Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Tracy Marsh

Abstract

Ethnicity is a factor that predicts how a person is impacted by cyberbullying, but to date little research has been conducted to investigate this phenomenon. Some researchers have reported that individuals belonging to ethnic minorities may have a greater overall resistance to bullying behavior and bias due to stress inoculation. The purpose of this study was to determine if ethnic minority status serves as a protective factor against the negative impact of cyberbullying in adults. This research study was guided by inoculation and socio-ecological systems theories. A convenience sample of 618 American adults who use social media at least 3 hours per week was used. The Cyberbullying Victimization Scale was used to measure 3 areas of cyberbullying victimization, and a demographic survey was used to measure gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, income level, religious affiliation, and marital status. Data were analyzed using multivariate multiple regression to identify if ethnicity and the covariates are related to the experience of cyberbullying victimization. The results of the present study lent support to the socio-ecological systems theory, suggesting that participants’ various socio-ecological systems impacted their experience with cyberbullying victimization. However, the results of the statistical analyses provided conflicting results with regard to inoculation theory and stress inoculation. The aim of this study has been to promote awareness of this growing social problem among adults and to encourage more rapid and effective intervention to cyberbullying. Increased awareness and potential interventions developed as a result of the findings in this study could promote positive social change by helping adult cyberbullying victims to recover more quickly and offer them better coping strategies in the future.

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