Papers by Michelle F Wright
Cyberbullying
Handbook of Research on Children's Consumption of Digital Media
Although children's and adolescents' use of technology has many benefits, there is also a... more Although children's and adolescents' use of technology has many benefits, there is also a darker side to youths' electronic interactions: cyberbullying. Cyberbullying has become a major focus of not only youths, educators, and researchers, but also among the general population due to high profile cases of cyberbullying victimization involving suicide and the increasing prevalence of these behaviors. Due to the ability to remain anonymous, the cyber context offers flexibility to cyberbullies, allowing them to harm their potential victims without the constraints and many of the repercussions associated with traditional face-to-face bullying. Cyberbullies can also target the victim or victims quicker, more often, and involve multiple bystanders in the bullying situation. The purpose of this chapter is to review research on cyberbullying by drawing on studies from a variety of disciplines and utilizing a variety of research designs.
Online correlates of cyberhate involvement among young people from ten European countries: An application of the Routine Activity and Problem Behaviour Theory
Computers in Human Behavior
Children
While the consequences of cyberbullying victimization have received some attention in the literat... more While the consequences of cyberbullying victimization have received some attention in the literature, to date, little is known about the multiple types of strains in adolescents’ lives, such as whether cyberbullying victimization and peer rejection increase their vulnerability to depression and anxiety. Even though some research found that adolescents with disabilities show higher risk for cyberbullying victimization, most research has focused on typically developing adolescents. Thus, the present study focused on examining the moderating effect of peer rejection in the relationships between cyberbullying victimization, depression, and anxiety among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. There were 128 participants (89% male; ages ranging from 11–16 years old) with autism spectrum disorder in the sixth, seventh, or eighth grade at 16 middle schools in the United States. Participants completed questionnaires on cyberbullying victimization, peer rejection, depression, and anxiety....
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Sexting among adolescents has triggered controversial debates among scholars and the general publ... more Sexting among adolescents has triggered controversial debates among scholars and the general public. However, questions regarding the associations between different types of sexting, namely consensual, non-consensual, and pressured sexting, depressive symptoms, and non-suicidal self-harm remain. In addition, little attention has been given to whether demographic variables (i.e., gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual minority) might influence these associations. To fill these gaps in the literature, the present study was conducted. Participants were 2506 adolescents (ages 13–16 years old; Mage = 15.17; SDage = 0.89) from eight high schools located in the suburbs of a large Midwestern city in the United States. Adolescents self-identified as female (50%), Caucasian (57%), approximately 15% reported that they had a disability they received school accommodation for, and 18% self-identified as a sexual minority. They completed self-report questionnaires on their sexting behaviors, depres...
Associations between cyberbullying perpetration and the dark triad of personality traits: the moderating effect of country of origin and gender
Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development
Associations between cyberbullying perpetration and the dark triad of personality traits: the moderating effect of country of origin and gender
Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development
PLOS ONE, 16(5), 2021
The sudden switch to distance education to contain the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has fund... more The sudden switch to distance education to contain the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered adolescents’ lives around the globe. The present research aims to identify psychological characteristics that relate to adolescents’ well-being in terms of
positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and key characteristics of their learning behavior in a situation of unplanned, involuntary distance education. Following Self-Determination
Theory, experienced competence, autonomy, and relatedness were assumed to relate to active learning behavior (i.e., engagement and persistence), and negatively relate to passive learning behavior (i.e., procrastination), mediated via positive emotion and intrinsic
learning motivation. Data were collected via online questionnaires in altogether eight countries from Europe, Asia, and North America (N = 25,305) and comparable results across countries were expected. Experienced competence was consistently found to relate to positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and, in turn, active learning behavior in terms of engagement and persistence. The study results further highlight the role of perceived relatedness for positive emotion. The high proportions of explained variance speak in favor of taking these central results into account when designing distance education in
times of COVID-19.
