Investigating The Relationship Between Cyberbullying and Perceived Social Support in Primary School Students

Author(s):

Sinan Keskin(presenting / submitting)Mehmet Fatih Yiğit(presenting)Serkan Okur Halil Yurdugül

Conference:

ECER 2017

Network:

Emerging Researchers' Group (for presentation at Emerging Researchers' Conference)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

ERG SES G 13, Primary Education and Teaching

Paper Session

Time:

2017-08-22

09:00-10:30

Room:

W4.20

Chair:

Annett Adler

Contribution

Bullying was once classified as being physical, verbal, direct and indirect (Smith et al., 2008). However, recent developments in technology and current technology-centered lifestyle have brought a different type of bullying called as "cyberbullying" (Akbaba & Eroğlu, 2013). Cyberbullying is the intentional act of harrasing of others by individuals or groups using technology as a mean (Belsey, 2007; Calvete, Orue, Estévez, Villardón, & Padilla 2010). Cyberbullying has created serious problems, notably psychological distress, among people. Therefore it is of great significance to take serious measures to overcome cyberbullying (Beale & Hall, 2007). To do this, it is required to thoroughly investigate possible variables that may correlate with cyberbullying (Demir & Seferoğlu, 2016). Therefore, in this study, it was aimed to determine the relationship between cyberbullying and perceived social support, which is considered as one of the potential reasons for cyberbullying (Calvete et al., 2010; Demeray & Malecki, 2003; Park, Na & Kim, 2014). Perceived social support is defined as the perception an individual has of being loved, cared for and valued by others (Demaray & Malecki, 2003). Moreover, it was also aimed to determine if cyberbullying differs across gender, grade and frequency of internet use.

Method

In this study, researchers investigated the relationship between cyberbullying perceived social support and also the effects of several variables on cyberbullying among 11-14 years old students. For this reason, descriptive correlational research design was adopted (Fraenkel, Wallen & Hyun, 2012). 223 fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grade students from two different schools participated in this research. Personel information questionaire, cyberbullying scale and perceived social support scale were used to collect demographic information and to assess cyberbullying and perceived social support. Cyberbullying scale, developed by Arıcak, Kınay and Tanrıkulu (2012), is a 4 point likert scale and consisted of 24 items with single factor. Cronbach alpha coefficient was calculated as 0.95 for this scale. The scale is appropriate to use on 11-17 age group. Perceived social support scale, developed by, Yıldırım (2004), is a 3 point likert scale and has 50 items with 3 factors, which are parent support (20 items), peer support (13 items) and teacher support (17 items). Cronbach alpha coefficient was computed as 0.93 for the whole scale and 0.94, 0.91 and 0.93 for parent support, peer support and teacher support sub-scales respectively. In this study, only family support sub-scale was used to measure students' perceived social support level. In data analysis, to determine the relationship, Spearman rank correlational coefficient was used. Additionally, mean scores were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U test.

Expected Outcomes

The results revealed that cyberbullying did not differ across gender. This finding is in agreement with several studies in the literature (Demir & Seferoğlu, 2016; Hinduja & Patchin, 2008). Research has noted that boys are more likely to engage in traditional bullying than girls (Seals & Young, 2003). Research also indicated that girls prefer more indirect ways of bullying such as spreading rumor (Baldry & Farrington, 1999). Since cyberbullying is mostly an indirect form of bullying, it is reasonable that girls are found to be equal to boys in cyberbullying behaviors. This study also revealed that grade is a statistically meaningful variable that has an effect on cyberbullying. According to the result, eighth grade students involved in cyberbullying behaviours more often than fifth and sixth grade students. Frequency of internet use also affects cyberbullying in a statsitically meaningful way. Students spending more than 20 hours of internet a week appeared to be stronger participants of cyberbullying than those using internet until 10 hours a week. This is in parallel with the findings of an earlier research. It was determined that there is a moderate negative relationship between cyberbullying and perceived social support (r=-0.401; p<.05). Therefore, it is possible to infer that higher levels of social support perceived from family can significantly decrease the number of cyberbullying behaviours among primary school students. This finding is supported by several studies in the literature (Calvete et al., 2010; Heiman, Olenik-Shemesh & Eden, 2015; Park, Na & Kim, 2016). However, Bingül and Tanrıkulu (2014) reported that there was no meaningful relationship between perceived family support and cyberbullying. In conclusion, according to the result of this study along with others in the literature, family plays an important role in coping with cyberbullying among adolescents and parents should have some responsibilities at this point.

