“I Hate Everything About You”: A Qualitative Examination of Cyberbullying and On-Line Aggression in a College Sample

Abstract

Due to highly innovative technologies such as the smart phone, cyberbullying and on-line aggression have increasingly affected individuals across the world. In this study, a broad symbolic interactionist approach is used to study both cyberbullying and on-line aggression. Cyberbullying is defined as repeated unwanted, hurtful, harassing, and/or threatening interaction through electronic communication media. On-line aggression is defined as hurtful, harassing, and/or threatening behavior that is not repeated. Undergraduate students at a Midwestern university (N = 221) were surveyed to determine the extent and nature of their cyberbullying and on-line aggression experiences. By using open ended questions to inquire about respondents' personal experiences with cyberbullying and on-line aggression, we identified three motivations for these acts, which included cyber sanctioning, power struggles, and entertainment.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Rafferty

REBECCA RAFFERTY earned her master's degree in sociology at Ohio University in 2011. She is currently employed at the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio in Nelsonville, Ohio, where she assists with the distribution of grants and scholarships throughout the Appalachian Ohio region.

Thomas Vander Ven

THOMAS VANDER VEN (B.A., Indiana, 1988; Ph.D., Cincinnati, 1998) is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of Criminology at Ohio University. His recent publications include “Crime and Coercion” (with Mark Colvin in the Oxford Handbook of Criminological Theory, 2013) and Getting Wasted: Why College Students Drink too Much and Party So Hard (NYU Press, 2011).