

that cyberbullying could fall under (El Asam & Samara, 2016).

One of these laws include Protection from Harassment Act 1997 which outlines that a

person is prohibited from conducting behavior that amounts to harassment (El Asam & Samara,

2016). Another of the laws is the Malicious Communications Act 1988 which says that sending

letters with an intent to cause distress or anxiety is against the law (El Asam & Samara, 2016). It

is further detailed that it is an offence for someone to send electronic communications that are

offensive, contain false information but further details that the person sending the message has to

be intentionally trying to cause distress to the recipient and not if the communications were made

to reinforce a demand or belief (El Asam & Samara, 2016).

In the United States, one of the most prevalent measures thus far have actually been

legislative intervention in bullying and cyberbullying but studies that focus on the effectiveness

of legislation are still pending (Yang & Grinshteyn, 2016). Also, in the U.S., bullying is

primarily addressed at a state level because states are what deal with it through criminal statutes

however the U.S. Constitution does play a role in that potentially harmful speech may be

protected under the First Amendment (Yang & Grinshteyn, 2016). All states in the U.S. have

issued some type of bullying legislation and even though each state may differ, 47 out of 49

states with bullying legislation also have an electronic harassment listed as a form of bullying

(Yang & Grinshteyn, 2016).

 41

When looking and decided legal options in order to address cyberbullying someone may

be experiencing, it is important to consider that there is a threshold of severity needed for

evidence to satisfy any of the many laws (El Asam & Samara, 2016). This can be done by

electronics evidence and a trail of messages which would prove crucial in a court of law

specially to prove harassment or stalking (El Asam & Samara, 2016). There are steps that the

victim can take before resulting into legal action, however. These include having material

removed from the website, and having a user removed from the site and retrieving the images (El

Asam & Samara, 2016). Since cyberbullying falls under a form of bullying, it is also important

to know the laws in regard to bullying in the workplace. California was the first to introduce the

Healthy Workplace Bill which addressed workplace bullying and even though the bill died in

committee, legislature enacted a limited workplace bullying amendment to California’s

discrimination law in 2014 (Yamada, 2015).

Another state that took cyberbullying seriously was Tennessee. In 2014, Tennessee

enacted a statute directing a state commission to come up with a workplace anti-bullying policy

for state, county, and local governmental entities to adopt (Yamada, 2015). This policy would be

used to assist employers on how to recognize and act to abusive conduct in the organization as

well as prevent retaliation against employees that have reported abusive behavior in the

organization (Yamada, 2015). The governor of New Hampshire, however, vetoed the bill that

would have required any state employers to adopt a policy for workplace bullying because it

could possibly increase unwarranted workplace-related litigations (Yamada, 2015).

There is, however, a more dangerous form of cyberbullying called cyberstalking.

Cyberstalking is the use of electronics to harass or threaten others (DeMatteo, Wagage, &

Fairfax-Columbo, 2017). Cyberstalking has a very similar definition to cyberbullying, but it

 42

goes beyond just the harassment of others and can progress to threats of harm. Cyberstalking is

common in domestic violence victims and it strips them of two essential tools that traditionally

were used by victims to protect themselves from a stalker (Shimizu, 2013).

The first tool lost by victims is the ability to prosecute and the second tool lost is the

ability to obtain or enforce civil protection orders just on the basis of cyberstalking (Shimizu,

2013) A study by DeMatteo et al. (2017) compared the laws with public perception and asked

participants what would be acceptable punishments for cyberstalkers. The punishments that the

participants agreed are acceptable in order from highest percentage of participants choosing that

form to least include restraining order, paying court fines, probation, compensating the victim,

incarceration, banning the cyberstalker from using the internet, providing treatment, and banning

the cyberstalker from even using a computer (DeMatteo et al., 2017). Although almost every US

state has enacted cyberstalking laws, there seems to be a variation of definitions, scope, provided

protections, and punishment compared to what the participants views are (DeMatteo et al.,

2017).

There are also several issues when deciding to bring legal action against a bully or

cyberbully. The first issue is that police officers are usually not experts in technology thus

intervening online may not be prevalent (Samara et al., 2017). The next problem is financial cost

which is the major reason why cases of bullying never reach court (Samara et al., 2017).

Another issue is focused on jurisdictional problems because the cyberbullying could be taking

place in another country with completely different laws, so the victims are only partly protected

by the law (Samara et al., 2017). This can still happen in the workplace as many companies have

employees abroad. Lastly, it is believed by some researchers that criminalizing cyberbullying

behavior is likely to discourage disclosure and only the most egregious incidents are likely to be
 43

reported (Coburn et al., 2015). Many of the incidents will be undetected and both the victim and

the perpetrator will be left to deal with the consequences without any help (Coburn et al., 2015).

Since every location in the world is different in regard to their laws, it is important to

know what the local laws are regarding cyberbullying. Little is known about the legal

implications of cyberbullying however, it can fall into many categories of law that are already in

place. Victims also should be aware of what the laws are and what options they have to

defending against cyberbullying.

Reporting Cyberbullying

The following section of literature review will look at the process of reporting

cyberbullying. Very little research has been conducted on the responses to cyberbullying

incidents by the victim or what the actions were by managers, teachers, police, etc., if

cyberbullying was reported (Addington, 2013). Research has shown a positive relationship

between the seriousness of the incidents and reporting it (Addington, 2013). There were also

patterns that show that females and frequent victims are more likely to report affect local

officials’ understanding of the incident of cyberbullying problems at their schools or

organizations (Addington, 2013).

A common mistake that victims make are that they fail to report the cyberbullying to

their manager or supervisor and they perceive that electronic communication is not traceable, so

they do not think they can report it (Hendricks et al., 2012). However, underreporting

cyberbullying by victims can result in misallocation of resources (Addington, 2013). There are

many factors of why someone may not report the incidents of cyberbullying. These factors can

include lack of awareness or underestimating the effect that cyberbullying can have, fear of
 44

others’ reactions, or the desire to just deal with the problem themselves (Gao, Zhao, &

McJunkin, 2016).

Employer responses to cyberbullying. How employers handle cyberbullying can have

a significant effect on the employee and the outcome of the situation. It is also important that

employers are trained in these types of issues so that proper implementations of policies can be

carried out. Legislation has made requirements that employers have an increased recognition

that workplace bullying is a major job stressor (Snyman & Loh, 2015). Without identifying

polices or procedures for cyberbullying, organization leave themselves susceptible to legal issues

(Pastorek, Contacos-Sawyer, & Thomas, 2015). If the harassment is committed by a supervisor,

the employer is automatically held liable for the supervisor’s actions if the actions dealt with loss

of wages, failure to promote, termination, etc. (Pastorek et al, 2015). The employer is also held

responsible if a non-supervisory employee committed harassment in which the employer had

control or knew about it and failed to take immediate action (Pastorek et al., 2015).

Prevention programs have also been used by employers as a response to cyberbullying

and other forms of harassment. Several companies in the health care field set up intervention

programs to aide employees in learning cognitive rehearsed responses and when to use them as

defenses if they were in a bullying situation (Pastorek et al., 2015). Another response can

include stress management training. The goal of stress management training is to provide

employees ways to handle bullying and stressful situations (Pastorek et al., 2015). It is also

essential in having a Human Resources Department that is trained in these types of programs and

can enforce any policies that were set up within the organization (Ritzman, 2016).

However, HR staff can have difficulties in effectively responding to staff complaints of

bullying (Fox & Cowan, 2015). Such difficulties can include conflicts between multiple human
 45

resource roles within an organization, a paucity of specific policies and guidelines for dealing

with a bullying situation, and ambiguous definitions and criteria for what behavior can actually

be considered bullying (Fox & Cowan, 2015). Lastly, organizations should have ways in which

to measure the prevalence of bullying. One way to measure this would be self-identification by

targets in which the targets are supplied with a definition of workplace bullying and then asked

to identify if or how often they have experienced it (Fox & Cowan, 2015). Another way would

be checklists of specific bullying behaviors with definitional criteria that is given to the victim to

check off (Fox & Cowan, 2015).

Workplace policy. Employers need to have policies put in place to combat the

Negative perceived effects that bullying in the workplace can cause. One policy that can be

implemented is zero tolerance policy. To be effective, a zero-tolerance policy needs to be

precise on the position of the organization on cyberbullying, define what the organization says is

cyberbullying, the consequences of cyberbullying, and the penalties associated with

cyberbullying (Snyman & Loh, 2015). Another policy that organizations should implement is a

hiring strategy. This strategy would include screening techniques to identify possible bullying

tendencies in applicants (Pastorek et al., 2015). These tendencies would include contacting prior

employers and asking about the applicant’s reliability, honesty, personality, obtaining criminal

records as well as asking about gaps in employment history (Pastorek et al., 2015).

A third policy that can be placed in the workplace is an anti-bullying policy. An anti-

bullying policy is similar to a zero-tolerance policy. There should be a clear commitment to the

absence of bullying in the workplace, a description of what bullying is, repercussions for

noncompliance, what the responsibilities are of the various stakeholders, assertion that the policy

will be enforced consistently and across the spectrum, and a non-retaliation policy included
 46

(Ritzman, 2016). The policy should also be reviewed regularly to ensure that it is effective and

being communicated efficiently to all employees and training and awareness programs should be

in place to ensure understanding of the policy (Ritzman, 2016).

Lastly, an organization can choose to implement a human resource policy. Strategies for

a human resource policy would include: communicating the policy to each employee; making

sure all employees remain aware of the policy; listen to employees in order to gauge the

organizational climate; provide specific negative and positive examples of action considered

unacceptable or acceptable by displaying behaviors in any written or verbal communication;

having a management team the communicates that bullying or harassing behavior is

unacceptable; maintain ethical guidelines on the usage of social media, email, text messaging, or

any other forms of communication; outline penalties for anyone who violates the policies; create

an inclusive disciplinary process and resolution training (Hall & Lewis, 2014). Having a human

resource department that is knowledgeable on all policies is very important to the organization.

Unfortunately, victims of workplace bullying often perceive human resource staff application of

workplace bullying policy to be inconstant, unfair, and erratic (Ritzman, 2016).

Very little research has been conducted on the responses to cyberbullying incidents by

the victim or what the actions were by managers, teachers, police, etc., if cyberbullying was

reported (Addington, 2013). How employers handle cyberbullying can have a significant effect

on the employee and the outcome of the situation. Employers need to have policies put in place

to combat the negative perceived effects that bullying in the workplace can cause. Also,

management must be quicker in identifying any issues that affect employees within a department

which include traditional bullying and cyberbullying as well as personal conflicts and take action

against these issues to ease tension within a department or organization (Trad & Johnson, 2014).
 47

Solutions to Cyberbullying

The following section of literature review will look at the solutions to cyberbullying that

have been proposed by researchers. Prior research has found that IT, or Information Technology,

features can create a strong cyberbullying opportunity for those people who perceive that they

are being controlled by others and can create a sense of vulnerability which leads them to engage

in cyberbullying (Lowry et al., 2017). Based on this finding, it is thought that other specific IT

design features can also be created to discourage cyberbullying (Lowry et al., 2017). One design

feature that has been created automatically detects cyberbullying entries on the internet by using

seed words from three categories in order to calculate a sematic orientation score and then

maximize the relevance of the categories (Ptaszynski et al., 2016).

Cyberbullying prevention, however, must start in the schools. Some current remedies

that schools have implemented include denied access to the internet for the students, hiring a tech

company to monitor and track the students’ online activity including communications, and

texting programs that gives a way for the students to text school administration with any

cyberbullying incidents that may have occurred (Choo, 2015). Other models have been created

for social media sites such as Twitter that use a machine learning classifier for classifying all of

the tweets as cyberbullying or non-cyberbullying (Al-garadi, Varathan, & Ravana, 2016). Even

though prevention starts in schools, education needs to be directed towards the general

population (Samara et al., 2017). This is important to accomplish because it will ensure that

everyone is aware of what the definition of cyberbullying is, what the consequences are, who is

responsible for combating it, and what the most effective way to stop it is (Samara et al., 2017).

This education can be constructed to include skills training for the loved one of victims, legal
 48

training for employers, technology training for police officers, and coping strategies for the

victims of cyberbullying (Samara et al., 2017).

