Investigation of university students' cyber bullying / victim situations during the pandemic period

The main purpose of this research is to determine the university students' level of cyberbullying/victimization during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding some sociodemographic characteristics (gender, physical illness status, class level, place of life, income level and daily internet use), gender equality, collectivism, psychological needs, and the impact of COVID-19 on thequality of life. The sample of the research includes 545 university students (446 females, 81.8%; 99 males, 18.2%). To collect data in the research, the Cyberbullying Scale for University Students, the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Quality of Life Scale, Individualism/CollectivismScale for Young Individuals, the Gender Equality Scale and a demographic information form were utilized. Results of the study suggested the rate of participants who have been cyberbullied at least once in the last six months was 35.2% while the rate of cyber victimization was 52.6%. A statistically significant difference was found regarding gender, physical illness and daily internet usage time of participants. Moreover, significantly positive relationship between the impact of COVID-19 on the quality of life with respect to psychological, social, and occupational impact dimensions and both cyberbullying and victimization were found.Commitment to authority/tradition and love-belonging predicted cyberbullying in a significant and negative way. Group attachment and love-belonging predicted victimization in the same way.In the result of hierarchical regression analysis, it was found that the included variables explained cyberbullying at the rate of 3.8% and cyber victimization 7.7%.The findings were discussed and suggestions were made in the light of the literature.