CYBERBULLYING

Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies. It can take place on

social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and mobile phones. It is

repeated behaviour, aimed at scaring, angering or shaming those who are targeted.

The aim of this study was to investigate whether different aspects of morality predict

traditional bullying and cyberbullying behaviour in a similar way. Students between

12 and 19 years participated in an online study. They reported on the frequency of

different traditional and cyberbullying behaviors and completed self-report measures

on moral emotions and moral values. A scenario approach with open questions was

used to assess morally disengaged justifications. Tobit regressions indicated that a

lack of moral values and a lack of remorse predicted both traditional and

cyberbullying behaviour. Traditional bullying was strongly predictive for

cyberbullying. A lack of moral emotions and moral values predicted cyberbullying

behaviour even when controlling for traditional bullying. Morally disengaged

justifications were only predictive for traditional, but not for cyberbullying behaviour.

The findings show that moral standards and moral affect are important to understand

individual differences in engagement in both traditional and cyber forms of bullying.

(European Journal of Developmental Psychology 9 (2), 195-209, 2012.)

According to the National Institute of Development Administration, 2022

Cyberbullying is a significant and prevalent problem in Thai society. Cyberbullying

can cause devastating consequences for the victim without physical violence. The

dangers of cyberbullying are that cyberbullying can be more damaging to the victims

because the bully can remain anonymous, it can rapidly occur at anytime, and the

audience access is uncontrollable. Although research about cyberbullying has been

conducted among teenagers and employees at private organizations, there remains a

research gap regarding the issue of cyberbullying in educational institutions,

particularly the antecedents and outcomes associated with it. The present study

investigated the effect of ethical leadership and organizational politics on employees’

exposure to workplace cyberbullying at one public university in Thailand.

Theoretically, the role of ethical leadership and organizational politics were based on

the emotion reaction model. Furthermore, this study investigated the outcomes of

workplace cyberbullying by focusing on the effects on organizational commitment

and burnout of employees. In addition, political skill of employees was proposed as

the moderators to explain individual differences in handling with organizational

politics and workplace cyberbullying experience for victims. Survey data were

collected from 358 employees using stratified sampling. The results from Partial Least

Squares Structural Equation Modeling supported the positive effect of organizational

politics on cyberbullying exposure. The analysis also found the relationship between

ethical leadership and cyberbullying through organizational politics, as well as the

effect of cyberbullying exposure on organizational commitment and burnout.

Additionally, the political skill significantly moderated the effects of organizational

politics on cyberbullying exposure. This research provided two implications to the

educational institution. Firstly, it is crucial to understand that cyberbullying can

happen when employees have low political skill at work. Secondly, although it is

inevitable to regulate employees to have political skills, the role of the supervisor’s

ethical leadership plays a vital role in creating the supportive and ethical climate in

the work units to prevent organizational politics in the workplace which can reduce

the chance that someone will be a victim for workplace.

 The Six R's is a simple way to prevent cyberbullying (right action, right function,

right speech, right intention, right effort, and right mindfulness). This strategy

involves encouraging bystanders to intervene when they witness cyberbullying. It also

involves teaching students and workplace to recognize cyberbullying and how to

respond appropriately. This strategy also encourages individuals to report

cyberbullying to a trusted adult or appropriate authority. Additionally, it involves

providing resources to students and netizen to help them respond effectively to

cyberbullying. Finally, this strategy encourages schools or even a workplace to create

a supportive environment in which students and workers feel safe to report

cyberbullying without fear of retaliation. There may be situations that require the

intervention of greater community resources such as counselors, administrators, and

law enforcement. Cyberbullying needs to be taken seriously and getting the

community involved may prevent larger problems. Offer counseling services to both

victims and perpetrators. Let students and workers know that it is okay to need to talk

to someone.

References:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17405629.2011.643168?

journalCode=pedp20&fbclid=IwAR1C_gr2ynNNvv6zZ5viybeMMrwDZSONlnwjatIC6Go3gk_j9p4AOCgDeU0

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=explain%20the%20ethical%20issues%20of

%20cyberbullying&oq=&fbclid=IwAR18ma8X5_5GP4hv4j0EfvSACsj8Yxgo06fe3iFATICNjdfQ3U_sSUTL8eA#d=gs_qabs&t=167349

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