When cyberaggression is personal: gender differences in threats and betrayals of partners and friends
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-10-2021-0647 |
| Published date | 19 April 2022 |
| Date | 19 April 2022 |
| Pages | 95-108 |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Aggression,conflict & peace,Sociology,Gender studies,Gender violence,Political sociology,policy & social change,Social conflicts,War/peace |
| Author | Li Eriksson,Tara Renae McGee,Viktoria Rosse,Christine Bond,Nicole Horstman |
When cyberaggression is personal:
gender differences in threats and
betrayals of partners and friends
Li Eriksson, Tara Renae McGee, Viktoria Rosse, Christine Bond and Nicole Horstman
Abstract
Purpose –New ways of perpetrating relational aggression have been facilitated by the increased
availability and adoption of technology for communication, resulting in growing cyberaggression rates
over the past few decades. Few studies have examined whether perpetrators of cyberaggression are
more likely to target friendsor romantic partners (or both) and whether this differsacross the gender of
the perpetrator.This is the key focus of the current study.
Design/methodology/approach –Participantscompleted an online survey which assessedthree types
of cyberaggression (threatened to share secrets, shared secrets and posted embarrassing pictures)
against friends and then also against romantic partners. The sample included 678 undergraduate
universitystudents who were in a romantic relationship at the time of the survey(72.6% female and 27.4%
male, age range18–50 years, average 21.7 and SD = 4.5).
Findings –The results of this study showedthat a significantly higher proportion of males than females
perpetrated cyberaggression against friends and romantic partners. In addition, a significantly higher
proportion of males engaged in ‘‘general’’ cyberaggression (targeting both friends and romantic
partners), whilsta higher proportionof females engaged in ‘‘selective’’ cyberaggression (targetingeither
friendsor romantic partners).
Originality/value –Collectively, this study tells us that whilst there has been wide examination of
cyberaggressionmore broadly, very few studies explore whoperpetrators target (i.e. the victim–offender
relationship), especially across gender of the perpetrator. The current study is original in that it asks
perpetratorsto report who they target and then examines gender differencesin perpetration rates across
victim–offenderrelationships.
Keywords Gender, Domestic violence, Cyber dating abuse, Cyberaggression, Online harassment,
Victim–offender relationship
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Growing access to and adoption of electronic communication technologies and social
media has resulted in an expansion of the means and opportunities for people to
engage in aggressive and harmful behavior anytime and anywhere. For example, recent
decades have seen a substantial increase in the prevalence of websites dedicated to
revenge porn and sharing of private images (Salter and Crofts, 2015). Intentionally
harmful behavior, perpetrated against another person through the use of technology, is
known as “cyberaggression” (Smith et al., 2012). Cyberaggression can have
devastating effects, with studies revealing that victims display symptoms of trauma (e.g.
anxiety and depression; Mitchell et al., 2011), experience inadequate sleep (Jose and
Vierling, 2018), feel emotionally and socially lonely (Olenik-Shemesh et al., 2012)and,in
some cases, contemplate suicide (van Geel et al., 2014). In addition, the permanence
and pervasiveness of acts of cyberaggression far exceed face-to-face incidents of
Li Eriksson is based at the
Griffith Criminology
Institute, Griffith University,
Gold Coast, Australia.
Tara Renae McGee is
based at the Griffith
Criminology Institute,
Griffith University, Mt
Gravatt, Australia.
Viktoria Rosse is based at
the School of Criminology
and Criminal Justice,
Griffith University, Gold
Coast, Australia.
Christine Bond is based at
the Griffith Criminology
Institute, Griffith University,
Mt Gravatt, Australia.
Nicole Horstman is based
at the Griffith Criminology
Institute, Griffith University,
Mt Gravatt, Australia.
Received 13 October 2021
Revised 11 February 2022
Accepted 9 March 2022
DOI 10.1108/JACPR-10-2021-0647 VOL. 15 NO. 2 2023, pp. 95-108, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1759-6599 jJOURNAL OF AGGRESSION, CONFLICT AND PEACE RESEARCH jPAGE 95
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