Another way to prevent cyberbullying is if social media designers focus on safety, are

supportive, are responsible, and are constructive while monitoring their sites (Lowry et al.,

2017). Raising awareness of the significant impact cyberbullying can have on a person is critical

(Choo, 2015). Internet Service Providers, or ISP, should offer easy to use safety features on their

servers and net users should be able to remove content off of their own pages that is undermining

or damaging to their reputation (Cohen-Almagor, 2018). Social media sites such as Facebook

should add noticeable buttons on peoples’ walls that enable them to easily seek professional

assistance when experiencing abuse (Cohen-Almagor, 2018). ISP could also provide uniform

channel for any user that would like to make a complaint (Cohen-Almagor, 2018).

Some researchers have proposed solutions to cyberbullying. The first solution starts with

IT. Specific IT design features can also be created to discourage cyberbullying (Lowry et al.,

2017). Schools are another option. Schools can use denied access to the internet for the

students, hiring a tech company to monitor and track the students online activity including

communications, and texting programs that gives a way for the students to text school

administration with any cyberbullying incidents that may have occurred (Choo, 2015). Lastly,

Internet Service Providers, or ISP, should offer easy to use safety features on their servers and

net users should be able to remove content off of their own pages that is undermining or

damaging to their reputation (Cohen-Almagor, 2018).

Summary

As technology advances, traditional workplace bullying is also changing form.

Traditional bullying in the workplace has become an easier task for the bully by offering
 49

anonymity so that one can harass co-workers by denigration, verbal fights, cyberstalking,

exclusion, pretending to be someone, and outing (Smith, 2015). The co-worker, or bystander is

also impacted by these acts.

Chapter 2 was an extensive review of the literature and research related to cyberbullying

in the workplace. The chapter was divided into sections that include: Moral Disengagement

Theory, Theory of Planned Behavior, differences between traditional bullying and cyberbullying,

effects of traditional bullying, what is bullying, early literature on bullying, what is

cyberbullying, history of cyberbullying with adolescents, and the evolution of cyberbullying.

The chapter continued with how adults cyberbully, why adults cyberbully, co-workers as

bystanders, legal issues with cyberbullying, reporting cyberbullying, employer responses to

cyberbullying, workplace policy, and solutions to cyberbullying.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the impact that cyberbullying has on

adults in the workplaces. The subject of cyberbullying demands increased attention because of

the physical danger it poses to victims as well as psychological and behavior issues associated

with it (Yang & Grinshteyn, 2016). Two theories provide the foundation for this study of

cyberbullying in the workplace. These theories include Albert Bandura’s Moral Disengagement

Theory and Icek Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior. Both theories play a role in

understanding why co-workers may bully.

If researchers can understand why cyberbullying is happening, safeguards can be put in

place to help the victims so that they may continue to work in peace. Even though there has been

extensive research in the area of bullying, cyberbullying is a new phenomenon with the

advancement in technology. There is also significant research with cyberbullying among

adolescents, however, there remains a gap in research for adults in the workplace who fall prey
 50

to cyberbullying. Chapter three will continue with the research methodology used in this study

as well as the population and sample, materials and instrumentation used, procedures, data

collection and analyses, assumptions, limitation, delimitations, and ethical assurances.

 51

Chapter 3: Research Method

The problem addressed by this qualitative descriptive study is that adults in the

workplace are being affected by cyberbullying. The general problem is that as technology

advances, common forms of bullying are also advancing. Bullying has moved to an anonymous

form known as cyberbullying; and ease of use makes it that much more popular as a means of

harassment. Cyberbullying comes in many forms and can include denigration, verbal fights,

cyberstalking, exclusion, pretending to be someone, and outing (Smith, 2015). Once only

thought to be a problem amongst adolescents and young adults, cyberbullying has moved into

the workplace, affecting not only the employees but the employers as well. The specific problem

is that the impact of cyberbullying on adults in the workplace are not known.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the impact that cyberbullying has on

adults in the workplace. This chapter describes the descriptive qualitative research methodology

and design which is proposed to gain an understanding of how employees perceive the

experience and effects of cyberbullying in the workplace. This chapter will also describe the

population and samples, materials/instrumentation, operational definitions of variables, study

procedures, data collection and analysis, assumption, limitations, delimitation, and ethical

assurances for this study.

Research Methodology and Design

A qualitative research method was used in this study. The qualitative method is suitable

because it can produce a description of the participants’ feeling, opinions, and experiences, as

well as interpret the meaning of the participants’ actions (Rahman, 2016). Qualitative research is

an inquiry approach that is useful for exploring and understanding a phenomenon (Al-Busaidi,

2008). Qualitative research is also important when studying a subject such as cyberbullying
 52

because it encompasses a larger range of epistemological viewpoints, different research methods,

and interpretive techniques of trying to understand human behavior (Rahman, 2016). There are

specific steps that should be followed when conducting a qualitative study. First, the researcher

asks the participant broad questions, collects the detailed views in the form of words or images,

analyzes the data for description or theme, and lastly interprets the meaning of the information

by drawing on personal reflections as well as past research (Farber, 2006). The questions in this

study was asked by supplying the participants with open ended surveys.

Another type of methodology that can be used in research is quantitative. However,

quantitative would not be appropriate for this type of study because quantitative research elicits

numbers or percentages and qualitative is used when a better understanding of behavior or

motivation is required (Barnham, 2015). If the study were trying to gauge if cyberbullying were

a real epidemic and wanted to find just how many people may be experiencing it, then a

quantitative study would be sufficient but since the study aims to find what the perceived effects

of cyberbullying are qualitative method will be used.

A descriptive design is suitable for use in research where a more naturalistic inquiry is

needed such as when studying workers’ natural response to cyberbullying (Lambert & Lambert,

2012). Descriptive research was used in this study to obtain information concerning the current

status of cyberbullying in the workplace and what exists with respect to variables or condition in

this situation (Colorafi & Evans, 2016). Descriptive studies collect larger amounts of data in

order to produce a detailed analysis as well as yielding rich data that can lead to an important

recommendation in practice (Colorafi & Evans, 2016).

There are also other types of designs available for researchers. Although a descriptive

design was used for this study, other designs include case studies, phenomenology, and narrative
 53

research. Case studies are used in research where the researcher has a case that is bounded by a

time or place that can inform the researcher of the problem (Creswell, Hanson, Plano Clark, &

Morales, 2007). In this study, the problem investigated is not found in a bounded situation but

exists in a diverse set of work circumstances. The type of problem for which case studies are best

suited are when the researchers need an in-depth understanding of a case or cases and the focus

of case studies is to develop an in-depth description and analysis of a case or cases (Creswell,

2006).

Phenomenology focuses on understanding the essence of the participants’ experiences

(Creswell, 2006). Phenomenology is best used when the researcher seeks to understand a lived

experience of a person (Creswell et al., 2007). This would be appropriate for this study however

phenomenology is better used when the researcher needs to describe the essence of a lived

phenomenon and in this study, the aim is to explore the details of the issue in cyberbullying

(Creswell, 2006).

Lastly, narrative research is an option when deciding which research design to use.

Narrative research uses detailed stories to tell a problem (Creswell et al., 2007). However, much

of narrative research is the participant retelling the story and cyberbullying would be best told as

it is being experienced. Narrative research focuses on exploring the life of an individual whereas

this study is primarily focused on the work aspects of an individuals’ life (Creswell, 2006). For

these reasons a qualitative descriptive study method and design were identified as most

appropriate for this study.

Population and Sample

The general population for this study consists of any worker in the United States that is a

current victim or witness of cyberbullying at the job in which they identify as being cyberbullied.
 54

The target population sample included both male and female workers between the ages of 21 and

65 within the population of U.S. workers currently being cyberbullied or witnessing it in the

workplace.

Participants were sampled until data saturation had been reached. Data saturation in

qualitative research is an important objective on which to focus when deciding what the

population and sample will consist of. In order to achieve data saturation, there should be

enough data in order to replicate the study and further coding is no longer possible (Fusch &

Ness, 2015). Data saturation occurs when no new information can be found among the

participants (Given, 2008). However, failure to reach data saturation hampers content validity

(Fusch & Ness, 2015). The sample in this study contains a sufficient amount to demonstrate the

perceived effects of cyberbullying on workers but not too many that the participant’s answers are

monotonous. The number of participants, 21, was used in this study to avoid redundancy in their

answers.

A purposeful sampling procedure was used to find and select the sample for this study.

Purposeful sampling involves identifying and choosing individuals that are knowledgeable and

have experience with cyberbullying (Palinkas et al., 2015). The reason that purposeful sampling

was used in this study is that information-rich participants will provide insight to

cyberbullying (Palinkas et al, 2015). Purposive sampling was used to aide researchers in

identifying and choosing participants who had experience being cyberbullied and who are

willing to engage in open-ended surveys about their lived experience (Willis, Sullivan-Bolyai,

Knafl, & Cohen, 2016).

Participants were recruited via posts to Facebook groups and a survey site titled

SurveyMonkey. The post indicated that there is a need for participants that are either victims
 55

of or witnesses to cyberbullying for a study being conducted to find the perceived effects of

cyberbullying on adults in the workplace. The participants must be current victim or witnesses

of cyberbullying at the job in which they identify as being cyberbullied and be between the ages

of 21 and 65. The post on Facebook sent them to a screening questionnaire on SurveyMonkey.

The post was displayed on pages that are geared towards workplace bullying after receiving

permission from the page administrators to post on their pages. If the participants were eligible,

they were then given the informed consent followed by the open-ended questions. Their

eligibility was determined if they are current victims or witnesses of cyberbullying in an

organization where they currently work as well as being between the ages of 21 and 65.

Materials/Instrumentation

The primary tool for data collection in this study was (2) semi-structured questionnaires

with open-ended questions administered online each consisting of 13 questions. One

questionnaire asked about experiences of cyberbullying while the other questionnaire asked

about experiences witnessing cyberbullying. Participants received both questionnaires.

Questionnaires are a common instrument when trying to collect data from participants and aim to

seek the opinion of individuals that are directly related to the objective of the study (Yaya, 2014).

Advantages of using a questionnaire in research studies are anonymity of the participants, the

researcher can collect a large amount of data in a short amount of time, and it can cost less than

other instruments (Yaya, 2014).

Using semi-structured questionnaires with open-ended questions have many advantages

to researchers. They allow participants to not only include more detailed information but also

explain if they do not understand or have an opinion about a question (Colorado State University,

2018). Open ended-questions also limit response errors because the participants cannot just
 56

answer any choice. An example of this would be if they were to answer no for all of the

questions in a closed-ended survey without even reading it (Colorado State University, 2018).

Lastly, open-ended questions allow for obtaining extra information from the participant which

can be used more readily for secondary analysis by other researchers (Colorado State University,

2018).

Semi-structured questionnaires with open-ended questions are also suitable for use in

studying cyberbullying. The open-ended questions can reassure the researcher that all issues

have been covered and may increase response rates (O’Cathain & Thomas, 2004). A qualitative,

open-ended questionnaire will provide extensive information that pertains to the participants’

viewpoints and experience of a certain area or topic (Turner, 2010). Open-ended questions allow

participants to add as much detailed information as they wish to and also allows the researcher to

ask probing questions as a way to follow-up (Turner, 2010). This descriptive qualitative study

used open-ended questionnaires to collect detailed responses from the participants.

Prior to administration of the questionnaire, it was essential to conduct a field test of the

questionnaire that was administered to a group of sample participants to ensure that the

participants understood the questions as well as gave honest feedback on the questionnaire

design (Mcleod, 2018). The author used the field test in order to avoid inadequate or unrelated

answers and ensure validity. Procedures were also put in place in order to ensure reliability

within the study. Administering identical questionnaires for the victims and identical

questionnaires for the witnesses will ensure internal reliability. Finally, QDA Miner and

Wordstat software will be used to process and analyze the data because it has several tools to

partially or fully automate analysis of participant’s responses and identify any themes or patterns

without reading the individual responses (Provalis Research, 2018).

 57

Study Procedures

After approval was obtained to conduct the study from NorthCentral University’s

Institutional Review Board (IRB), the study began with 20 participants but did not exceed 25.

Participants were invited to take the online open-ended questionnaire via postings on Facebook

that lead the participant to a screening questionnaire on SurveyMonkey and if they qualified,

they were given the informed consent and the questionnaire. The post indicated that there is a

need for participants that are either victims or witnesses to cyberbullying in the workplace. The

post also indicated that the research is for a study of cyberbullying of adults in the workplace and

these posts were placed on Facebook pages that are geared towards workplace bullying with the

consent of the page administrator. Any participants that were referred by other participants were

able to contact the researcher to obtain the link to the data collection materials via the Facebook

messenger application or email which was provided to all participant at the start of their

questionnaire. Once criteria of being a current victim or witness to cyberbullying in an

organization where they currently work and being between the ages of 21 and 65 were met, the

survey continued to the informed consent page. External validity was achieved by using both

sexes, a large age range (anything over 21), and any economic class. Each questionnaire,

including the criteria questions, was estimated to take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete.