References

Akbaba, S., & Eroğlu, Y. (2013). İlköğretim öğrencilerinde siber zorbalık ve mağduriyetin yordayıcıları. Uludağ Üniversitesi EF Dergi, 26(1), 105-121. Arıcak, O. T., Kınay, H., & Tanrıkulu, T. (2012). Siber Zorbalık Ölçeği'nin İlk Psikometrik Bulguları. Hasan Ali Yücel EF Dergi, 9(1), 101-114. Baldry, A. C., & Farrington, D. P. (1999). Brief report: types of bullying among Italian school children. Journal of adolescence, 22(3), 423-426. Beale, A. V., & Hall, K. R. (2007). Cyberbullying: What school administrators (and parents) can do. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 81(1), 8-12. Belsey, B. (2007). Cyberbullying: a real and growing threat. ATA Magazine, 88(1), 14–21. Bingül, N., & Tanrıkulu, T. (2014). Siber Zorba Ve Mağdur Olma İle Algılanan Sosyal Destek Düzeyi Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi. Akademik Bakış Dergisi, 43. Calvete, E., Orue, I., Estévez, A., Villardón, L., & Padilla, P. (2010). Cyberbullying in adolescents: Modalities and aggressors’ profile. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(5), 1128-1135. Çetin, B., Yaman, E., & Peker, A. (2011). Cyber victim and bullying scale: A study of validity and reliability. Computers & Education, 57(4), 2261-2271. Demaray, M. K., & Malecki, C. K. (2003). Perceptions of the frequency and importance of social support by students classified as victims, bullies, and bully/victims in an urban middle school. School Psychology Review, 32(3), 471-490. Demir, Ö., & Seferoğlu, S.S. (2016). Bilgi okuryazarlığı, internet bağımlılığı, sanal aylaklık ve çeşitli diğer değişkenlerin sanal zorbalık ile ilişkisinin incelenmesi. Technology Addiction & Cyberbullying, 3(1), 1-26. Fraenkel, J.R., Wallen, N.E., & Hyun, H.H. (2012). How to design and evaluate researchin education. New York: Mc. Graw-Hill. Inc. Heiman, T., Olenik-Shemesh, D., & Eden, S. (2015). Cyberbullying involvement among students with ADHD: relation to loneliness, self-efficacy and social support. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 30(1). Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2008). Cyberbullying: An exploratory analysis of factors related to offending and victimization. Deviant behavior, 29(2). Park, S., Na, E. Y., & Kim, E. M. (2014). The relationship between online activities, netiquette and cyberbullying. Children and youth services review, 42. Seals, D., & Young, J. (2003). Bullying and victimization: Prevalence and relationship to gender, grade level, ethnicity, self-esteem, and depression. Adolescence, 38(152). Smith, P. K., Mahdavi, J., Carvalho, M., Fisher, S., Russell, S., & Tippett, N. (2008). Cyberbullying: Its nature and impact in secondary school pupils. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, 49(4). Yıldırım, İ. (2004). Algılanan sosyal destek ölçeğinin revizyonu. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 17.

Author Information

Sinan Keskin (presenting / submitting)

Yuzuncu Yil University

Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology

Ankara

Mehmet Fatih Yiğit (presenting)

Hakkari University, Turkey

Serkan Okur

Sebit Education and Information Technologies, Turkey

Halil Yurdugül

Hacettepe University, Turkey

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