Article Review #1
Cyberbullying and Psychological Stress
By Justin White
CYSE 201S
Professor Yalpi
February 19th. 2025
Introduction and Social Science
There are numerous complex problems that overlap across many disciplines, and one issue that is both on the rise and repeating in today’s world is cyberbullying and psychological stress caused by our environments, whether corporate or personal. As such, Mohammed A. Al Doghan and Saman Arshad’s article, Cyberbullying and Psychological Stress Among Female Employees, is an article I believe is a good example that describes this ongoing issue that investigates the impact of workplace cyberbullying on female Saudi employees. The study assesses how cyberbullying influences job dedication, psychological well-being, and perceptions of justice. As online interaction becomes more popular, workplace harassment goes beyond physical boundaries, making this research crucial to understanding modern workplace relations.
The topic is related to social scientific principles, specifically psychology, sociology, organizational behavior, and social justice. According to the authors, cyberbullying is “any behavior performed by individuals or groups via electronic or digital media intended to inflict harm or discomfort on others” (Al Doghan & Arshad, 2023, p. 167). This is true with beliefs regarding workplace ethics, power imbalances, and professional stress. The research conducted contains the conversations about social justice by emphasizing the impact of cyberbullying on female employees.
Research Methods and Analysis
With the problem of cyberbullying and psychological stress within a workplace and personal lives, one may wonder how do you truly find if it’s a problem or a consistent event that happens across the world. Well, this study aimed to investigate how cyberbullying affected organizational dedication, cyberbullying and stress, the impact on interracial/gender justice, and whether perceived justice remedied cyberbullying and workplace satisfaction. These questions aim to understand how cyberbullying affects workers’ work experiences and whether fairness beliefs moderate these effects. Understanding these links is critical to enhancing workplace policy and employee well-being. Thus, a method used for this study was a self-administered survey that would analyze the responses using a structural equation modeling (SEM) which uses a quantitative research approach. These methods were utilized to study trends, and the authors hypothesize that workplace cyberbullying decreases employee dedication and perceived justice while emphasizing psychological distress and job happiness (Al Doghan & Arshad, 2023).
Finding and Concepts
The study confirms that workplace cyberbullying negatively impacts female employees’ work experience and well-being. Employees who have been cyberbullied are less engaged and committed to the organization. Furthermore, cyberbullying impairs employees’ perceptions of fairness, compromising their belief of equality in workplace situations. The study also reveals that workplace cyberbullying affects job satisfaction, and this effect is mediated by supposed interactional/gender fairness, which means that employees who feel unfairly treated as a result of cyberbullying are more likely to report unhappiness.
These findings concern human factors in cybersecurity, which investigates how psychological variables influence technology use. As stated from the article and from the course, this study demonstrates how emotional and psychological weaknesses can be exploited in digital settings, resulting in unpleasant work environments. Thus, when employees feel their workplace lacks fairness, safety, and respect, mental health and dedication suffer.
Impact of Marginalized Groups and Contributions
The authors found that female employees are more exposed to workplace cyberbullying as a result of power inequalities and cultural norms. Many employees are hesitant to report occurrences for fear of reprisal or a lack of support, which reinforces workplace inequality and contributes to emotional anguish, job discontent, and limited career progress. The research topic focuses on how these constraints particularly impact women, restricting their professional options and increasing workplace stress. Addressing these concerns is critical for organizations that want to build inclusive and equitable work environments. This research benefits society by updating HR policy on workplace harassment prevention and offering insights into how digital communication affects employee well-being. The authors emphasize the need for enhanced workplace regulations, staff training in ethical digital communication, and increased mental health resources. As remote work and digital communication become more common, these measures become increasingly important in establishing safer, more fair workplaces.
Conclusion
The article emphasizes the negative implications of workplace cyberbullying, particularly for female employees, including job discontent, psychological stress, and perceived injustice. The findings are relevant to social science concerns about workplace ethics, mental health, and gender inequities. The report emphasizes the need for improved workplace regulations and additional research on cyberbullying across businesses and demographics. Addressing workplace cyberbullying through regulatory changes, education, and mental health support is critical to fostering a fair and sustainable work environment.