Data Collection and Analysis

All questionnaires were administered online with an option to submit when complete.

The program, SurveyMonkey, automatically emailed the researcher once the participant has

submitted the questionnaire. Once questionnaires were received, they were downloaded

manually on a computer and stored in a folder with the participants’ alias on it.
 58

Data triangulation is the process of collecting information from multiple sources to

reduce the risk that the conclusion will show only the systematic biases or limitation and also

allows the researcher to gain a broader understanding of the issue (Uwe, 2018). When the data

was analyzed, answers from each group were compared to determine if there is an agreement

between the two groups or if there is bifurcation of information.

Coding was used to find any patterns in the participants’ responses. The responses were

analyzed and grouped to determine the different themes using such factors as word repetition and

key words. Analysis of the data included using an open coding method. Open codes use and

apply codes that evolve from the text (Erik, 2016). QDA Miner and Wordstat software were

used to process and analyze the data because it has several tools to partially or fully automate

analysis of participant’s responses and identify any themes or patterns without reading the

individual responses (Provalis Research, 2018.).

The first step was to read through the participant responses and create categories based

on the findings. The second step was to label the responses with the categories previously

created and then identify any patterns. Lastly, an analysis was done by summarizing the patterns

that were previously identified. Researchers have debated on whether it is more beneficial to

open code by going line-by-line or by similar events, actions, interactions, etc. (Erik, 2016). For

this study, similar events, actions, and interactions were used to code the responses and there was

a constant comparison of data and categories throughout the analysis (Erik, 2016).

Assumptions

An assumption is how people make inferences based on their observations of others’

behavior (Hagger & Chatzisarantis, 2009). In this study, it was assumed that the sample will be

representative of the actual population of victims and witnesses of workplace cyberbullying. It is

 59

assumed that the participants’ responses were honest and complete, and the accurateness of their

answers will reveal their actual and true lived experiences. It is also assumed that all participants

have either been a victim of cyberbullying or witnessed it in the workplace. The findings and the

data analysis will be the effect of an impartial and unbiased examination.

Limitations

The number of victims of cyberbullying and those who witness it is limited as compared

to the general workforce population. Even though cyberbullying among adults is growing as

technology advances, having someone recognize that what they are experiencing, or witnessing,

is actually cyberbullying may be hindered. Many of the employees who may have experienced

severe forms of cyberbullying may have resigned from the job that they were experiencing it at.

However, to get the most current recollection of how it effects the participant, using employees

that are currently employed and experiencing or witnessing cyberbullying is important to

maintain accuracy within the answers. Participants’ answers to the questionnaire may also be

influenced by a need to encourage policies and procedures against cyberbullying to be put in

place at organizations resulting in the participants’ lived experiences not being correctly

expressed. The participants were informed that the questionnaire is completely anonymous so

that the participants are more apt to disclose important information without fear of the offenders

retaliating or fear of losing their job. Another limitation is how long participants are willing to

spend on the questionnaire.

Delimitations

The proposed qualitative descriptive study was delimited by placing certain restrictions

on the participants. The criteria that was used to choose the participants for this study are as

follows: 1) they must be current victims or witnesses at the job in which they identify as being
 60

cyberbullied, 2) they have to live in the United States, and 3) they have to be over the age of 21

years and under the age of 65 years.

Ethical Assurances

Ethical considerations are extremely important in a research study. Ethics in research are

the standards of conduct that distinguish between right and wrong and help determine the

difference between what acceptable and unacceptable behaviors are (Resnick, 2015). It is also

important to adhere to ethical guidelines in order for the public to support and believe the

research (Resnick, 2015). Also, for this study, broad searches were done of peer-reviewed and

scholarly articles in order to have an extensive knowledge of the topic which is also important

when considering ethics in research.

The process of collecting the data through open-ended questionnaires will not only

produce real-world observations but provide a breadth of coverage of several people so it is more

likely to obtain data based on representation then other approaches which can therefore be

generalizable to the population (Kelley, Clark, Brown, & Sitzia, 2003). The open-ended

questionnaires protocol that was approved by the IRB was followed. The explanations of the

study and what is involved was addressed in the informed consent. The participants were also

told that they can end their participation at any time with no reason and without fear of

repercussions. Any delicate or sensitive information will be safeguarded in a secure area.

Summary

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the impact that cyberbullying has on

adults in the workplace. This chapter covered the research methodology and design, population

sample, materials, procedures, data collection, analysis, assumptions, limitations, delimitations,

and ethical assurances that are connected to this study. This qualitative study was conducted by
 61

open-ended questions administered via an online survey. A descriptive design was used.

Workers who are currently being cyberbullied or are a witness to co-workers who are

experiencing cyberbullying answered the open-ended questionnaires in order to better understand

the perceived effects of cyberbullying among adults in the workplace. The data that was

collected from these open-ended questions can be used by employers to administer policies and

procedures to remedy this problem.

Employees who are victims of and witnesses to cyberbullying were selected based on

their current job status. Employees and witnesses must be current victims or witnesses of

cyberbullying in an organization. A purposeful sampling procedure was used to find and select

the sample for this study. Participants were recruited by links to SurveyMonkey from postings

on Facebook. The number of participants, 21, was used in this study to avoid redundancy in

their answers. The primary tool for data collection in this study was open-ended questions

consisting of (2) 13 separate questions administered online. One questionnaire asked about

experiences of cyberbullying while the other questionnaire asked about experiences witnessing

cyberbullying. Participants received both questionnaires. Coding was then used to find any

patterns in the participants’ responses. The responses were analyzed and grouped to determine

the different themes using such factors as word repetition and key words. Analysis of the data

included using an open coding method.

The questionnaires, collection, and security protocols that was approved by the IRB was

followed. The positive implications of this study may lead to a better understanding of

cyberbullying by employers and help in identifying cyberbullying that may be occurring in the

organization which can lead to policies and procedures being implemented to remedy
 62

cyberbullying. Chapter 4 will continue with the findings that were obtained, validity and

reliability, the results of the research and an evaluation of the findings.

 63

Chapter 4: Findings

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the impact that cyberbullying has on

adults in the workplace. A descriptive qualitative study was implemented in order to gain an

understanding of how employees perceive the effects of cyberbullying of cyberbullying in the

workplace. A descriptive design was suitable for this study because a more naturalistic inquiry

was needed in order to study the workers’ natural response to cyberbullying. Thirteen questions

were asked of anyone identifying as a victim of cyberbullying and thirteen different questions

were asked to anyone identifying as a witness (see Appendix B & C). The main objective of the

two sets of thirteen questions was to address the following research question:

RQ1. How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying in the

workplace?

RQ1a. How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying on

coworkers?

This chapter presents the findings from the data collected by the online questionnaire.

The number of participants was appropriate for achieving trustworthiness because the study

contains a sufficient amount to demonstrate the perceived effects of cyberbullying on workers

but not too many that the participant’s answers are monotonous. The number of participants, 21,

was used in this study to avoid redundancy in their answers.

The research method and design are reviewed including recruitment, sample size, and

emergent themes and subsequent finding for each question. The results of this study are

presented, and the chapter concludes with a summary of the findings.

 64

Trustworthiness of Data

A trial study was conducted by providing two experts with both sets of 12 questions.

This is important to ensure readability and that the participants will understand the questions as

well as give honest feedback on the questionnaire design (Mcleod, 2018). A trial study was also

used in order to avoid inadequate or unrelated answers and ensure validity.

The first reviewer mentioned that it was a timely issue and the participants sense of

confidentiality will be very important. It was also stressed that the demographics obtained

should not be perceived as identifiable. There were no recommended changes to the structure of

the questions, however.

The second reviewer suggested either asking the participants what their definition of

cyberbullying is or having it defined for them before they started either survey. People may have

different views on what cyberbullying is so, this would help during the coding process. The

author added a question #13 that asked what each respondents’ view of cyberbullying was. It

was then suggested to change “when did you first notice”, to “when did you first become aware”.

That change was made. It was lastly suggested to add customer to the list of people who may be

the cyberbully. Since an employee can very well be cyberbullied by a customer, it was added to

the questionnaire. These changes were made in both the victim and the witness questionnaires.

In qualitative research, an inquiry approach is used in order to explore and understand a

phenomenon. In order to reach trustworthiness, researchers must support the argument that the

inquiry’s findings have value (Fabber, 2018). There are four major components to

trustworthiness including credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability (Elo et al.,

2014). Credibility consists of staying in the field until data saturation is reached by using

prolonged engagement as well as persistent observation (Elo et al., 2014). In this study, the
 65

credibility of the experience of workplace cyberbullying from the victims’ or the witnesses’

viewpoint was addressed in the (2) sets of 13 survey questions that were administered to all

participants. The questions were administered in the same format on the same website to address

the two research questions. Transferability is when research findings can be applied in the

contexts with other respondents (Elo et al., 2014). The participants in this research study ranged

from 21-65 years old and were from a variety of professional fields, supporting the

transferability of the findings to most age groups and settings. Dependability provides evidence

that if the study was replicated with the same or similar participants in the same context, the

finding would be the same (Elo et al., 2014). In this study, dependability was accomplished by

giving the same questions in the same format by the same researcher. Confirmability is the

degree to which the findings are the result of the focus of the inquiry and not the biases of the

researcher (Elo et al., 2014). In this study, trustworthiness was supported by developing two sets

of questions that were presented by the same researcher on the same website, one for victims,

and one for witnesses. The trustworthiness of the results are addressed in the procedure as part

of the research design. This was done by detailing the preparation, organization, and reporting

sections of the research which are mentioned below.

Participant recruitment

An invitation (see Appendix E) was posted on two workplace bullying Facebook pages,

Stop Workplace Bullies Now! and Workplace Bullying. Interested participants were asked to

click the link to the corresponding survey which consisted of one questionnaire for victims and

one questionnaire for witnesses. Before they were permitted to answer the questionnaire, they

were required to answer screening questions and meet the eligibility requirements as well as read
 66

and agree to the informed consent (see Appendix F). The thirteen questions were then

administered (see Appendix B and C).

Description of the sample

The sample consisted of eighteen participants that identified as being a victim of

cyberbullying and three participants that identified as being a witness of cyberbullying. One

respondent was found eligible but did not complete the survey and another nine respondents did

not meet the eligibility requirements. The inclusion criteria identified workers between the ages

of 21 and 65 who all live in the United States and identify as being either current victims or

current witnesses to cyberbullying in the workplace.

Participant demographics and profiles

Due to the anonymity of study, no demographic information was obtained.

Data collection

Prior to collecting any data, approval from the Northcentral University Institutional

Review Board (see Appendix A) was obtained. Themes, categories, and patterns were obtained

in order to find the relationship with the phenomenon so as to strengthen the validity of the

study. A step-by-step process was used in data collection including recruiting, data collection,

processing, and conclusion. The steps are shown in Figure 1 below.

Recruit Data Collection Process Information Conclusion

Figure 1. Data collection process

Collection of data consisted of a step-by-step procedure starting with posting a

recruitment on the Stop Workplace Bullying Now! and the Workplace Bullying Facebook pages.

Interested participants could click on the provided links that corresponded to either being a
 67

victim or witness to workplace cyberbullying. This link to them to the eligibility questions

where they were asked to respond to the following three questions:

1. Are you between the ages of 21 and 65?

2. Are you a current victims or witness of cyberbullying in an organization where you

currently work?

3. Do you live in the United States?

Eligible participants who responded yes to the screening questions were then provided

with an informed consent form to read and check off if they agree. Respondents who agreed to

the informed consent were directed to the appropriate 13 open-ended question survey, one for

victims of cyberbullying and the other for witnesses of workplace cyberbullying. The complete

survey responses were downloaded from Survey Monkey to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The

Excel document was uploaded into QDA Miner and Wordstat software for data processing.

Wordstat is an application within QDA Miner that better enhances the capabilities of QDA

Miner which is a qualitative data analysis package that researchers use for coding, annotating, or

analyzing any size collection of data.

Data analysis

Data collected from the participants’ surveys were analyzed using QDA Miner and

Wordstat. First, a list of starter codes was created based on the literature review. Analysis begun

with the data being uploaded into QDA Miner and Wordstat and the codes were applied to each

participant’s response. The identification of the themes was determined through the use of QDA

Miner and Wordstat by a data display of information. Using QDA Miner and Wordstat, 22

themes were initially identified and are shown in Appendix I. An example of this process was

taking the code of psychological effects and applying it to all responses that specified a type of
 68

psychological effect. For the first participant, he or she stated, “It has affected my family life as

I am depressed because of it and they have to see it as well”. This response, because it showed a

psychological effect, was coded as a psychological effect. Once all of the responses were coded

with the corresponding code, themes emerged. Any code that emerged in over 30% of the

participants was used as a major theme. Because depression emerged in 48% of the participants,

it was selected as a major theme.

