The Effects of Covert Narcissism on Chinese College Students Cyberbullying: The Mediation of Hostile Attribution Bias and the Moderation of Self-Control

Figures & data

Figure 1 Hypothesized moderated mediation model.

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics of the Demographic Variables

Variables	Groups	Frequency	Percentage (%)
Gender	Male	235	35.0%
	Female	437	65.0%
RS	Urban	289	43.0%
	Rural	383	57.0%
Grade	Freshmen	142	21.1%
	Sophomore	210	31.3%
	Junior	218	32.4%
	Senior	102	15.2%

Abbreviation: RS, registered residence.

Table 2 Demographic Difference Analysis

Variables	Groups	CN	HAB	SC	CB
Gender	Male	2.44±0.79	2.20±0.59	2.87±0.64	1.50±0.57
	Female	2.63±0.71	2.32±0.59	2.74±0.61	1.33±0.38
	t	−3.03**	−2.62	2.41*	4.16***
RS	Urban	2.55±0.79	2.27±0.60	2.80±0.65	1.41±0.49
	Rural	2.58±0.71	2.29±0.58	2.77±0.60	1.37±0.44
	t	−0.51	−0.34	0.61	1.16

Notes: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.

Abbreviations: CN, covert narcissism; HAB, hostile attribution bias; SC, self-control; CB, cyberbullying; RS, registered residence.

Table 3 Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations of the Main Variables (N=672)

Variables	M	SD	1	2	3	4
1. CN	2.57	0.74	1
2. CB	1.39	0.46	0.43**	1
3. HAB	2.28	0.59	0.52**	0.33**	1
4. SC	2.79	0.62	−0.18**	−0.14**	−0.14**	1

Note: **p<0.01.

Abbreviations: CN, covert narcissism; CB, cyberbullying; HAB, hostile attribution bias; SC, self-control.

Table 4 Testing the Mediating Effect of Hostile Attribution Bias on Cyberbullying

Predictors	Cyberbullying		Hostile Attribution Bias		Cyberbullying
	β	t	β	t	β	t
Gender	−0.23	−6.82***	0.04	1.17	−0.24	−7.07***
CN	0.46	13.44***	0.51	15.44***	0.38	9.61***
HAB					0.16	4.02***
R^2	0.24		0.27		0.26
F	104.08***		123.78***		76.35***

Note: ***p<0.001.

Abbreviations: CN, covert narcissism; HAB, hostile attribution bias.

Figure 2 Mediation model. c is the total effect of covert narcissism on cyberbullying, a is the effect of covert narcissism on hostile attribution bias, b is the effect of hostile attribution bias on cyberbullying and c’ is the direct effect of covert narcissism on cyberbullying. ***p<0.001.

Table 5 Testing the Moderated Mediation Effect of Self-Control of Covert Narcissism on Cyberbullying

Predictors	Hostile Attribution Bias		Cyberbullying
	β	t	β	t
Gender	0.05	1.17	−0.24	−7.19***
CN	0.41	15.44***	0.23	9.47***
HAB			0.13	4.06***
SC			−0.04	−1.57
CN × SC			−0.07	−2.01*
HAB×SC			0.02	0.45
R²	0.27		0.27
F	123.78***		40.27***

Notes: *p<0.05; ***p<0.001.

Abbreviations: CN, covert narcissism; HAB, hostile attribution bias; SC, self-control.

Figure 3 The final model of this study. *p<0.05; ***p<0.001.

Figure 4 Moderating effect of self-control on the relationship between covert narcissism and cyberbullying.

Abbreviations: CN, covert narcissism; SC, self-control.