It’s tempting to assume that bullying is typically done by people who have impulsive aggressive tendencies. Research from the University of Michigan suggests that while this can often be the case when it comes to cyberbullying, those kinds of people aren’t the only culprits.
The researchers examined the various psychological characteristics that tend to result in aggressive behavior online to try and accurately predict whether someone might go down that route. Such bullying behavior can range from brief and isolated incidents between strangers to much more sustained harassment and even threats.
“We focus on specific behaviors that are most likely harmful rather than the label ‘harassment,’” the researchers explain.
Online bullying
The researchers asked around 300 to complete self-reports on situations where they voiced anger or disapproval towards other people. The process revealed that around 162 of them had engaged in a minimum of one form of harassing behavior online.
These behaviors include reactive or proactive aggression, moral disagreements, impulsivity, disinhibition, and premeditated aggression. These could manifest themselves in terms of spreading harmful rumors or sharing embarrassing photos without permission.
“This approach, we believe, captures more accurate self-reports than bluntly yet ambiguously asking, ‘Have you ever harassed others online?’” the researchers explain. “We want to get rid of the idea that harassers are a particular group, or a special species. Everyone has the capacity to cause harm to others in online spaces.”
False assumptions
We may assume certain things about online bullies, such as that they’re white men or that they hold certain political views. While there was an element of truth to these assumptions, the research found that it wasn’t the entire picture.
Indeed, the research found that various psychological tendencies, such as any aggressive tendencies we may have, were a much stronger predictor of harassing behavior online.
The authors argue that social media platforms have traditionally relied heavily on remediation for online harassment that is delivered after the fact rather than any more predictive behaviors. This remediation, such as banning the reported users or deleting posts, tends to be done after the harm has already happened.
“We explore if we can have preemptive measures against online harm, which requires a more in-depth understanding of who harasses others online, and why,” the researchers explain.
