Celeste Meraz-Luna
Diwakar Yalpi
CYSE 201S
Feb 16, 2025
Article review #1 and Cyberbullying and Cyberbullicide
Every day we access our social media platforms to share positive or negative events with our family and friends. There are also other individuals that utilize their social media platforms to bully other users. Cyberbullying is the act of sending harmful messages, insults, and threats using digital technology. Cyberbullicide is related to the thoughts of an individual who is affected majorly with cyberbullying. Thier thoughts may be in the lack of interest to life, and hopelessness because of online bullying. This article is going to explain the effects on individuals that are cyberbullied and relate to cyberbullicide.
Principle of Social Sciences Related to the Article
The article is related to the social science of psychology. Psychology is the science of understanding human behavior, for example their behavior in education, health, military, business, and everyday human interactions. Individuals who are affected from cyberbullying may have some behavioral changes in their health. For example, unexplained stomachaches, headaches, trouble sleeping, and unexplained weight loss or gain (Al-Badayneh, 2024).
Another social science is geography. Geography is the study of places and the relationship between people and their environments. “The double-edged nature of modern technology has led to the rise of internet-based offenses like cyberstalking… (Al-Badayneh, 2024, p.62).” As the years go by, technology advances, opening new ways humans can interact with each other. Since the rise of platforms like social media has risen so has the number of individuals who are bullied online.
The article also plays a role in sociology. Sociology is the study of life, social behavior, and social institutions. As the article describes the mental effects on victims that fall into cyberbullying, it connects to the results of cyberbullicide. Which is the result of suicide due to the experiences with online aggression. Cyberbullying victimization has negative effects on the victim’s mental health and well-being, that include depression, poor self-esteem, anxiety, cyberbullicide ideation and psychosomatic problems (Al-Badayneh, 2024).
Study’s Research Hypothesis
The article supports the hypothesis that students’ cyberbullying victimization could lead to cyberbullicide. “Cyberbullicide is defined as “suicide indirectly or directly influenced by experiences with online aggression” (Al-Badayneh, 2024).” The article provided real life cases to back up their hypothesis that successfully proved their point. They provided global rates of individuals who have experienced cyberbullicide and committed suicide.
Types of Research Methods Used
The article states that the research done used the survey method on a sample of undergraduate students from different colleges. The study sampled 1000 Jordanian students. The quantitative study had trained researchers to distribute the survey to all the participants. They obtained consent, only requesting voluntary participation. The data was also collected through an electronic questionnaire that was sent out to students.
Types of Data and Analysis Done
“The data was analyzed using descriptive statistical analyses and logistic regression analysis (Al-Badayneh, 2024).” They examined how much variance resulted in the nominal dependent variable (cyberbullicide ideation coded: 0 = No, 1 = Yes) by the independent variables (cyberbullying). The findings indicated that most participants were from all 12 Jordanian governorates.
Article Relates to Class Topics
A topic that is related to the article that we have discussed in class is determinism and empiricism. Empiricism is the principle that social scientists can only study behavior that is real to the senses. For example, the article talks about the behavior of the victims and how their mental health and well-being change while cyberbullied. Determinism is the principle of the behavior that is caused or determined by preceding events. Cyberbullying is not caused by just anybody, the person sending threats and aggressive messages may have had a negative experience in their past that influence their current behavior to harm others online. This topic is also related to the psychodynamic theory that suggests that early life experiences in life influence behavior. Another major topic that applies to the article is victim precipitation which refers to how the victim’s behavior led them to being a victim. The generation that spends the most time on technology are teenagers, which are most gullible with the content that they engaged with online. It is important for parents and adolescents to practice safe online protocols.
Challenges, Concerns and Contributions of Marginalized Groups
The study sample was made of 1000 Jordanian that represented 12 Jordanian governorates. It contained marginalized groups of males, females, students from science colleges, students from other colleges, individuals exposed to bullying, individuals who knew victims, and individuals outside the college. All the different individuals are in different points of their life and might handle bullying in different ways than other individuals.
Contributions of the Studies to Society
The results of the study are beneficial to society. It will provide individuals with insight on how cyberbullying can lead to cyberbullicide. The article proves that minors are at higher risk of cyberbullying and suggests deeper research on that age group. Society should know the danger of technology and how it could affect them or their families and friends online. Just like in real life bullying, online bullying is just as harmful and serious to mental health and well-being.
Conclusion
The article was able to prove their hypothesis. The study supported the idea that students’ cyberbullying victimization could lead to cyberbullicide. Victims that experienced cyberbullying had poor mental health and well-being that lead to cyberbullicide thoughts. It provided global rates of individuals who have experienced cyberbullicide and committed suicide and researched the individuals with the survey method on a sample of undergraduate students from different colleges. The article was related to social science topics of psychology, geography and sociology. Also, some in-class topics that related to the article were determinism, empiricism, psychodynamic theory, and victim precipitation.
Article Cited
Al-Badayneh, D., Khelifa, M., & Brik, A. B. (2024). Cyberbullying and Cyberbullicide Ideation Among Jordanian College Students. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4766804