Morrison, Kristen

With the expansion of the internet, there are a number of opportunities to engage in cyber-bullying behaviour, however, to date, only a few studies have examined interpersonal predictors of cyber-bullying. The purpose of this research study was to explore relationship and personality factors associated with being a bully and/or a victim. The first goal of this study was to develop a comprehensive cyber-bullying measure. Results indicated three groups of cyber-bullying behaviours, including traditional (e.g. gossip); personal attack (e.g. negative remarks towards religion); and malicious behaviours (e.g. threats). Next, the associations between cyber-bullying and attachment, interdependence, and the dark triad of personality were examined. Analyses revealed that cyber-bullying was negatively associated with attachment security and interdependence and positively associated with insecurity and psychopathy. Discussion of the findings highlighted the importance of the dark triad in understanding predictors of cyber-bullying behaviours.

Author Keywords: Attachment, Bullying, Cyber-bullying, Dark Triad, Interpersonal Relationships, Personality