The Spread of Cyberbullying and its Role in Stimulating Violence in the University Environment in Light of Some Demographic Variables

Abstract

The current study aimed to determine the degree to which undergraduate students exposed to cyberbullying and its widespread forms. Additionally, the forms of social media utilized in cyberbullying were queried from the perspective of undergraduate students at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah. A quantitative survey and correlational design was applied in this study. This study relied on the questionnaire in collecting the data that was built for this study, with the help of the literature in the field of cyberbullying. Questionnaire validity and reliability were confirmed. The study was applied to a sample of (269) male and female university students. Results indicated that 20% to 30% of college students had been cyberbullied. Also, the most common forms of bullying college student exposed to are abusive messages (Flaming) and repeatedly sending offensive messages through social media. The study revealed a positive, direct correlation between exposure to cyberbullying and bullied of others. As well as the most popular social media used for bullying is Snapchat, followed by Twitter. The study showed that there are significant differences in the degree of exposure to cyberbullying in favor of male students, who are scientific, and who are in the third and fourth level. The study results provide logical concerns regarding the undergraduate students’ exposure to cyberbullying and considerable areas for future research.