An Analysis of Adverse Beliefs About Cyberbullying Among Taiwanese Adolescents

Cyberbullying has emerged as a new threat to adolescents’ well-being in modern society; yet, little is known about adolescents’ alternative views on this virtual form of aggression. This study investigated Taiwanese students’ misconceptions about cyberbullying and the logics behind. We first surveyed 8,547 students nationwide (4th–12th grades) on potential misconceptions. Then, we administrated 6 focus group interviews to further explore students’ adverse beliefs on justifying cyberbullying, not reporting, and disseminating cyberbullying contents. We also found that students did not associate cyberbullying with anonymity as past research suggested. These findings extend the existing knowledge about cyberbullying in school-age youth in East Asian contexts and could lead to appropriate and effective intervention and prevention.