“DNT LET ’EM H8 U!”: Applying the routine activity framework to understand cyberhate victimization among adolescents across eight countries
Computers & Education
Associations among Adolescents’ Relationships with Parents, Peers, and Teachers, Self-Efficacy, and Willingness to Intervene in Bullying: A Social Cognitive Approach
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
We applied the Social Cognitive Theory to investigate whether parent–child relationships, bullyin... more We applied the Social Cognitive Theory to investigate whether parent–child relationships, bullying victimization, and teacher–student relationships are directly as well as indirectly via self-efficacy in social conflicts associated with adolescents’ willingness to intervene in a bullying incident. There were 2071 (51.3% male) adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 from 24 schools in Germany who participated in this study. A mediation test using structural equation modeling revealed that parent–child relationships, bullying victimization, and teacher–student relationships were directly related to adolescents’ self-efficacy in social conflicts. Further, teacher–student relationships and bullying victimization were directly associated with adolescents’ willingness to intervene in bullying. Finally, relationships with parents, peers and teachers were indirectly related to higher levels of students’ willingness to intervene in bullying situations due to self-efficacy in social conflic...
Adolescents’ Cyber Victimization: The Influence of Technologies, Gender, and Gender Stereotype Traits
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of gender and gender stereotype trai... more The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of gender and gender stereotype traits (masculinity, femininity) in cyber victimization behaviors (cyber relational victimization, cyber verbal victimization, hacking) through different technologies (mobile phones, gaming consoles, social networking sites). There were 456 8th graders (226 females; M age = 13.66, SD = 0.41) from two midwestern middle schools in the United States included in this study. They completed questionnaires on their endorsement of masculine and feminine traits, and self-reported cyber victimization through different technologies. The findings revealed main effects of types of cyber victimization for boys and of technology for girls. In particular, boys with feminine traits experienced the most victimization by cyber verbal aggression, cyber relational aggression, and hacking when compared to the other groups of boys. Girls with feminine traits experienced the most cyber victimization through social ...
Does Empathy and Toxic Online Disinhibition Moderate the Longitudinal Association Between Witnessing and Perpetrating Homophobic Cyberbullying?
International Journal of Bullying Prevention
Associations between Witnessing and Perpetrating Online Hate in Eight Countries: The Buffering Effects of Problem-Focused Coping
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Online hate is a topic that has received considerable interest lately, as online hate represents ... more Online hate is a topic that has received considerable interest lately, as online hate represents a risk to self-determination and peaceful coexistence in societies around the globe. However, not much is known about the explanations for adolescents posting or forwarding hateful online material or how adolescents cope with this newly emerging online risk. Thus, we sought to better understand the relationship between a bystander to and perpetrator of online hate, and the moderating effects of problem-focused coping strategies (e.g., assertive, technical coping) within this relationship. Self-report questionnaires on witnessing and committing online hate and assertive and technical coping were completed by 6829 adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age from eight countries. The results showed that increases in witnessing online hate were positively related to being a perpetrator of online hate. Assertive and technical coping strategies were negatively related with perpetrating online h...
Psychological Correlates of Teen Sexting in three Countries – Direct and Indirect Associations between Self-control, Self-esteem, and Sexting
International Journal of Developmental Science
Differences in Adolescents’ Response Decision and Evaluation for Face-to-Face and Cyber Victimization
The Journal of Early Adolescence
The current study was designed to assess early adolescents’ response evaluation and decision for ... more The current study was designed to assess early adolescents’ response evaluation and decision for hypothetical peer victimization vignettes. Participants were 336 (59% girls; [Formula: see text] age = 12.55) seventh and eighth graders from one school in the Midwestern United States. Adolescents read a hypothetical online or offline social situation and answered questions designed to access internal congruence, response evaluation, response efficacy, emotional outcome expectancy, and social outcome expectancy. Girls were more likely to believe that aggressive responses online and offline would lead to positive social and emotional outcome expectancies when compared with boys. Adolescents were more likely to believe that offline and online aggressive responses were legitimate responses to face-to-face victimization, feel that aggressive responses online or offline were easier to execute in response to face-to-face victimization, and that aggressive responses online or offline would lea...
Does Parental Mediation of Technology Use Moderate the Associations between Cyber Aggression Involvement and Substance Use? A Three-Year Longitudinal Study
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
The goal of this three-year longitudinal study was to examine the buffering effect of parental me... more The goal of this three-year longitudinal study was to examine the buffering effect of parental mediation of adolescents’ technology use (i.e., restrictive, co-viewing, and instructive) on the relationships among cyber aggression involvement and substance use (i.e., alcohol use, marijuana use, cigarette smoking, and non-marijuana illicit drug use). Overall, 867 (Mage = 13.67, age range from 13–15 years, 51% female, 49% White) 8th grade adolescents from the Midwestern United States participated in this study during the 6th grade (Wave 1), 7th grade (Wave 2), and 8th grade (Wave 3). Results revealed that higher levels of Wave 2 instructive mediation weakened the association between Wave 1 cyber victimization and Wave 3 alcohol use and Wave 3 non-marijuana illicit drug use. The relationship was stronger between Wave 1 cyber victimization and Wave 3 alcohol use and Wave 3 non-marijuana illicit drug use when adolescents reported lower levels of Wave 2 instructive mediation. At lower level...
