[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Understanding Cyberbullying as the Convergence of Offender Disposition and Crime Opportunity: A Configurational Approach

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Disruptive Innovation in a Digitally Connected Healthy World (I3E 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 14907))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 440 Accesses

Abstract

In this study, applying a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach, we explain social media cyberbullying as the convergence of offender disposition (perpetrator’s willingness and presence of suitable target) and crime opportunity (absence of intimate handler, platform guardian, and lawful guardian). Data from online platform, namely MTurk, suggest that perpetrator’s willingness is the necessary condition without which cyberbullying does not take place neither in the USA nor in India. In addition, we obtain two sufficient configurations from each sample that adequately explain cyberbullying. Interestingly, both samples suggest a common configuration predicting cyberbullying – a combination of platform guardian, perpetrator’s willingness and presence of suitable target. The findings suggest several theoretical and practical implications.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
£29.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
GBP 19.95
Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
GBP 64.99
Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
GBP 79.99
Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Disclosure of Interests

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

References

  1. Chan, T.K., Cheung, C.M., Wong, R.Y.: Cyberbullying on social networking sites: the crime opportunity and affordance perspectives. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 36(2), 574–609 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Stopbullying.gov. What Is Cyberbullying (2021). https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it. Accessed 12 Jan 2022

  3. Mkono, M.: ‘Troll alert!’: provocation and harassment in tourism and hospitality social media. Curr. Issue Tour. 21(7), 791–804 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gorman, G.: Internet trolls are not who I thought—they're even scarier (2019). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-02/internet-trolls-arent-who-i-thought-ginger-gorman-troll-hunting/10767690

  5. Gok, O.: The role of opportunity in crime prevention and possible threats of crime control benefits. Turk. J. Police Stud. 13(1), 97–114 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Felson, M.: Linking Criminal Choices, Routine Activities, Informal Control, and criminal outcomes. In: The Reasoning Criminal: Rational Choice Perspectives on Offending, p. 119 (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kintonova, A., Vasyaev, A., Shestak, V.: Cyberbullying and cyber-mobbing in developing countries. Inf. Comput. Secur. 29(3), 435–456 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ragin, C.C.: Redesigning Social Inquiry: Fuzzy Sets and Beyond. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (2008)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Misangyi, V.F., et al.: Embracing causal complexity: the emergence of a neo-configurational perspective. J. Manag. 43(1), 255–282 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Ordanini, A., Parasuraman, A., Rubera, G.: When the recipe is more important than the ingredients: a qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of service innovation configurations. J. Serv. Res. 17(2), 134–149 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Tokunaga, R.S.: Following you home from school: a critical review and synthesis of research on cyberbullying victimization. Comput. Hum. Behav. 26(3), 277–287 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Clarke, R.V.G., Felson, M.: Routine Activity and Rational Choice, vol. 5. Transaction publishers, Piscataway (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hollis, M.E., Felson, M., Welsh, B.C.: The capable guardian in routine activities theory: a theoretical and conceptual reappraisal. Crime Prevent. Commun. Safety 15(1), 65–79 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Zipf, G.K.: Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort: An Introduction to human Ecology. Ravenio Books (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Felson, M., Boba, R.: Everyday Technology and Everyday Crime, Crime and Everyday Life. SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  16. McMurty, R., Curling, A.: Volume 5 Literature review in The review of the roots of youth violence, pp. 41–52 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Cohen, L.E., Felson, M.: Social change and crime rate trends: a routine activity approach. Am. Sociol. Rev. 588–608 (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Sampson, R., Eck, J.E., Dunham, J.: Super controllers and crime prevention: a routine activity explanation of crime prevention success and failure. Secur. J. 23(1), 37–51 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Felson, M.: Those who discourage crime. Crime Place 4, 53–66 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Ireland, L., et al.: Preconditions for guardianship interventions in cyberbullying: Incident interpretation, collective and automated efficacy, and relative popularity of bullies. Comput. Hum. Behav. 113, 106506 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. El Asam, A., Samara, M.: Cyberbullying and the law: a review of psychological and legal challenges. Comput. Hum. Behav. 65, 127–141 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Felson, A.: Linking criminal choices, routine activities, informal control, and criminal outcomes. In: Cornish, D.B., Clarke, R.V. (eds.) The Reasoning Criminal: Rational Choice Perspectives on Offending, pp. 119–128. Taylor & Francis (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Hirschi, T.: Causes of Delinquency. Transaction publishers, Piscataway (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Fuchs, C., Trottier, D.: Towards a theoretical model of social media surveillance in contemporary society. Communications 40(1), 113–135 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Coles, B.A., West, M.: Trolling the trolls: online forum users constructions of the nature and properties of trolling. Comput. Hum. Behav. 60, 233–244 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Foody, M., Samara, M., Carlbring, P.: A review of cyberbullying and suggestions for online psychological therapy. Internet Interv. 2(3), 235–242 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Lowry, P.B., et al.: An integrative theory addressing cyberharassment in the light of technology-based opportunism. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 36(4), 1142–1178 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Venkatesh, V., Thong, J.Y., Xu, X.: Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. MIS Q. 157–178 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Bouranta, N., Chitiris, L., Paravantis, J.: The relationship between internal and external service quality. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag. 21(3), 275–293 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Larson, R.B.: Controlling social desirability bias. Int. J. Mark. Res. 61(5), 534–547 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Ragin, C.: User's Guide to Fuzzy-Set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis 3.0. Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine, California (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Ragin, C.C.: Fuzzy-Set Social Science. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Mattke, J., et al.: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in information systems research: status quo, guidelines, and future directions. Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst. 50, 556–588 (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Pappas, I.O., Woodside, A.G.: Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA): guidelines for research practice in Information Systems and marketing. Int. J. Inf. Manag. 58, 102310 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Park, Y., Fiss, P.C., El Sawy, O.A.: Theorizing the multiplicity of digital phenomena: the ecology of configurations, causal recipes, and guidelines for applying QCA. MIS Q. 44(4), 1493 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Rasoolimanesh, S.M., et al.: The combined use of symmetric and asymmetric approaches: partial least squares-structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Int. J. Contemp. Hosp. Manag. 33(5), 1571–1592 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Pappas, I.O., et al.: Identifying the combinations of motivations and emotions for creating satisfied users in SNSs: an fsQCA approach. Int. J. Inf. Manage. 53, 102128 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Lowry, P.B., Moody, G.D., Chatterjee, S.: Using IT design to prevent cyberbullying. J. Manag. Inf. Syst. 34(3), 863–901 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Yurdakul, Y., Ayhan, A.B.: The effect of the cyberbullying awareness program on adolescents’ awareness of cyberbullying and their coping skills. Curr. Psychol. 42(28), 24208–24222 (2023)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Balakrishnan, V.: Cyberbullying among young adults in Malaysia: the roles of gender, age and Internet frequency. Comput. Hum. Behav. 46, 149–157 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Jones, D.N., Paulhus, D.L.: Introducing the short dark triad (SD3) a brief measure of dark personality traits. Assessment 21(1), 28–41 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia

