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Thesis/Dissertation Information
- Degree Disciplines:
- Psychology
Notes
- Abstract:
- Traditional bullying, through verbal, physical, and indirect means, causes psychological effects such as depression and anxiety that may continue into adulthood (Olweus, 1993). In addition, technological advances have fostered the development of cyberbullying that has been found to promote psychosocial maladjustment in later life for adolescents. Psychological effects associated with traditional bullying are implied to occur with cyberbullying, including depression, anxiety, loneliness, low self-image, nervousness, and even increased risk for suicide (Aluede, Adeleke, Omoike, & Afen-Akpaida, 2008; Hoof, Raaijmakers, Beek, Hale III, & Aleva, 2008; Hunter, Boyle, & Warden, 2007; Raskauskas & Stoltz, 2007.
Research has shown that depression may result from the development of learned helplessness in individuals that experience victimization (Hiroto, 1974; Peterson & Seligman. 1984). According to the learned helplessness theory, bullying may contribute to the cognitive, motivational, and emotional deficits that may result in depression. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether being a victim of traditional bullying would predict the development of learned helplessness. Further, if the victim develops an explanatory style that is internal, stable, and global then this negative response may generalize to other traumatic events such as cyberbullying. According to the Cues Filtered Out theory, the anonymity associated with cyberbullying increases the potential for more distress in the victim than traditional bullying (Slonje & Smith, 2008). Another goal of the current study was to determine whether being a victim of cyberbullying would predict depression and anxiety at a greater extent than traditional bullying.
From the 144 participants that completed the online questionnaire, assessing traditional bullying and cyberbullying and learned helplessness, depression, and anxiety results indicated that cyberbullying predicted above traditional bullying for depression and learned helplessness. Traditional bullying was found to predict anxiety; however, cyberbullying did not predict anxiety to a greater extent. These findings suggest a connection between learned helplessness and traditional bullying and anxiety and depression in that the victims may have developed cognitive, motivational, and emotional deficits assuming a passive attitude, negative cognitive set, and depressed affect as a result of the victimization. Thus, as predicted by the theory of learned helplessness, internal, global, and stable attributions for the negative event of bullying may be the mediating mechanism for the depression associated with traditional bullying.
Consistent with what was hypothesized, those cyberbullied were at increased risk for learned helplessness and depression. It could be speculated that cyberbullying exacerbates the internal, global, and stable attributions generated by traditional bullying leading to an increased level of depression beyond that predicted by traditional bullying. In the current study, traditional bullying predicted anxiety, but cyberbullying did not. This is inconsistent with the hypothesis that increased learned helplessness might lead to increased anxiety possibly due to an anxiety threshold reached with traditional bullying or as a result of an insufficient anxiety scale.
This study may have inadvertently assessed primarily verbal and indirect bullying due to the large percentage of females therefore future studies should include more males and examine the difference between traditional bullying that is verbal, indirect, and physical. In addition the online questionnaire may have contributed to selection bias and could have skewed the results. Finally, the direct paths between traditional bullying and cyberbullying and learned helplessness, depression, and anxiety should be examined.
- Thesis:
- Thesis (M.S.)--Barry University, 2010.
- Bibliography:
- Includes bibliographical references (leaves 52-58).
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- Barry University
- Holding Location:
- Barry University Archives and Special Collections
- Rights Management:
- Copyright Jenna Zucchi. Permission granted to Barry University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
- Resource Identifier:
- BF637.B85 Z83 2010_ZucchiJenna ( BU-Local )
- Classification:
- BF637.B85 Z83 2010 ( ddc )
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