关键词: 现实受欺负, 愤怒反刍, 道德推脱, 网络欺负行为, 青少年

Abstract: With the rapid development of science and technology, the Internet is playing an increasingly important role in people's life. While the Internet brings us great convenience, it also brings some harm to our life. Cyberbullying perpetration is one of these harms. Some studies have found that Cyberbullying is an increasingly common phenomenon that causes many negative effects, such as anxiety, depression, violence, and aggressive behavior. Many studies have explored factors that can help reduce or increase cyberbullying perpetration among adolescents. Traditional bullying victimization is one of the predictors of adolescent cyberbullying perpetration. However, the mediating and moderating mechanism underlying this relationship is still largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to explore whether traditional bullying victimization can significantly predict adolescent cyberbullying perpetration, and further explore the potential mediating (i.e., how traditional bullying victimization influences cyberbullying) and moderating mechanisms (i.e., when the mediating process is effective) underlying this relationship. The data for the current study were collected as part of the first wave of an ongoing longitudinal study. The participants included 2407 students from seven middle schools in Taiyuan, and Changzhi, Shanxi province. Adolescents filled out questionnaires in a quiet classroom. When participants completed the self-assessment questionnaire, we checked the completeness of all questionnaires. In all samples (1191 boys, 1202 girls, and 14 participants who did not report gender), the mean age of the subjects was 12.75 years (standard deviation was 0.58 years). The age range was 11 to 16 years. All analyses were conducted using SPSS 20.0. Before testing hypotheses, all variables were standardized. First, Hayes’s (2013) PROCESS macro (Model 4) was used to examine the mediating effect of anger rumination on the relationship between traditional bullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration when gender and age were controlled. Then, we examined whether moral disengagement moderated this mediation process. The results indicated that: (1) The relationship among traditional bullying victimization, cyberbullying perpetration, anger rumination, and moral disengagement were all significantly. (2)Traditional bullying victimization could significantly positively predict cyberbullying perpetration. (3) Anger rumination mediated the relationship between traditional bullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration, even after controlling for gender and age. (4) The indirect effect of traditional bullying victimization on cyberbullying perpetration through angry rumination was moderated by moral disengagement. Specifically, for individuals with a high level of moral disengagement, the higher the level of anger rumination, the higher the level of cyberbullying implementation. For individuals with low levels of moral disengagement, the relationship between anger rumination and cyberbullying perpetration became nonsignificant. Our findings have certain theoretical and practical significance. From the theoretical perspective, it provides an empirical framework for researchers by examining the mediating effect of anger rumination between traditional bullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration and the moderating effect of moral disengagement. These results could shed light on the underlying mechanisms between traditional bullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration and extend the previous studies. From a practical perspective, it could help researchers better understand how traditional bullying victimization in adolescents leads to cyberbullying perpetration. Our findings may help design effective psychological interventions and develop strategies to reduce anger rumination (e.g., distractions, switching thoughts and mindfulness training) to prevent and reduce cyberbullying perpetration.

Key words: Traditional bullying victimization, Moral disengagement, Anger rumination, Cyberbullying perpetration, Adolescent