Based on the data, and by abstracting the 22 original themes, a reduction was able to be

made to include 6 major themes. The 6 major themes are identified in Table 1 below.
 69

Table 1.

Identified Themes by Participants

Participant\Themes Colleague Upset/Depressed Loss of Productivity/ Difficulty Social Media Email Manager
Working

1 X X X X

2 X X X

3 X X

4 X X X X X

5 X X X

6 X X

7 X

8 X X

9 X

10 X X X

11 X X X

12 X

13 X X X X

14 X X X

15 X X X

16 X X X X

17 X X

18 X X X X X

19 X X X

20 X X X

21 X X X X

Total 16 11 10 9 9 8

% 76% 52% 48% 43% 43% 38%

 70

Results

This study was designed in order to understand the perceived effects of cyberbullying

from not only the victim’s perspective but a witness’s as well. Understanding the perceived

effects both psychical and psychological can help employers implement better policies and

procedures to prevent further damage to their employees. Initial coding areas of concern were:

psychical effects of workplace cyberbullying, psychological effects of workplace cyberbullying,

impact on work life, impact on home life, who the cyberbullying was done by, and how the

cyberbullying was done are presented below in figure 2.

 71

Psychologic
Physical
al Effects of By who the How the
Effects of Impact on Impact on
Workplace Cyberbullyin Cyberbullyin
Workplace Work Life Home Life
Cyberbullyin g was done g was done
Cyberbullying
g

Upset/Depressed
Stomach Issues Loss of friends
Absenteeism Email

Worried
Stressed Colleague
Anxious
Overwhelmed

Not feeling good Financial Difficulties

Angry

Leaving Text

Afraid

Weight gain Fighting

Lack of Concentration
Manager

Loss of productivity
Social Media
Difficulty working
Inability to get things
Headaches
done
Irrability

Figure 2. Reduced Codes or Themes Identified from Survey Analysis

This qualitative study explored the current cyberbullying experiences of the workplace

from the victims’ and the witnesses’ viewpoint. Their personal experiences were studied in

order to get a better understanding of the physical, psychological, and emotional effects of

cyberbullying in the workplace. Albert Bandura’s Moral Disengagement Theory and Icek

Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior provided a theoretical lens through which to make sense of.

Both of these theories provide insight into cyberbullying. The effortlessness of acting on a

certain behavior, in this case cyberbullying, makes it easier for the cyberbully to commit these

acts because of the lower risk of getting caught with the anonymity offered by the internet is an
 72

example of the perceived behavioral control, an element of Theory of Planned Behavior (Pabian

& Vandebosch, 2014). Theory of Planned Behavior proposes that a person’s behavior is

reflected by three variables including subjective norms, attitude, and Perceived Behavioral

Control (Cyberbullying among students: An application of Theory of Planned Behavior, 2017).

Subjective norm relates to how a persons’ perception of the surrounding environment relates to

their behavior and attitude is the degree to which a person displays either positive or negative

attitude towards a particular behavior (Cyberbullying among students: An application of Theory

of Planned Behavior, 2017). Moral Disengagement Theory explains how the offender may

justify his act in order to feel that he or she is not doing anything wrong. Both theories play a

role in understanding why co-workers may bully.

For the purpose of data processing into specific themes, the following definitions were

obtained and are listed in table 2 below. These definitions are all symptoms or issues associated

with cyberbullying.
 73

Table 2

Definitions of starter codes

Starter Codes & Themes Definition

Weight Gain To increase in ones’ weight.

Headaches A pain in the head.

Stomach Issues Nausea, upset stomach, diarrhea, or vomiting due to being

upset

Not Feeling Well Feeling ill.

Upset/Depressed When ones’ mental state is consistent with sadness or lack of

interest in daily activities.

Worried/Stressed/Anxious/Overwhelmed Continuously overthinking about events causing undue strain

on the body.

Irritability When one is irritable or cranky.

Angry When one is mad over a situation.

Afraid When one is scared over a situation.

Lack of Concentration When one cannot remain focused on a task.

Loss of Friends When ones’ mood or actions causes them to loss the friends
that they previously had.

Inability to Get Things Done The inability to complete daily task as previously done.

Financial Difficulties Problem with money and paying bills.

Fighting Arguing with spouse, kids, etc.

Absenteeism Missing work.

Difficulty Working/Loss of Productivity When ones’ mental state starts effecting how they complete
task at work.

Leaving the Job Terminating employment.

Manager Ones’ boss or supervisor.

Colleague Ones’ co-worker.

Social Media Websites where personal information is displayed such as

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat.

Email An electronic form of mail.

Text Communication via cell phone.

 74

Research Question 1 & 1a.

In order to find how employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying in the

workplace and the perceived effects of cyberbullying on coworkers, a semi-structured open-

ended questionnaire link was posted on Facebook pages. The surveys took participants between

six and twenty minutes to complete. The surveys were uploaded from Survey Monkey to excel

and then from Excel to QDA Miner and Wordstat. All results are presented by theme.

Table 3 shows the major themes that emerged.

 75

Table 3

Identified Major Themes by Participants

Participant\Themes Colleague Upset/Depressed Loss of Productivity/ Social Media Email Manager

Difficulty Working

1 X X X X

2 X X X

3 X X

4 X X X X X

5 X X X

6 X X

7 X

8 X X

9 X

10 X X X

11 X X X

12 X

13 X X X X

14 X X X

15 X X X

16 X X X X

17 X X

18 X X X X X

19 X X X

20 X X X

21 X X X X

Total 16 11 10 9 9 8

% 76% 52% 48% 43% 43% 38%

 76

Theme # 1: Colleagues. Colleagues was one of the major themes mentioned by 76% of

the participants. When the participants were asked who, at work, did the cyberbullying come

from (Question #3), the theme of colleagues was developed. For example, P2 said, “The

cyberbullying was coming from a colleague.” And P4 said, “Multiple colleagues and two

administrators”.

Theme # 2: Upset/Depressed. Being upset or depressed was another major theme that

was identified by 10 out of the 21 participants. When the participants were asked to describe an

instance of cyberbullying and how they felt afterward (Question #10) as well as how does the

cyberbullying affect you at work or home (Questions #7 & #8), the theme of upset/depressed was

developed. For example, P1 said, “It has affected my family life as I am depressed because of it

and they have to see it as well. I received an email that pretty much told me I do not know how

to do my job. It left me in tears”. Another participant, P8, said I cry daily. I know after having a

baby you are hormonal, but I wish people would believe me when I say it is not hormones. I

went on to my fb and noticed I am not a part of any of the groups we had for such things like

cooking, etc. I was devastated”.

Theme # 3: Loss of Productivity/Difficulty Working. Loss of productivity and/or

difficulty working was another major theme that was identified by 10 out of the 21 participants.

When the participants were asked how does the cyberbullying affect them at work or how does

the cyberbullying affect them at home (Questions #7 & #8), the theme of loss of productivity

and/or difficulty working emerged. For example, P2 said, “Cyberbullying effects my

productivity at the workplace and the way I interact with my other colleagues, especially the one

that was targeting and cyberbullying me. It effects the, similar to what I said previously,

productivity of my home-life. Living in fear of getting harassed more effects the amount of
 77

things I can get done at home”. And P15 said, “I do not want to be there. My productivity has

gone down because it is all I think about. I wanted to make a good impression after the

promotion, but they are ruining it for me”.

Theme # 4: Social Media. Social media was another major theme that was identified by

9 out of the 21 participants which accounts for over 40% of the participant population. When the

participants were asked in what ways they were cyberbullied (Question #5), the theme of social

media was developed. P13 said, “I was accidentally sent an email that was about me. It was

devastating. After I confronted her, I started getting post on my fb that were rude”. P15 also had

an issue with social media and said, “My coworkers posted on social media saying that I wasn’t

qualified for the promotion that I received. They bashed me and even though I wasn’t named, I

knew it was about me”.

Theme # 5: Email. Email was another major theme that was identified by 9 out of the

21 participants which accounts for over 40% of the participant population. When the

participants were asked in what ways they were cyberbullied (Question #5), the theme of email

was developed. P3 stated, “My manager would send emails out to everyone that should have

gone to just me. For instance telling me I did something wrong”. P10 stated, “I was made to

feel belittled from ever email that he sent me. Just overall made me feel stupid”.

Theme #6: Manager. Manager was another major theme that was identified by 8 out of

the 21 participants which accounts for over 35% of the participant population. When the

participants were asked who, at work, did the cyberbullying come from (Question #3), the theme

of manager was developed. P3 said that it was a manager while P5 said that it was coming from

upper management.
 78

Evaluation of Findings

In this qualitative study, the researcher examined workplace cyberbullying from the

victim and the witness’s viewpoint. After completing eligibility questions, 21 participants

qualified to participate in this research study. Qualified participants were directed to an online

open ended semi-structured questionnaire that took approximately 20 minutes to complete. Of

the 21 participants who experienced or witnessed workplace cyberbullying, 76% were targeted

by a colleague whereas 38% were targeted by a manager. Of the 21 participants who

experienced or witnessed workplace cyberbullying, 48% were upset or depressed, and 48% had a

loss of productivity or had a difficult time at work or working. 43% experienced the workplace

cyberbullying on social media and another 43% experienced it through email.

Wordstat software was used to run a word frequency which is presented in figure 3.

Based on the results of the word frequency with such frequently used phrases as I have, I was,

and I am, demonstrates that the participants were consistent in describing how workplace

cyberbullying truly did affect them in many ways.

 79

Figure 3. Word Frequencies of Survey

Findings and how they relate to the conceptual framework.

Using existing research as well as the theoretical framework, the results are consistent

with existing research the theories mentioned. The specific problem is that the impact of

cyberbullying has on adults in workplace are not known. The research theoretical framework

utilized Albert Bandura’s Moral Disengagement Theory and Icek Ajzen’s Theory of Planned

Behavior. According to Bandura, (2002), moral disengagement focuses on the cognitive

restructuring of inhumane actions into a benign moral justification and safeguards should be built

into social systems that would uphold moral and compassionate behavior and reduce cruelty.

Using Moral Disengagement Theory in cyberbullying research can help identify whether the

settings may afford selective activation in areas of moral disengagement and be a valuable asset

for cyber-safety programs that the employers can implement (Runions & Bak, 2015). It will also
 80

be useful for understanding how online workplace setting may differentially afford moral

disengagement and aide in planning intervention programs and reduce cyber-aggression

(Runions & Bak, 2015).

Theory of Planned Behavior proposes that a person’s behavior is reflected by three

variables including subjective norms, attitude, and Perceived Behavioral Control (Cyberbullying

among students: An application of Theory of Planned Behavior, 2017). According to Ajzen,

(1991), applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to a particular area, in this case cyberbullying,

can provide useful information in any attempt to actually understand the person’s behaviors or to

implement interventions that can be effective in changing those behaviors. The Theory of

Planned Behavior aligns with the intent of this study because it provides a connection between

behavior and beliefs. The foundation of beliefs can provide descriptions that are needed to gain

information about a person’s behavioral determinants and it is thought that it is the level of

beliefs that we can learn the unique factors that cause a person to engage in cyberbullying and

cause others to follow (Ajzen, 1991).

Both Theory of Planned Behavior and Moral Disengagement Theory are interrelated in

research on cyberbullying. In elements of Theory of Planned Behavior, such as Perceived

Behavioral Control, the effortlessness of acting on a certain behavior, in this case cyberbullying,

makes it easier for the cyberbully to commit these acts because of the lower risk of getting

caught with the anonymity offered by the internet (Pabian & Vandebosch, 2014). And with

Moral Disengagement Theory, the offender can justify his act in order to feel that he or she is not

doing anything wrong. Both theories play a role in understanding why co-workers may bully. If

someone understands why it is happening, safeguards can be put in place to help the victims so
 81

that they may continue to work in peace. Chapter 5 will expand upon how the research question

is answered through the participant’s responses to the thirteen survey questions.