Work Cited
Al Doghan, M. A., & Arshad, S. (2023). Cyberbullying and psychological stress among female employees. International Journal of Cyber Criminology, 17(1), 166–184. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4766610
Article Review #2
Developer Motivation in Software Security
By Justin White
CYSE 201S
Professor Yalpi
April 10th, 2025
Cybersecurity Behaviors and Influences
The study Software Security in Practice: Knowledge and Motivation, published in the Journal of Cybersecurity, looks into the behavioral, organizational, and educational factors that influence software engineers’ security practices. The researchers investigated how developers learn about security and what encourages or discourages them from utilizing secure coding practices. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 13 software professionals from diverse companies to identify trends in “how developers learn about software security and what factors motivate or discourage them from adopting secure development practices.”(Assal et al., 2025). The study highlights the role of human behavior and motivation in guaranteeing digital safety, which is consistent with broader social science perspectives on individual agency and group dynamics.
Social Science Relations
The study relies significantly on social science theory, namely psychological and sociological frameworks. The study’s data interpretation is based on two important theories: self-determination theory (SDT) and activity theory. “Self-determination theory (SDT) explores how different types of motivation ranging from external regulation to intrinsic motivation relate to individuals’ behavior and well-being.”(Assal et al., 2025). It focuses on the psychological requirements for “competence, autonomy, and relatedness.” In this case, developers who feel empowered and competent are more likely to adopt security procedures. Activity Theory enhances this by explaining how team responsibilities, shared goals, and cultural norms influence collaborative work. The work describes software security “as not only a technical concern, but also a social and behavioral process.”(Assal et al., 2025). Furthermore, while the paper does not go into great detail about underrepresented groups, it does state that “developers who were not part of security teams or who were early in their careers often lacked the knowledge and confidence to fully engage with security practices.”(Assal et al., 2025) This parallels broader concerns in the social sciences about unequal access, support, and voice inside institutions.
Research Questions
The research’s core research questions are: “How do developers learn about software security, and what drives or inhibits them from implementing secure practices?”(Assal et al., 2025). These themes guided the authors’ investigation of the educational and psychological aspects of secure software development. The study aims to explain why some developers embrace security techniques proactively while others do not by addressing both information acquisition and motivational factors underlying behavior.
Methodologies
To investigate these topics, the authors used qualitative research methods, conducting “semi-structured interviews with 13 software developers”(Assal et al., 2025) from various firms. The interviews were then examined using “Grounded Theory methods, applying open and selective coding to identify recurring themes.”(Assal et al., 2025). The researchers used the data to establish information categories and a motivational framework based on Self-Determination Theory’s autonomy-control continuum. This empirical approach shed light on both individual experiences and bigger organizational impacts, illustrating how developers learn about security in real-time work contexts and what factors influence their behavior.
PowerPoint Relations
The article is more directly related to Module 10 on Social Cybersecurity, as it focuses on the social and behavioral aspects of safe software development. The study’s use of Self-Determination Theory to investigate motivation among developers is consistent with the module’s emphasis on how human behavior, social dynamics, and organizational culture influence cybersecurity practices. Developers’ reliance on peer learning, mentorship, and workplace standards is consistent with the module’s explanation of communication, teamwork, and critical thinking in cybersecurity. Furthermore, the article’s findings on team relationships and marginalized voices align with the module’s emphasis on social behaviors expected of cybersecurity professionals, such as trust, clear communication, and resilience. This confirms the premise that technical skills alone are insufficient; the efficacy of cybersecurity also depends on comprehending and negotiating complicated human and social networks.
Contributions and Findings
The research benefits society by emphasizing the importance of human behavior, motivation, and organizational culture in software security. It provides a more comprehensive approach to cybersecurity by shifting the focus away from solely technological solutions and toward the social and psychological variables that drive secure development. This viewpoint encourages firms to invest in supportive learning environments and intrinsic motivation, resulting in more effective and sustainable security measures. Finally, the study encourages a better knowledge of how safe systems are constructed not just through code, but also through people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the study provides a thorough and socially grounded examination of software security practices, emphasizing the significance of internal motivation, learning settings, and team dynamics. By framing safe growth as both a technological and social duty, the authors emphasize the importance of human-centered cybersecurity techniques. Their findings provide value to both the cybersecurity and social science literatures by providing practical, theory-based insights into how secure behavior might be encouraged in real-world development situations. This viewpoint not only broadens our understanding of secure software development, but it also promotes more inclusive, behaviorally aware techniques for improving digital safety.
Work cited
Assal, H., Morkonda, S. G., Arif, M. Z., & Chiasson, S. (2025). Software security in practice: knowledge and motivation. Journal of Cybersecurity, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1093/cybsec/tyaf005