The Impact of Racial Discrimination and School Composition on Latinx Adolescents’ Social Status Insecurity and Aggression
Youth & Society
This study examined the relationship between racial discrimination by peers (RDPS) and aggression... more This study examined the relationship between racial discrimination by peers (RDPS) and aggression across 1 year through the mediation of insecurity regarding peer status (i.e., social status insecurity [SSI]) among Latinx adolescents who were part of a school in which they were (a) the majority, (b) the minority, or (c) part of the majority. Participants were 606 Latinx adolescents (60% girls; M = 14.36 years, SD = 0.46 years). RDPS was positively associated with SSI for minority and part-of-the-majority adolescents. For part-of-the-majority adolescents, SSI was positively associated with self-reported aggression and peer-nominated overt aggression. Only SSI and self-reported overt aggression were associated for majority adolescents. Aggressive behaviors were associated with SSI among minority adolescents. SSI mediated the association between RDPS and aggression for minority adolescents. For part-of-the-majority adolescents, self-reported overt aggression and RDPS were mediated by S...
Does School Composition Moderate the Longitudinal Association Between Social Status Insecurity and Aggression Among Latinx Adolescents?
International Journal of Bullying Prevention
Face-to-face and Cyber Victimization among Adolescents in Six Countries: The Interaction between Attributions and Coping Strategies
Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma
Associations between Bystanders and Perpetrators of Online Hate: The Moderating Role of Toxic Online Disinhibition
International journal of environmental research and public health, Sep 17, 2018
Hatred directed at members of groups due to their origin, race, gender, religion, or sexual orien... more Hatred directed at members of groups due to their origin, race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is not new, but it has taken on a new dimension in the online world. To date, very little is known about online hate among adolescents. It is also unknown how online disinhibition might influence the association between being bystanders and being perpetrators of online hate. Thus, the present study focused on examining the associations among being bystanders of online hate, being perpetrators of online hate, and the moderating role of toxic online disinhibition in the relationship between being bystanders and perpetrators of online hate. In total, 1480 students aged between 12 and 17 years old were included in this study. Results revealed positive associations between being online hate bystanders and perpetrators, regardless of whether adolescents had or had not been victims of online hate themselves. The results also showed an association between toxic online disinhibition and on...
The moderation of empathy in the longitudinal association between witnessing cyberbullying, depression, and anxiety
Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace
While the role of and consequences of being a bystander to face-to-face bullying has received som... more While the role of and consequences of being a bystander to face-to-face bullying has received some attention in the literature, to date, little is known about the effects of being a bystander to cyberbullying. It is also unknown how empathy might impact the negative consequences associated with being a bystander of cyberbullying. The present study focused on examining the longitudinal association between bystander of cyberbullying, depression, and anxiety, and the moderating role of empathy in the relationship between bystander of cyberbullying and subsequent depression and anxiety. There were 1,090 adolescents (Mage = 12.19; 50% female) from the United States included at Time 1, and they completed questionnaires on empathy, cyberbullying roles (bystander, perpetrator, victim), depression, and anxiety. One year later, at Time 2, 1,067 adolescents (Mage = 13.76; 51% female) completed questionnaires on depression and anxiety. Results revealed a positive association between bystander o...
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Papers by Michelle F Wright
positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and key characteristics of their learning behavior in a situation of unplanned, involuntary distance education. Following Self-Determination
Theory, experienced competence, autonomy, and relatedness were assumed to relate to active learning behavior (i.e., engagement and persistence), and negatively relate to passive learning behavior (i.e., procrastination), mediated via positive emotion and intrinsic
learning motivation. Data were collected via online questionnaires in altogether eight countries from Europe, Asia, and North America (N = 25,305) and comparable results across countries were expected. Experienced competence was consistently found to relate to positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and, in turn, active learning behavior in terms of engagement and persistence. The study results further highlight the role of perceived relatedness for positive emotion. The high proportions of explained variance speak in favor of taking these central results into account when designing distance education in
times of COVID-19.