Summary

This chapter presents the findings of a qualitative study that explored the perceived

effects of cyberbullying from the victims’ and the witnesses’ perspective. Eighteen victim

participants and three witness participants ranging in age from 21-65 shared their experiences

with workplace cyberbullying by answering 13 open-ended survey questions. The data

collection methodology was presented. The recruitment process was conducted via Facebook

pages geared towards workplace bullying. The survey ranged from approximately 6 minutes to a

maximum of 20 minutes and was guided by the questions (1) What is your definition of

cyberbullying? (2) When did you first become aware that you were a victim of cyberbullying at

work? How often? (3) Who, at work, did the cyberbullying come from? For example, was it

management, a colleague, or a customer/client? (4) How close were you to the cyberbully? For

example, were you previously friends or just met in the workplace? (5) In what ways were you

cyberbullied? (6) Why do you think you were a target? (7) How does the cyberbullying affect

you at work? (8) How does the cyberbullying affect you at home? (9) How do you cope with the

cyberbullying? (10) Describe an instance of cyberbullying and how you felt afterward. (11) Do

these incidents make you view co-workers differently and if so, how? (12) Did you take any

steps to end the cyberbullying and if so, what were they? (13) If the cyberbullying did end, what

actions were taken and by whom? for victims and (1) What is your definition of cyberbullying?

(2) When did you first become aware that your coworker was being cyberbullied? (3) Who, at

work, did the cyberbullying come from? For example, was it management, a colleague, or a

customer/client? (4) In what ways have you seen your co-worker cyberbullied? (5) Why do you
 82

think the cyberbully choose your co-worker as a target? (6) Does it affect you in any way in the

workplace to see your co-worker cyberbullied and if so, how? (7) Were there any effects on your

home life to have to witness these acts of cyberbullying? (8) How close are you to the victim?

For example, are they just a colleague or are you friends outside of work? (9) Do these incidents

make you view your co-worker (the victim) any different and if so, how? (10) Do these incidents

make you view your co-worker (the perpetrator) any different and if so, how? (11) Describe an

incident of cyberbullying that you witnessed and how you felt after. (12) Did you take any steps

to stop the cyberbully and if so, what were they? If not, why? (13) If the cyberbullying did end,

what actions were taken and by whom? for witnesses. The data was entered into excel and then

uploaded into QDA Miner and Wordstat analysis software. Six major themes were identified as

having an impact on the participants. The six major themes that related to participants

experience were (1) colleagues (2) upset/depressed (3) loss of productivity or difficulty working

(4) social media (5) email (6) manager.

The 21 themes displayed in tables and figures are grounded on significance and strength

and are summarized in this chapter. The findings of this qualitative study addressed the research

question and are significant in finding the perceived effects of workplace cyberbullying. The

implication, recommendations, and conclusions related to the findings are presented in Chapter

5.
 83

Chapter 5: Implications, Recommendations, and Conclusion

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the impact that cyberbullying has on

adults in the workplaces. The study was guided by the following research questions:

RQ1. How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying in the

workplace?

RQ1a. How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying on

coworkers?

This chapter will discuss the implications, recommendations for practice and recommendations

for future research.

As technology advances, common forms of bullying are also advancing. Bullying has

added a new, anonymous form known as cyberbullying; and ease of use makes it that much more

popular as a means of harassment. Cyberbullying comes in many forms and can include

denigration, verbal fights, cyberstalking, exclusion, pretending to be someone, and outing

(Smith, 2015). Once only thought to be a problem amongst adolescents and young adults,

cyberbullying has moved into the workplace, affecting not only the employees but the employers

as well. The problem addressed by this study is that adults in the workplace are being affected

by cyberbullying. The specific problem is that the impact of cyberbullying has on adults in

workplaces.

Cyberbullying education, including effects and signs of cyberbullying, is prevalent in

schools but lacking in the workplace resulting in a lack of legal actions against those who

commit cyberbullying in the workplace (Kowalski et al., 2018). Knowing the perceived effects

that cyberbullying can have on the employees as well as the business can help employers identify

cyberbullying and implement procedures to counteract these issues. The negative consequences,
 84

if this problem is not solved, are increased issues with employees and the workplace as well as

rising cost for the company because of high turn-over rates.

The study was conducted by administering open-ended questionnaires to participants

online. The phenomena of interest was cyberbullying and its perceived effects. A descriptive

design, with the intent of describing and understanding a phenomenon little explored, workplace

cyberbullying, was used. Materials included open-ended questionnaires and analysis was

conducted by using an open coding method where themes were identified. The responses were

analyzed and grouped to determine the different themes using such factors as word repetition and

key words. The sample size that was needed was 20-25 workers, between the ages of 21-65.

The research was conducted by collecting data via the internet for workers located in the

United States. Participants were recruited from cyberbullying Facebook pages. The participants

had to be current victims or witnesses at the job in which they identified as being cyberbullied.

This study examined what the perceived effects of cyberbullying on employees are. Since current

studies have found that cyberbullying is very prominent in adolescents and young adults, it is

expected that as these youths grow, the incidence for cyberbullying in later adulthood may be

more common, making the research that much more critical (Jenaro, Flores, & Frías, 2018).

This qualitative descriptive study investigated the experiences of workplace

cyberbullying from the victim’s and the witness’s viewpoint. After completing the screening

questions, 18 victim participants and 3 witness participants qualified to participate in this

research study. Qualified participants were directed to an online open ended semi-structured

questionnaire that took approximately 20 minutes to complete. Of the 18 victim participants and

3 witness participants who experienced workplace cyberbullying 76% were targeted by a

colleague whereas 38% were bullied by a manager. Of the victims of bullying, 48% were upset
 85

or depressed, 48% had a loss of productivity or had a difficult time at work or working. Forty-

three percent experienced the workplace cyberbullying on social media and another 43% were

bullied through email. These findings suggest that, managers should be trained in identifying

cyberbullying, which not only affects the worker, loss of productivity can hurt the company as

well. Email should also be monitored at a corporate level as over 40% of cyberbullying cases are

from email.

This chapter addresses the implications of workplace cyberbullying on the victims, and

the themes that emerged are examined to better address psychological care of the victims and of

the witnesses of workplace cyberbullying better. Recommendations for practice and for future

research are also included.

Key findings show that of the 21 participants who experienced or witnessed workplace

cyberbullying, 76% were targeted by a colleague whereas 38% were targeted by a manager. Of

the 21 participants who experienced or witnessed workplace cyberbullying, 48% were upset or

depressed, and 48% had a loss of productivity or had a difficult time at work or working. 43%

experienced the workplace cyberbullying on social media and another 43% experienced it

through email.

Prior research has also shown that the effects on psychological well-being include

depression, lower self-esteem, and even lower academic satisfaction (Ren & Kim, 2017). It has

also been found in other research studies that that acts of bullying can deter productivity and

work performance which can be costly to an organization (Coetzee & van Dyk, 2018).

Implications

Knowing the effects that cyberbullying can have on the employees can help employers

implement procedures to counteract these issues. This research identifies the victim’s and
 86

witnesses’ viewpoints of both psychological and physical effects of workplace cyberbullying

from.

The Theory of Planned Behavior and Moral Disengagement Theory provide a theoretical

framework to help understand why co-workers may bully. In elements of Theory of Planned

Behavior, such as perceived behavioral control, the effortlessness of acting on a certain behavior,

in this case cyberbullying, makes it easier for the cyberbully to act because of the lower risk of

getting caught due to the anonymity offered by the internet (Pabian & Vandebosch, 2014).

Moral Disengagement Theory suggests that the offender can justify his act in order to feel that he

or she is not doing anything wrong.

Perceived effects of cyberbullying in the workplace. The research was guided by two

questions: How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying in the workplace?

and How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying on coworkers? Three of

the thirteen survey questions (Q7, Q8, & Q10) were directly related to addressing the first

question and three of the thirteen survey questions (Q6, Q7, & Q11) were directly related to

addressing the second. These are listed in Table 4 and Table 5 below.
 87

Table 4

Survey Questions Related to Question One

How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying in the workplace?

Q7. How does the cyberbullying affect you at work?

Q8. How does the cyberbullying affect you at work?
Q10. Describe an instance of cyberbullying and how you felt afterward.

Table 5

Survey Questions Related to Question One (a)

How do employees describe the perceived effects of cyberbullying on coworkers?

Q6. Does it affect you in any way in the workplace to see your co-worker cyberbullied and if so, how?
Q7. Were there any effects on your home life to have to witness these acts of cyberbullying?
Q11. Describe an incident of cyberbullying that you witnessed and how you felt after?

The survey questions in Tables 4 & 5 were created to find the perceived effects of

workplace cyberbullying on adults. The results showed that of the 21 participants, almost half

(48%) suffered depression or were upset from the situations they were experiencing and almost

half (48%) had a difficult time working or loss of productivity. During the comprehensive

analysis of the data that was generated from the research findings, the participants identified

several factors that had an effect on how the workplace cyberbullying was affecting their work

and home life. Themes identified from the survey questions 7, 8 and 10 from the victim survey

and questions 6, 7, and 11 from the witness survey were loss of productivity/difficulty working

and upset/depression. The answer to research question one and question one (a) was supported

through the narratives that provided the following two themes in Table 6.
 88

Table 6

Themes identified in Response to Research Question One and One (a)

RQ1 & RQ1(a) Themes # of Participants # Reporting theme Percentage

Upset/depressed 21 10 48%

Loss of productivity or difficulty working 21 10 48%

Upset/Depressed. Ten participants (48%) of the study described how being upset and/or

depression have affected them both at home and at work. P1 stated, “It has affected my family

life as I am depressed because of it and they have to see it as well. P4 stated, “Overall, any

experience has left me feeling numb and empty inside. It has made me feel defeated”. P8 stated,

“I cry daily.” These statements provided by the participants agree with previous research that

indicated that workplace cyberbullying was upsetting to the victim which could cause depression

(Ren & Kim, 2017).

Loss of productivity or difficulty working. The ten participants (48%) of the study

described how they have a loss of productivity or have difficulty working. P2 stated,

“Cyberbullying effects my productivity at the workplace and the way I interact with my other

colleagues, especially the one that was targeting and cyberbullying me. It effects the, similar to

what I said previously, productivity of my home-life. Living in fear of getting harassed more

effects the amount of things I can get done at home”. P4 stated, “It made my job incredibly

difficult. I was constantly afraid to go into work. Constantly afraid of what would be around

each corner. The snickers, the looks, the mean notes in my work mailbox, etc. all became far too

much to handle and would make me then use my sick days and personal days often because it

was easier than swallowing my pride to get a pay check”. P5 stated, “It really demotivated me. I
 89

am no longer excited to come to work and I have severe anxiety when I know I will be in

meetings with this person”. These statements provided by the participants are supported by

literature review that shows bullying does have an effect on productivity of employees in the

workplace (Coetzee & van Dyk, 2018). Implications of this could include increased

absenteeism, more illnesses, poor productivity, lower quality of products produces by the

employee.

Recommendations for Practice

Recommendations based on the study methodology are presenting in this section based

on Albert Bandura’s Moral Disengagement Theory and Icek Ajzen’s Theory of Planned

Behavior, to provide help for victims of workplace cyberbullying. The findings in this study

support previous research and reiterate the need for organizations to implement and follow

policies and procedures to prevent workplace cyberbullying. Without any policies and procedure

put into place, the victims and the witnesses of workplace cyberbullying would need therapy or

counseling services from those professionals who understand, in depth, the effect of workplace

cyberbullying and are trained in these types of cases. The two recommendations listed below are

based on this study’s findings and the potential to enhance any therapeutic services that the

victim may seek and are based on moral disengagement theory and the theory of planned

behavior.

Recommendation 1. Based on moral disengagement theory and the theory of planned

behavior, it is recommended that organizations, including management and human resource

departments, become familiar with the theories and the perceived effects of workplace

cyberbullying in order to create a safe work environment both in person and electronically,

where policies and procedures are put into place.

 90

Recommendation 2. It is recommended that mental health professionals also become

familiar with the perceived effects of workplace cyberbullying in order to provide care to those

who cannot seek help from their organizations for fear of retaliation or losing their job.

Recommendations for Future Research

Based on the findings of this sample where all participants had to be currently

experiencing or witnessing cyberbullying in the workplace, it is recommended that future

research also include those who were previously cyberbullied in the workplace to see if the

effects are still occurring even after the cyberbullying has ended and to gain more participant

responses. Many of the participants were disqualified because they are no longer experiencing

cyberbullying but knowing if they are still experiencing effects would be helpful to create

awareness of the prevalence of workplace cyberbullying and how it can be detrimental to not

only the victims, but the witnesses as well.

