Processes of cyberbullying, and feelings of remorse by bullies: A pilot study

TLDR

The study examined cyberbullying among Swedish pupils, focusing on how bullying material is distributed, the involvement of targeted bystanders, and differences in bullies’ remorse compared to traditional bullying. The study involved 759 Swedish children and adolescents aged 9–16. Cyberbullies often shared bullying material with others (39%) and posted it online (16%), while most targeted bystanders (72%) did not further distribute it, and when they did, they more often helped the victim (13%) than continue bullying (6%); additionally, cyberbullies expressed less remorse than traditional bullies.

Abstract

We investigated cyberbullying in Swedish pupils, distribution processes of the bullying material, the role of actively targeted bystanders, and whether bullies feel more or less remorse when cyberbullying compared to bullying others via traditional means. Seven hundred fifty-nine children and adolescents (aged 9–16 years) participated. Cyberbullies not only targeted their victims, but quite often showed bullying material to other people they knew (39% of cases) and uploaded it onto the internet for others to see (16%). The actively targeted bystanders of cyberbullying mostly did nothing further to distribute the material (72% of cases). However, when they did distribute it further, they tended to help the victim by showing him/her what had been done (13%) more often than showing it to the victim in order to bully him/her further (6%); some others (9%) forwarded the material to other friends. Cyberbullies expressed less remorse than traditional bullies. Findings are discussed in relation to the definition of bullying, and the need for preventive strategies and for empathy raising awareness for cyberbullies.