How previous experiences of being cyberbullied influence teenagers' prosocial/antisocial reacting strategies towards cyberbullying in SNS?

Abstract

Teenagers who have been cyberbullied may have more empathy towards other victims and conduct more prosocial behaviors, when confronted with other cyberbullying activities in SNS. However, according to reciprocity principle, teenagers who have been cyberbullied may also conduct what they have suffered to others, and hence lead to antisocial behaviors. This study focuses on how the teenagers’ experiences of being cyberbullied influence their prosocial/ antisocial coping strategies in SNS, by taking gender, social interaction online and cognitive support from others into considerations. Based on 622 teenage SNS users as respondents, the results revealed that teenagers who have been victims of cyberbullied directly reported to conduct more antisocial reacting strategies, and this revealed the possibility of transformation between perpetrators and victims. Nevertheless, young girl who have been cyberbullied tended to be more empathetic and reported to conduct more prosocial coping strategies than boys. In addition, teenagers’ social interaction online positively predict prosocial behavior, but failed to be a moderator in the relationship between prior experience and coping strategies; and cognitive support from others also hadn’t found to predict the coping strategies. At the end, what should be more effective ways to guide the teenage victims to be more prosocial were discussed.