Another research options that could further the understanding of how jobs respond to this

type of issue is conducting a study including human resource employees and what type of plans

they have in place when faced with employees that are experiencing cyberbullying in the

workplace. Lastly, it would be beneficial to ask demographic information such as gender and/or

age to know if it is women or men who are experiencing this more and what is the general age

range for people that are victims of cyberbullying. Knowing this information could help human

resource departments create a better plan of action for aiding employees that are experiencing

cyberbullying in the workplace

Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to find and describe the perceived effects of workplace

cyberbullying from both the victim’s and the witness’s perspective based on (2) 13 question
 91

surveys. The qualitative methodology and the semi-structured questionnaires allowed for an in-

depth analysis of how victims and witnesses of workplace cyberbullying say how it affects them.

QDA Miner and Wordstat software programs were used to identify themes that came from the

surveys data collected from the 18 participants that were victims and the 3 participants that were

witnesses. Wordstat is an application within QDA Miner that better enhances the capabilities of

QDA Miner which is a qualitative data analysis package that researchers use for coding,

annotating, or analyzing any size collection of data. Survey data was collected using Survey

Monkey links posted on Facebook pages that were geared toward workplace bullying. Data

presented here supports previous research that found that workplace bullying has negative effects

on victims and the organizations where they are employed.

The specific problem is that the impact of cyberbullying has on adults in workplaces are

not known. The semi-structure open-ended questionnaires allowed participants a chance to tell

their experience in their words. This study identified who the main culprits of cyberbullying

were and what common modes were used to commit cyberbullying and discussed the

psychological effects of workplace cyberbullying and how it affects victims’ home and work

lives. This research is able to add to the understanding of workplace cyberbullying from both the

victim’s and the witness’s view point. Further research using participants that were previously

cyberbullied as well as current victims and witnesses is recommended. Employers should also

implement training as to what constitutes as cyberbullying and what actions should be taken if it

is found to be happening.

Technology, social media, and the Internet are all useful tools for a business to grow and

promote but when employees take advantage of these tools, not only do the businesses suffer but

the employees at which the cyberbullying is aimed do too. Research in this area is so important
 92

because this issue will only increase as technology grows and becomes more advanced.

Research may also provide information that may be used to develop policies and procedures that

would aide in handling cyberbullying that currently is taking place in the workplace. Policies

and procedures must be put in place so that employees can continue to be productive in their job

and the companies can continue to thrive without having to worry about high turnover rates.
 93

References

Addington, L. A. (2013). Reporting and clearance of cyberbullying incidents: Applying “offline”

theories to online victims. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 29(4), 454-474.
doi:10.1177/1043986213507399

Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, 50(2), 179-211. doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t

Al-Busaidi, Z. Q. (2008). Qualitative research and its uses in health care. Sultan Qaboos
University Medical Journal, 8(1), 11-19. Retrieved August 5, 2018, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3087733/.

Al-garadi, M. A., Varathan, K. D., & Ravana, S. D. (2016). Full length article: Cybercrime
detection in online communications: The experimental case of cyberbullying detection in
the Twitter network. Computers in Human Behavior, 63433-443.
doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.05.051

Asher, Y., Stark, A., & Fireman, G. D. (2017). Full length article: Comparing electronic and
traditional bullying in embarrassment and exclusion scenarios. Computers in Human
Behavior, 7626-34. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.06.037

Ashiq, S., Majeed, S., & Malik, F. (2016). Psychological predictors of cyber bullying in early
adulthood. Health Science Journal, 10(3), 1-9.

Bandura, A. (2002). Selective moral disengagement in the exercise of moral agency. Journal of
Moral Education, 31(2), 101-119. doi:10.1080/0305724022014322

Barlett, C. P., & Kowalewski, D. A. (2018). Learning to cyberbully: An extension of the Barlett
Gentile cyberbullying model. Psychology of Popular Media Culture,
doi:10.1037/ppm0000183

Barnham, C. (2015). Quantitative and qualitative research. International Journal of Market

Research, 57(6), 837-854. doi:10.2501/IJMR-2015-070

Bauman, S. (2011). Cyberbullying: What counselors need to know. Alexandria, VA: American
Counseling Association.
Bauman, S., Cross, D., & Walker, J. (2015). Principles of cyberbullying research: definitions,
measures, and methodology. London; New York: Routledge.

Bauman, S., & Newman, M. L. (2013). Testing assumptions about cyberbullying: Perceived
distress associated with acts of conventional and cyber bullying. Psychology of Violence,
3(1), 27-38. doi:10.1037/a0029867

Branley, D. B., & Covey, J. (2018). Full length article: Risky behavior via social media: The role
of reasoned and social reactive pathways. Computers in Human Behavior, 78183-191.
 94

doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.09.036

Brody, N., & Vangelisti, A. L. (2016). Bystander intervention in cyberbullying. Communication

Monographs, 83(1), 94-119. doi:10.1080/03637751.2015.1044256

Bussey, K., Fitzpatrick, S., & Raman, A. (2015). The role of moral disengagement and self-
efficacy in cyberbullying. Journal of School Violence, 14(1), 30.
doi:10.1080/15388220.2014.954045

Case, B. (2015). What every physical educator and athletic coach should know about bullying,
cyber bullying, and hazing. Virginia Journal, 36(1), 19-21.

Cheung, M. F., & To, W. (2016). Service co-creation in social media: An extension of the theory
of planned behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 65260-266.
doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.08.031

Choo, H. Y. (2015). Why we are still searching for solutions to cyberbullying: An analysis of the
North American responses to cyberbullying under the theory of systemic
desensitization. University of New Brunswick Law Journal, 6652-77.

Coburn, P. I., Connolly, D. A., & Roesch, R. (2015). Cyberbullying: Is federal criminal
legislation the solution?. Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 57(4),
566-579. doi:10.3138/cjccj.2014.E43

Coetzee, M., & van Dyk, J. (2018). Workplace bullying and turnover intention: exploring work
engagement as a potential mediator. Psychological Reports, 121(2), 375.
doi:10.1177/0033294117725073

Cohen-Almagor, R. (2018). Social responsibility on the Internet: Addressing the challenge of

cyberbullying. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 3942-52. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2018.01.001

Colorado State University. (2018) Advantages of open-ended questions. Retrieved May 23,
2018, from https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/popup.cfm?pageid=1414&guideid=68

Colorafi, K. J., & Evans, B. (2016). Qualitative descriptive methods in health science
research. Herd-Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 9(4), 16-25.

Creasy, T., & Carnes, A. (2017). The effects of workplace bullying on team learning, innovation
and project success as mediated through virtual and traditional team
dynamics. International Journal of Project Management, 35964-977.
doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.04.005

Creswell, J. W. (2006). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five
approaches Second Edition. SAGE Publications (CA).

Creswell, J. W., Hanson, W. E., Plano Clark, V. L., & Morales, A. (2007). Qualitative research
 95

designs: Selection and implementation. Counseling Psychologist, 35(2), 236-264.

Cyberbullying among students: An application of Theory of Planned Behavior. (2017). 2017

International Conference on Research and Innovation in Information Systems (ICRIIS),
Research and Innovation in Information Systems (ICRIIS), 2017 International
Conference on, 1. doi:10.1109/ICRIIS.2017.8002521

D'Cruz, P., & Noronha, E. (2014). The interface between technology and customer
cyberbullying: Evidence from India. Information and Organization, 24176-193.
doi:10.1016/j.infoandorg.2014.06.001

Dilmaç, B. (2017). The relationship between adolescents' levels of hopelessness and

cyberbullying: The role of values. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 17(4), 1119-
1133. doi:10.12738/estp.2017.4.0610

DeMatteo, D., Wagage, S., & Fairfax-Columbo, J. (2017). Cyberstalking: Are we on the same
(web)page? A comparison of statutes, case law, and public perception. Journal of
Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 9(2), 83-94. doi:10.1108/JACPR-06-2016-
0234

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Bully. Retrieved April 15, 2018, from

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bully?s=t

Dictionary.com. (n.d). Social media. Retrieved April 15, 2018, from

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/social-media

Doane, A.N., Boothe, L.G., Pearson, M.R., & Kelley, M.L. (2016). Full length article: Risky
Electronic communication behaviors and cyberbullying victimization: An application of
Protection Motivation Theory. Computers in Human Behavior, 60508-513.
doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.010

Dooley, J. J., Pyżalski, J., & Cross, D. (2009). Cyberbullying versus face-to-face bullying: A
theoretical and conceptual review. Zeitschrift Für Psychologie/Journal of
Psychology, 217(4), 182-188. doi:10.1027/0044-3409.217.4.182

El Asam, A., & Samara, M. (2016). Review: Cyberbullying and the law: A review of
psychological and legal challenges. Computers in Human Behavior, 65127-141.
doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.08.012

Elo, S., Kääriäinen, M., Kanste, O., Pölkki, T., Utriainen, K., & Kyngäs, H. (2014). Qualitative
Content Analysis: A Focus on Trustworthiness. SAGE
Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014522633

Erik, B. (2016). A reflexive exploration of two qualitative data coding techniques. Journal of
Methods and Measurement in The Social Sciences, 20(1), 14-29.
doi:10.2458/jmm.v6i1.18772
 96

Fabber, V. L. (2018). Workplace bullying: Understanding the victims perspective (Order No.
10810551). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (2048347772).
Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/2048347772?accountid=28180

Farber, N. K. (2006). Conducting qualitative research: A practical guide for school

counselors. Professional School Counseling, 9(5), 367-375.

Fisher, B., Gardella, J., & Teurbe-Tolon, A. (2016). Peer cybervictimization among adolescents
and the associated internalizing and externalizing problems: A meta-analysis. Journal of
Youth & Adolescence, 45(9), 1727-1743. doi:10.1007/s10964-016-0541-z

Fox, S., & Cowan, R. L. (2015). Revision of the workplace bullying checklist: The importance of
human resource management's role in defining and addressing workplace
bullying. Human Resource Management Journal, 25(1), 116-130. doi:10.1111/1748-
8583.12049

Frison, E. E., Subrahmanyam, K., & Eggermont, S. (2016). The short-term longitudinal and
reciprocal relations between peer victimization on Facebook and adolescents' well-being.
Journal of Youth & Adolescence, 45(9), 1755-1771.

Fusch, P. I., & Ness, L. R. (2015). Are we there yet? Data saturation in qualitative research.
Qualitative Report, 20(9), 1408.

Gao, M., Zhao, X., & McJunkin, M. (2016). Adolescents' experiences of cyberbullying: Gender,
age and reasons for not reporting to adults. International Journal of Cyber Behavior,
Psychology and Learning (IJCBPL), 6(4), 13.

Garaigordobil, M., & Machimbarrena, J. M. (2017). Stress, competence, and parental educational
styles in victims and aggressors of bullying and cyberbullying. Psicothema, 29(3), 335-
340. doi:10.7334/psicothema2016.258

Given, L. M. (2008). The SAGE encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (Vols. 1-0).
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Ltd doi: 10.4135/9781412963909

Hagger, M. S., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. (2009). Assumptions in research in sport and exercise
psychology. Psychology of Sport & Exercise, 10(Research Quality in Sport & Exercise
Psychology), 511-519. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2009.01.004

Hall, R., & Lewis, S. (2014). Managing workplace bullying and social media policy:
Implications for employee engagement. Academy of Business Research Journal, 1128-
138.

Halpern, D., Pina, M., & Vasquez, J. (2017). Loneliness, personal and social well-being:
Towards a conceptualization of the effects of cyberbullying. Cultura Y Educacion, 29(4),
 97

703-727.

