IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v14y2025i5p257-d1640345.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Comparative Study on Cyberbullying Behaviors Among Korean and American College Students: Insights from Social Learning Theory and General Strain Theory

Author

Listed:
  • Gang Lee

    (Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA)

  • Sinyong Choi

    (Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA)

Abstract

Cyberbullying has emerged as a prominent social issue in recent years, affecting individuals across various age groups, including college students. This study aims to shed light on cyberbullying behaviors among American and Korean college students, drawing on the lenses of social learning theory and general strain theory as theoretical frameworks. Two survey data sets of 1067 college students (686 from South Korea and 381 from the U.S.) revealed that the social learning variable of definitions was the key predictor of cyberbullying behaviors for American students, while differential association was the significant predictor for Korean students. General strain variables were found to be not strong predictors of cyberbullying behaviors for American students, while these variables were significant predictors for Korean students. The differences between two college student populations in terms of the effects of theoretical factors on cyberbullying behaviors suggests the necessity of diverse approaches toward cyberbullying preventive strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Gang Lee & Sinyong Choi, 2025. "A Comparative Study on Cyberbullying Behaviors Among Korean and American College Students: Insights from Social Learning Theory and General Strain Theory," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-15, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:257-:d:1640345
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/5/257/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/5/257/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Benjamin Lowry & Jun Zhang & Chuang Wang & Mikko Siponen, 2016. "Why Do Adults Engage in Cyberbullying on Social Media? An Integration of Online Disinhibition and Deindividuation Effects with the Social Structure and Social Learning Model," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 962-986, December.
    2. Seong-Sik Lee & Hyojong Song & Jeong Hyun Park, 2021. "Exploring Risk and Protective Factors for Cyberbullying and Their Interplay: Evidence from a Sample of South Korean College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Lin & Ngai, Steven Sek-yum, 2020. "The effects of anonymity, invisibility, asynchrony, and moral disengagement on cyberbullying perpetration among school-aged children in China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    2. Melina A. Throuvala & Mark D. Griffiths & Mike Rennoldson & Daria J. Kuss, 2019. "A ‘Control Model’ of Social Media Engagement in Adolescence: A Grounded Theory Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Michelle Hui Lim Lee & Manveen Kaur & Vinorra Shaker & Anne Yee & Rohana Sham & Ching Sin Siau, 2023. "Cyberbullying, Social Media Addiction and Associations with Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Medical Students in Malaysia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-13, February.
    4. Chen Zhao & Huawen Shen, 2024. "The Moderating Effect of Ski Influencer on Ski Tourism Intention," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, April.
    5. Dena Yadin & Inbal Yahav & Lior Zalmanson & Nira Munichor, 2024. "Resolving the Ethical Tension Between Creating a Civil Environment and Facilitating Free Expression Online: Comment Reordering as an Alternative to Comment Moderation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(2), pages 261-283, June.
    6. Jūratė Kuklytė, 2018. "Cybersexual Harassment as ICTs Development Consequences: A Review," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 4(2), pages 187-195.
    7. Julia Lanzl & Lena Utz & Patrick Afflerbach & Henner Gimpel, 2024. "Conceptualizing the Integration of Business and Private Components in Individual Information Systems," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 76(1), pages 29-61, March.
    8. Shuaa A. Aljasir & Maisoon O. Alsebaei, 2022. "Cyberbullying and cybervictimization on digital media platforms: the role of demographic variables and parental mediation strategies," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-9, December.
    9. Ji Wu & Zhiqiang (Eric) Zheng & J. Leon Zhao, 2021. "FairPlay: Detecting and Deterring Online Customer Misbehavior," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 32(4), pages 1323-1346, December.
    10. Arnett, Rachel D. & Sidanius, Jim, 2018. "Sacrificing status for social harmony: Concealing relatively high status identities from one’s peers," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 108-126.
    11. Marko Mikkola & Noora Ellonen & Markus Kaakinen & Iina Savolainen & Anu Sirola & Izabela Zych & Hye-Jin Paek & Atte Oksanen, 2022. "Cyberharassment Victimization on Three Continents: An Integrative Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-15, September.
    12. Mario Silic & Paul Benjamin Lowry, 2021. "Breaking Bad in Cyberspace: Understanding why and how Black Hat Hackers Manage their Nerves to Commit their Virtual Crimes," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 329-341, April.
    13. Daria Denti & Alessandra Faggian, 2021. "Where do angry birds tweet? Income inequality and online hate in Italy," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 14(3), pages 483-506.
    14. Xingchen Zhu & Wencan Li & Haohan Zhao & Jinsheng Hu, 2024. "Surfing into trouble? How internet use influences early adolescent behavior through diverse pathways?," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.
    15. Chaouali, Walid & Hammami, Samiha Mjahed & Cristóvão Veríssimo, José Manuel & Harris, Lloyd C. & El-Manstrly, Dahlia & Woodside, Arch G., 2022. "Customers who misbehave: Identifying restaurant guests “acting out†via asymmetric case models," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    16. Ugochukwu Etudo & Victoria Y. Yoon, 2024. "Ontology-Based Information Extraction for Labeling Radical Online Content Using Distant Supervision," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(1), pages 203-225, March.
    17. Wiktoria Jędryczka & Piotr Sorokowski & Małgorzata Dobrowolska, 2022. "The Role of Victim’s Resilience and Self-Esteem in Experiencing Internet Hate," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-13, October.
    18. Christine Abdalla Mikhaeil & Richard Baskerville, 2019. "Using semiotics to analyze representational complexity in social media," Post-Print hal-02509212, HAL.
    19. Ae Ri Lee, 2021. "Investigating Moderators of the Influence of Enablers on Participation in Knowledge Sharing in Virtual Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, September.
    20. Andranik Tumasjan, 2024. "The many faces of social media in business and economics research: Taking stock of the literature and looking into the future," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 389-426, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:257-:d:1640345. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.