Analyzing the cyber bullying and victimization among adolescents in the framework of shame/guilt and revenge

The main aim of this study was to analyze the effect of the feelings of shame/guilt and revenge on the cyber experiences of adolescents who face cyber bullying and victimization. Another aim of this study was to analyze whether cyber bullying and victimization was differentiated by effect of gender, school type, grade, parent education level, monthly income of the family, and Internet usage on experiencing. Also, the aim of this study was to determine the differentiation of the feelings of shame/guilt and revenge with respect to different variables. This study included 553 students in 9th and 10th grades in 9 high schools (in five different high school types: general education, Anatolian, girls vocational, industrial vocational, Anatolian fine arts) in two central municipalities of Bursa with different socio-economical status. 308 of the students are girls while 245 of them are boys. Personal Information Forms, Cyber bullying, Cyber victimization, Shame/guilt, and Revenge scales were applied to participants. We used the measurements of mean ( ), standard deviation (ss), frequency (N), percentile (%), and the methods free groups t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and stepwise regression analysis. The results showed that gender, school type, grade level, educational level of parents, and monthly income were not significant for being a cyber bully or victim. On the other hand, there was a strong association between being cyber victim and weekly Internet usage. The more time adolescents spend online increases the higher probability of being cyber victim. Another result showed that while there was not much significant difference between gender, parental education level, and the feelings of shame/guilt and revenge, a meaningful different between the school type and the feeling of guilt. We found that the students in Anatolian high schools feel guiltier for a mistake than students in other types of schools. Also, the 10th grade students experienced a stronger feeling of guilt for their mistakes than 9th-grade students. When it came to revenge, having higher income was more significant. The students from high-income families score higher in revenge scale than those from middle-income families. In this research we used Stepwise Regression Analysis to analyze the association between cyber bullying/victimization and shame/guilt and revenge scores. The analysis showed that the feelings of shame/guilt and revenge were significant for being a cyber bully. Cyber bullying had a negative relationship with the feeling of guilt whereas it had a positive relationship with the feeling of shame and revenge. In cyber victimization, shame and revenge feelings had negative effect while the feeling of guilt was not significant. The research showed that the feeling of shame/guilt and revenge explained the cyber bullying while the feeling of shame and revenge explained the cyber victimization, however, the feeling of guilt did not explain the cyber victimization. We think that studying and analyzing the factors causing cyber bully and victim behaviors will help explain these life forms and devising interventions. Keywords: Cyber bullying, cyber victim, shame/guilt feeling, revenge feeling