Hamm, M. P., Newton, A. S., Chisholm, A., Shulhan, J., Milne, A., Sundar, P., & Hartling, L.
(2015). Prevalence and effect of cyberbullying on children and young people: A scoping
review of social media studies. JAMA Pediatrics, 169(8), 770-777.
doi: 10 .1001/jamapediatrics.2015.0944

Hellemans, C., Dal Cason, D., & Casini, A. (2017). Bystander helping behavior in response to
workplace bullying. Swiss Journal of Psychology, 76(4), 135-144. doi:10.1024/1421-
0185/a000200

Hendricks, L., Lumadue, R., & Waller, L. (2012). The evolution of bullying to cyber bullying: an
overview of the best methods for implementing a cyber bullying prevention program.
National Forum Journal of Counseling and Addiction, 1(1). Retrieved June 18, 2018,
from http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic Journal Volumes/Hendricks, LaVelle
Cyber Bullying NFJCA V1 N1 2012.pdf

Hymel, S., & Swearer, S. M. (2015). Four decades of research on school bullying: An
introduction. American Psychologist, 70(4), 293-299. doi:10.1037/a0038928

Jafarkarimi, H., Saadatdoost, R., Sim, A. H., & Hee, J. M. (2016). Full length article: Behavioral
intention in social networking sites ethical dilemmas: An extended model based on
Theory of Planned Behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 62545-561.
doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.04.024

Jenaro, C., Flores, N., & Frías, C. P. (2018). Systematic review of empirical studies on
cyberbullying in adults: What we know and what we should investigate. Aggression &
Violent Behavior, 38113-122. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2017.12.003

Kelley, K., Clark, B., Brown, V., & Sitzia, J. (2003). Good practice in the conduct and reporting
of survey research. International Journal for Quality in Health Care | Oxford Academic.
Retrieved May 27, 2018, from https://academic.oup.com/intqhc/article/15/3/261/1856193

Keskin, H., Akgün, A. E., Ayar, H., & Kayman, Ş. S. (2016). Cyberbullying victimization,
counterproductive work behaviours and emotional intelligence at workplace. Procedia –
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 235(12th International Strategic Management
Conference, ISMC 2016, 28-30 October 2016, Antalya, Turkey), 281-287.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.11.031

Kowalski, R. M., Toth, A., & Morgan, M. (2018). Bullying and cyberbullying in adulthood and
the workplace. Journal of Social Psychology, 158(1), 64-81.
doi:10.1080/00224545.2017.1302402

Lambert, V. A., & Lambert, C. E. (2012). Editorial: Qualitative descriptive research: An

acceptable design. Pacific Rim International Journal of Nursing Research, 16(4), 255-
256.
 98

Lazuras, L., Barkoukis, V., & Tsorbatzoudis, H. (2017). Face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying
in adolescents: Trans-contextual effects and role overlap. Technology in Society, 4897-
101. doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2016.12.001

Lee, J., Hong, J. S., Resko, S. M., & Tripodi, S. J. (2017). Face-to-face bullying, cyberbullying,
and multiple forms of substance use among school-age adolescents in the USA. School
Mental Health, 10(1), 12-25.

Lowry, P. B., Moody, G. D., & Chatterjee, S. (2017). Using IT design to prevent
cyberbullying. Journal of Management Information Systems, 34(3), 863-901.
doi:10.1080/07421222.2017.1373012

Manners, I., & Cates, S. (2016). Bullying in the workplace: Does it exist in United States
organizations. International Journal of Business & Public Administration, 13(2), 99-114.

Mcleod, S. (2018). Questionnaire. Retrieved May 23, 2018, from

https://www.simplypsychology.org/questionnaires.html

Meriläinen, M., Sinkkonen, H., Puhakka, H., & Käyhkö, K. (2016). Bullying and inappropriate
behaviour among faculty personnel. Policy Futures in Education, 14(6), 617-634.

Messias, E., Kindrick, K., & Castro, J. (2014). School bullying, cyberbullying, or both: correlates
of teen suicidality in the 2011 CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Comprehensive
Psychiatry, 55(5), 1063-1068. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2014.02.005

Minnesota State University. (2018). Theory of planned behavior. Retrieved April 13, 2018, from
http://www.mnsu.edu/its/academic/isalt_tpb.pdf

Nesi, J., Miller, A. B., & Prinstein, M. J. (2017). Adolescents' depressive symptoms and
subsequent technology-based interpersonal behaviors: A multi-wave study. Journal of
Applied Developmental Psychology, 51(Applying Symptoms-Driven Models of
Depression to the Investigation of Peer Relationship Adversity: Mediating and
Moderating Mechanisms), 12-19. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2017.02.002

Oberst, U., Wegmann, E., Stodt, B., Brand, M., & Chamarro, A. (2017). Negative consequences
from heavy social networking in adolescents: The mediating role of fear of missing out.
Journal of Adolescence, 5551-60. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.12.008

O’Cathain, A., & Thomas, K. J. (2004). “Any other comments?” Open questions on
questionnaires – a bane or a bonus to research? BMC Medical Research Methodology, 4,
25. http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-4-25

Pabian, S., & Vandebosch, H. (2014). Using the theory of planned behaviour to understand
cyberbullying: The importance of beliefs for developing interventions. European Journal
of Developmental Psychology, 11(4), 463-477. doi:10.1080/17405629.2013.858626
 99

Palinkas, L. A., Horwitz, S. M., Green, C. A., Wisdom, J. P., Duan, N., & Hoagwood, K. (2015).
Purposeful sampling for qualitative data collection and analysis in mixed method
implementation research. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 42(5), 533–544.
http://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-013-0528-y

Pastorek, S., Contacos-Sawyer, J., & Thomas, B. (2015). Creating a no-tolerance policy for
workplace bullying and harassment. Competition Forum, 13(2), 232-240.

Patchin, J. W., & Hinduja, S. (2015). Measuring cyberbullying: Implications for

research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 23(Bullying, Cyberbullying, and Youth
Violence: Facts, Prevention, and Intervention), 69-74. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2015.05.013

Piotrowski, C. (2012). From workplace bullying to cyberbullying: The enigma of e-

harassment in modern organizations. Organization Development Journal, 30(4), 44-53.

Privitera, C., & Campbell, M. A. (2009). Cyberbullying: The new face of workplace
bullying? Cyberpsychology & Behavior: The Impact of the Internet, Multimedia And
Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society, 12(4), 395-400. doi:10.1089/cpb.2009.0025

Provalis Research. (2018). Software for coding open ended questions - QDA Miner & WordStat.
Retrieved May 23, 2018, from https://provalisresearch.com/solutions-
2/applications/open-ended-question-analysis/

Ptaszynski, M., Masui, F., Nitta, T., Hatakeyama, S., Kimura, Y., Rzepka, R., & Araki, K.
(2016). Sustainable cyberbullying detection with category-maximized relevance of
harmful phrases and double-filtered automatic optimization. International Journal of
Child-Computer Interaction, 815-30. doi:10.1016/j.ijcci.2016.07.002

Radovic, A., Gmelin, T., Stein, B. D., & Miller, E. (2017). Depressed adolescents' positive and
negative use of social media. Journal of Adolescence, 555-15.
doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.12.002

Rahman, M. S. (2016). The advantages and disadvantages of using qualitative and quantitative
approaches and methods in language “Testing and Assessment” research: A literature
review. Journal of Education and Learning, 6(1), 102. doi:10.5539/jel.v6n1p102

Rai, A., & Agarwal, U. A. (2016). Workplace bullying: A review and future research directions.
South Asian Journal of Management, 23(3), 27-56.

Reed, L. (2016). The effects of bullying on emotional well-being as described by non-tenured

university faculty: A qualitative inquiry (Order No. 10247546). Available from ProQuest
Dissertations & Theses Global. (1864688297). Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/1864688297?accountid=28180

Reed, K. P., Cooper, R. L., Nugent, W. R., & Russell, K. (2016). Cyberbullying: A literature
 100

review of its relationship to adolescent depression and current intervention strategies.

Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(1), 37-45.
doi:10.1080/10911359.2015.1059165

Reio, J. G., & Ledesma Ortega, C. C. (2016). Chapter 8: Cyberbullying and its emotional
consequences. What we know and what we can do. Emotions, Technology, And
Behaviors, 145-158. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-801873-6.00008-X

Ren, L., & Kim, H. (2017). Effects of bullying experience on psychological well-being mediated
by conflict management styles and psychological empowerment among nursing students
in clinical placement: A structural equation modeling approach. Journal of Korean
Academy of Nursing, 47(5), 700-711.

Renati, R., Berrone, C., & Zanetti, M. A. (2012). Morally disengaged and unempathic: Do
cyberbullies fit these definitions? An Exploratory Study. Cyberpsychology, Behavior &
Social Networking, 15(8), 391-398. doi:10.1089/cyber.2012.0046

Resnick, D. B., J.D., Ph.D. (2015). What is ethics in research & why is it important? Retrieved
August 17, 2018, from
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/index.cfm

Ritzman, M. E. (2016). A phenomenon we can't ignore: performance improvement interventions

to address workplace bullying. Performance Improvement, 55(1), 14.
doi:10.1002/pfi.21545

Runions, K. C., & Bak, M. (2015). Online moral disengagement, cyberbullying, and cyber-
aggression. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 18(7), 400-405.
doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0670

Ryan, M. m. (2016). Besting the workplace bully. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 55(4),
267-269.

Samara, M., Burbidge, V., El Asam, A., Foody, M., Smith, P. K., & Morsi, H. (2017). Bullying
and cyberbullying: Their legal status and use in psychological assessment. International
Journal of Environmental Research & Public Health, 14(12), 1.
doi:10.3390/ijerph14121449

Samnani, A., & Singh, P. (2016). Workplace bullying: Considering the interaction between
individual and work environment. Journal of Business Ethics, 139(3), 537-549.
doi:10.1007/s10551-015-2653-x

Selkie, E. M., Kota, R., Chan, Y., & Moreno, M. (2015). Cyberbullying, depression, and
problem alcohol use in female college students: A multisite study. Cyberpsychology,
Behavior, and Social Networking, 18(2), 79-86. doi:10.1089/cyber.2014.0371

Shimizu, A. (2013). Domestic violence in the digital age: towards the creation of a
 101

comprehensive cyberstalking statute. Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice, 28(1),
116-137.

Shu-Ching, M., Hsiu-Hung, W., & Tsair-Wei, C. (2017). Hospital nurses' attitudes, negative
perceptions, and negative acts regarding workplace bullying. Annals of General
Psychiatry, 161-9. doi:10.1186/s12991-017-0156-0

Song, J., & Oh, I. (2018). Full length article: Factors influencing bystanders' behavioral reactions
in cyberbullying situations. Computers in Human Behavior, 78273-282.
doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.10.008

Sijtsema, J. J., Rambaran, J. A., Caravita, S. S., & Gini, G. (2014). Friendship selection and
influence in bullying and defending: Effects of moral disengagement. Developmental
Psychology, 50(8), 2093-2104. doi:10.1037/a0037145

Smith, P. K. (2015). The nature of cyberbullying and what we can do about it. Journal of
Research in Special Educational Needs, 15(3), 176-184. doi:10.1111/1471-3802.12114

Snyman, R., & Loh, J. (2015). Full Length Article: Cyberbullying at work: The mediating role
of optimism between cyberbullying and job outcomes. Computers in Human
Behavior, 53161-168. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2015.06.050

Trad, M., & Johnson, J. (2014). Bullying among radiation therapists: Effects on job performance
and work environment. Radiologic Technology, 86(2), 122-131.

Turner, D. W. (2010). Qualitative interview design: A practical guide for novice investigators.
The Qualitative Report, 15(3), 754-760. Retrieved from
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol15/iss3/19

Uwe, F. (2018). The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Collection. 55 City Road, London:
SAGE Publications, Ltd. doi:10.4135/9781526416070

Varghese, M. E., & Pistole, M. C. (2017). College student cyberbullying: Self-esteem,

depression, loneliness, and attachment. Journal of College Counseling, 20(1), 7-21.

Volk, A. A., Dane, A. V., & Marini, Z. A. (2014). What is bullying? A theoretical
redefinition. Developmental Review, 34327-343. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2014.09.001

Volk, A. A., Veenstra, R., & Espelage, D. L. (2017). So you want to study bullying?
Recommendations to enhance the validity, transparency, and compatibility of bullying
research. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 3634-43. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2017.07.003

Vranjes, I., Baillien, E., Vandebosch, H., Erreygers, S., & De Witte, H. (2017). Full length
article: The dark side of working online: Towards a definition and an Emotion Reaction
model of workplace cyberbullying. Computers in Human Behavior, 69324-334.
doi:10.1016/j.chb.2016.12.055
 102

Vranjes, I., Baillien, E., Vandebosch, H., Erreygers, S., & De Witte, H. (2018). When workplace
bullying goes online: construction and validation of the Inventory of Cyberbullying Acts
at Work (ICA-W). European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 27(1), 28.
doi:10.1080/1359432X.2017.1363185

Wang, X., Yang, L., Yang, J., Wang, P., & Lei, L. (2017). Full length article: Trait anger and
cyberbullying among young adults: A moderated mediation model of moral
disengagement and moral identity. Computers in Human Behavior, 73519-526.
doi:10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.073

Waasdorp, T. E., & Bradshaw, C. P. (2015). Original article: The overlap between cyberbullying
and traditional bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56483-488.
doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.12.002

Willis, D. G., Sullivan-Bolyai, S., Knafl, K., & Cohen, M. Z. (2016). Distinguishing Features
and Similarities Between Descriptive Phenomenological and Qualitative Description
Research. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 38(9), 1185-1204.