    Mohammad Alamgir Hossain

  2. Curtin University, Bentley, WA, 6102, Australia

    Mohammed Quaddus

  3. Flame University, Pune, Maharashtra, 412115, India

    Preetha Menon

  4. Department of Computer Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Sem Saelandsvei 9, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Ilias Pappas

  5. Department of Information Systems, University of Agder, Universitetsveien 25, 4630, Kristiansand, Norway

    Ilias Pappas

Authors
  1. Mohammad Alamgir Hossain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mohammed Quaddus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Preetha Menon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ilias Pappas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Alamgir Hossain .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Open Universiteit, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Rogier van de Wetering

  2. Open Universiteit, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Remko Helms

  3. Open Universiteit, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Ben Roelens

  4. Open Universiteit, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Samaneh Bagheri

  5. Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    Yogesh K. Dwivedi

  6. University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

    Ilias O. Pappas

  7. University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Matti Mäntymäki

Appendix

Appendix

Appendix. The measures and their psychometric properties

Condition

Item

Loading

Perpetrator’s Willingness

CR = 0.914

AVE = 0.728

1. I want to engage in social media bullying perpetration

0.838

2. I tend to bully others on social media

0.863

3. I am inclined to commit social media bullying

0.838

4. I am keen to perpetrate someone on social media

0.873

Presence of Suitable Target

CR = 0.850

AVE = 0.587

The social media environment has …

1. Suitable people for bullying

0.677

2. Ideal users for me to engage in bullying perpetration

0.800

3. Right candidates for me to attack

0.767

4. Attractive targets for bullying

0.812

Absence of Intimate Handler

CR = 0.849

AVE = 0.539

1. The people close to me do not like CB

0.745

2. I will lose my friends on social media if I commit CB

0.781

3. My future relationship with my friends on social media will be impaired if I commit CB

0.725

4. My friends on social media will be upset if I commit CB

0.881

5. If I commit CB, someone may inform my guardians.d

–

Absence of Platform Guardian

CR = 0.860

AVE = 0.605

I perceive that …

1. Neither a computer system nor social media employees carefully monitor CB incidents

0.776

2. CB incidents are not monitored by the social media system

0.797

3. No system or person monitors people’s behaviors in the social media system to ensure ‘good’ behavior

0.780

4. A lack of effective guardianships from social media platform to deter CB perpetration

0.758

Absence of Lawful Guardian

CR = 0.860

AVE = 0.553

I perceive that …

1. There is lack of exemplary punishments for CB

0.723

2. There is no or effective application of CB law

0.723

3. There is no cyber-policing to monitor perpetrators’ behavior in social media to protect users

0.767

4. There is no one from law enforcement agencies in social media to protect users

0.681

5. Law enforcement agencies do not use suitable technologies to protect social media users

0.816

Cyberbullying Behavior

CR = 0.915

AVE = 0.644

In the past three months, how often did you engage in the following behaviors on Facebook?

1. Posted hurtful, rude, or mean content that targets someone

0.795

2. Publicly embarrassed or pranked someone with information or photos that are potentially harmful

0.839

3. Spread rumors/untrue information about someone

0.843

4. Sent threatening/harassing messages to someone

0.820

5. Made fun of someone

0.656

6. Changed data or photos to embarrass someone

0.845

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Hossain, M.A., Quaddus, M., Menon, P., Pappas, I. (2024). Understanding Cyberbullying as the Convergence of Offender Disposition and Crime Opportunity: A Configurational Approach. In: van de Wetering, R., et al. Disruptive Innovation in a Digitally Connected Healthy World. I3E 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14907. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-72234-9_30

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-72234-9_30

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-72233-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-72234-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Societies and partnerships

Search

Navigation