Wilson, C. J., & Nagy, M. S. (2017). The effects of personality on workplace bullying. The
Psychologist-Manager Journal, 20(3), 123-147. doi:10.1037/mgr0000054

Wiseman, B. (2012). Cyberbullying in schools: A research study on school policies and

procedures. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A, 72, 3175.

Wolke, D., & Lereya, S. T. (2015). Long-term effects of bullying. Archives of Disease in
Childhood, 100(9), 879. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.1136/archdischild-2014-
306667

Wu, S., & Wu, C. (2018). Bullying bystander reactions: A case study in the Taiwanese
workplace. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, doi:10.1111/1744-7941.12175

Yamada, D. C. (2015). Workplace bullying and the law: U.S. legislative developments 2013-
15. Employee Rights & Employment Policy Journal, 19(1), 49-59.

Yang, Y. T., & Grinshteyn, E. (2016). Safer cyberspace through legal intervention: A
comparative review of cyberbullying legislation. World Medical & Health Policy, 8(4),
458. doi:10.1002/wmh3.206

Yaya, J. A. (2014). Choosing the right measurement instrument for your project: Tips to
apply. Retrieved May 22, 2018, from https://nairaproject.com/blog/measurement-
instrument.html

Youn Ah, J. (2018). What makes bullying happen in school? Reviewing contextual
characteristics surrounding individual and intervention programs on bullying. Ilkogretim
Online, 17(1), 1-6.
 103

Zhang, S., & Leidner, D. (2018). From improper to acceptable: How perpetrators neutralize
workplace bullying behaviors in the cyber world. Information & Management,
doi:10.1016/j.im.2018.03.012

Zych, I., Ortega-Ruiz, R., & Del Rey, R. (2015). Scientific research on bullying and
cyberbullying: Where have we been and where are we going. Aggression and Violent
Behavior, 24188-198.doi:10.1016/j.avb.2015.05.015
 104

Appendix A: IRB Approval Letter

 105

Appendix B: Workplace Cyberbullying Victim Questionnaire

1. What is your definition of cyberbullying?

2. When did you first become aware that you were a victim of cyberbullying at work? How

often?

3. Who, at work, did the cyberbullying come from? For example, was it management, a

colleague, or a customer/client?

4. How close were you to the cyberbully? For example, were you previously friends or just

met in the workplace?

5. In what ways were you cyberbullied?

6. Why do you think you were a target?

7. How does the cyberbullying affect you at work?

8. How does the cyberbullying affect you at home?

9. How do you cope with the cyberbullying?

10. Describe an instance of cyberbullying and how you felt afterward.

11. Do these incidents make you view co-workers differently and if so, how?

12. Did you take any steps to end the cyberbullying and if so, what were they?

13. If the cyberbullying did end, what actions were taken and by whom?
 106

Appendix C: Workplace Cyberbullying Witness Questionnaire

1. What is your definition of cyberbullying?

2. When did you first become aware that your coworker was being cyberbullied?

3. Who, at work, did the cyberbullying come from? For example, was it management, a

colleague, or a customer/client?

4. In what ways have you seen your co-worker cyberbullied?

5. Why do you think the cyberbully choose your co-worker as a target?

6. Does it affect you in any way in the workplace to see your co-worker cyberbullied and if

so, how?

7. Were there any effects on your home life to have to witness these acts of cyberbullying?

8. How close are you to the victim? For example, are they just a colleague or are you

friends outside of work?

9. Do these incidents make you view your co-worker (the victim) any different and if so,

how?

10. Do these incidents make you view your co-worker (the perpetrator) any different and if

so, how?

11. Describe an incident of cyberbullying that you witnessed and how you felt after.

12. Did you take any steps to stop the cyberbully and if so, what were they? If not, why?

13. If the cyberbullying did end, what actions were taken and by whom?
 107

Appendix D: Preliminary List of Starter Codes (PLSC)

Physical Effects of Workplace Cyberbullying Code

1. Weight gain

2. Headaches

3. Stomach issues

4. Not feeling good

Psychological Effects of Workplace Cyberbullying Code

1. Upset/Depressed

2. Irritable

3. Worried/stressed/anxious/Overwhelmed

4. Angry

5. Afraid

6. Lack of concentration

Impact on Home Life Code

1. Loss of friends

2. Financial difficulties

3. Fighting

4. Inability to get things done or socialize

Impact on Work Life Code

1. Absenteeism

2. Loss of productivity/difficulty working

3. Leaving
 108

Who was cyberbullying committed by? Code

1. Manager

2. Colleague

What modes was cyberbullying committed by? Code

1. Social Media

2. Email

3. Text
 109

Appendix E: Invitation to Participate in Research

Recruitment Post for Approved Facebook Sites

My name is Melissa Dark and I am a student at NorthCentral University doing research about the

effects of cyberbullying on adults in the workplace. I am asking those who would like to

participate as either a current victim or witness of cyberbullying in the workplace to take 40

minutes to complete the survey for this research project. To qualify, you must be between the

ages of 21 and 65, be a current victim or witness to cyberbullying in the workplace, and work in

the United States. Participation is completely voluntary, and your answers will be anonymous.

If you are interested, please click on the link below for the survey that you most identify with.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me (m.dark8407@o365.ncu.edu.)

Link for victims of cyberbullying in the workplace:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mdarkvcb

Link for witnesses of cyberbullying in the workplace:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/mdarkwcb

Thank you,

Melissa Dark
 110

Appendix F: Informed Consent

Introduction:

My name is Melissa Dark. I am a doctoral student at Northcentral University. I am

conducting a research study on the effects of cyberbullying on adults in the workplace. I am

completing this research as part of my doctoral degree. Your participation is completely

voluntary. I am seeking your consent to involve you and your information in this study. A

reason you might not want to participate in the study is having to answer open ended

questions about being a victim or a witness of cyberbullying. A reason you might want to

participate in the study is wanting to help organizations better understand cyberbullying so

that policies and procedures can be put into place. An alternative to this study is not

participating. I am here to address your questions or concerns during the informed consent

process.

PRIVATE INFORMATION

Certain private information may be collected about you in this study. I will make the

following effort to protect your private information by not requiring any personal

information. If you do provide your name, it will be stored under an alias. Even with this

effort, there is a chance that your private information may be accidentally released. The

chance is small but does exist. You should consider this when deciding whether to

participate.

Activities:

If you participate in this research, you will be asked to:

1. Answer 13 open ending questions about your experience with cyberbullying

(approximately 20-45 minutes).

Eligibility:
 111

You are eligible to participate in this research if you:

1. Are between the ages of 21 and 65.

2. Are a current victims or witness of cyberbullying in an organization where you
currently work.
3. Live in the United States.

You are not eligible to participate in this research if you:

1. Are younger than 21 or older than 65.

2. Are not a current victims or witness of cyberbullying in an organization where you
currently work.
3. Live outside the United States.

I hope to include 20-25 people in this research.

Risks:

There are minimal risks in this study. Some possible risks include: anxiety or stress over

thinking about the events that occurred.

To decrease the impact of these risks, you can: skip any questions or stop participation at any

time.

Benefits:

If you decide to participate, there are no direct benefits to you.

The potential benefits to others are: organizations can better understand cyberbullying to be

able to put policies or procedure to prevent cyberbullying from happening.

Confidentiality:

The information you provide will be kept confidential to the extent allowable by law. Some

steps I will take to keep your identity confidential are: I will use a fake name to identify you.

The people who will have access to your information are: myself, my dissertation chair,

and/or my dissertation committee. The Institutional Review Board may also review my

research and view your information.

 112

I will secure your information with these steps: locking the computer file with a password.

I will keep your data for 7 years. Then, I will delete electronic data and destroy paper data.

Contact Information:

If you have questions for me, you can contact me at: m.dark8407@o365.ncu.edu.

My dissertation chair’s name is Nancy Lees. She works at Northcentral University and is

supervising me on the research. You can contact her at:

nlees@ncu.edu.

If you contact us, you will be giving us information like your phone number or email address.

This information will not be linked to your responses if the study is anonymous.

If you have questions about your rights in the research, or if a problem has occurred, or if you

are injured during your participation, please contact the Institutional Review Board at:

irb@ncu.edu or 1-888-327-2877 ext 8014.

Voluntary Participation:

Your participation is voluntary. If you decide not to participate, or if you stop participation

after you start, there will be no penalty to you. You will not lose any benefit to which you

are otherwise entitled.

Future Research

Any information or specimens collected from you during this research may not be used for

other research in the future, even if identifying information is removed.

Anonymous Study

This study is anonymous, and it is not the intention of the researcher to collect your name.

However, you do have the option to provide your name voluntarily. Please know that if you

do, it may be linked to your responses in this study. Any consequences are outside the
 113

responsibility of the researcher, faculty supervisor, or Northcentral University. If you do wish

to provide your name, a space will be provided. Again, including your name is voluntary, and

you can continue in the study if you do not provide your name.

I have read the above information, or it has been read to me. I have had the opportunity to

ask questions about it and any questions that I have asked were answered to my

satisfaction. I consent voluntarily to participate in this research.

___Yes ___No

Optional: If you choose to provide your name, please type it here:

_________________________________

Participants Name
 114

Appendix G: Facebook Page Permission

115
116
 117

Stop Workplace Bullies Now!

118
119
120
121
 122

Appendix H: Trial Study

A trial study was conducted by providing two experts with both sets of 12 questions.

This is important to endure readability and that the participants will understand the questions as

well as give honest feedback on the questionnaire design (Mcleod, 2018). A trial study was also

used in order to avoid inadequate or unrelated answers and ensure validity.

The first reviewer mentioned that it was a timely issue and the participants sense of

confidentiality will be very important. It was also stressed that the demographics that are

obtained should not be perceived as identifiable. There was no changes to the structure of the

questions, however.

The second reviewer suggested either asking the participant what their definition of

cyberbullying is or having it defined for them before they start either survey. People may have

different views on what cyberbullying is so, this would help during the coding process. The

author will be adding a question #13 to see what each respondents’ view of cyberbullying is. It

was then suggested to change “when did you first notice”, to “when did you first become aware”.

That change will be made. It was lastly suggested to add customer to the list of people who may

be the cyberbully. Since an employee can very well be cyberbullied by a customer, it will be

added to the questionnaire. These changes were added to both the victim and the witness

questionnaires.
 123

Appendix I: Identified Themes from Participants’ Surveys

Themes Participants % P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11

1 Colleague 16/21 76 X X X X X X

2 Upset/Depressed 10/21 48 X X X

3 Loss of Productivity/ Difficulty 10/21 48 X X X X X X

Working

4 Social Media 9/21 43 X X

5 Email 9/21 43 X X X X X X

6 Manager 8/21 38 X X X X X X

7 Worried/Stressed/ 6/21 29 X X X X

Anxious/Overwhelmed

8 Inability to Get Things Done 5/21 24 X X X X

9 Text 4/21 19 X X

10 Stomach Issues 3/21 14 X

11 Not Feeling Good 3/21 14

12 Absenteeism 3/21 14 X X

13 Angry 2/21 10

14 Afraid 2/21 10 X X

15 Lack of Concentration 2/21 10 X X

16 Leaving 2/21 10 X

17 Weight Gain 1/21 5

18 Headaches 1/21 5

19 Irritable 1/21 5

20 Loss of Friends 1/21 5

21 Financial Difficulties 1/21 5 X

22 Fighting 1/21 5
 124

Themes Participants % P12 P13 P14 P15 P16 P17 P18 P19 P20 P21

1 Colleague 16/21 76 X X X X X X X X X X

2 Upset/Depressed 10/21 48 X X X X X X X

3 Loss of Productivity/ Difficulty 10/21 48 X X X X

Working

4 Social Media 9/21 43 X X X X X X X

5 Email 9/21 43 X X X

6 Manager 8/21 38 X X

7 Worried/Stressed/ 6/21 29 X X

Anxious/Overwhelmed

8 Inability to Get Things Done 5/21 24 X

9 Text 4/21 19 X X

10 Stomach Issues 3/21 14 X X

11 Not Feeling Good 3/21 14 X X X

12 Absenteeism 3/21 14 X

13 Angry 2/21 10 X X

14 Afraid 2/21 10

15 Lack of Concentration 2/21 10

16 Leaving 2/21 10 X

17 Weight Gain 1/21 5 X

18 Headaches 1/21 5 X

19 Irritable 1/21 5 X

20 Loss of Friends 1/21 5 X

21 Financial Difficulties 1/21 5

22 Fighting 1/21 5 X