How Common Is Cyberbullying Among Adults? Exploring Gender, Ethnic, and Age Differences in the Prevalence of Cyberbullying

Year of production: 2019

Image is illustrative. Photo by Joshua Gandara on Unsplash

The study is looking to understand experiences with cyberbullying among the general population of New Zealand (NZ), by particularly analysing data from NZ national sample to examine gender, age, and ethnic differences in the experiences of cyberbullying victimization. The findings indicated that on average, nearly 14.9% of respondents stated that they have ever been a target of cyberbullying before. Young people (18–25 years) experienced the highest levels of cyberbullying, while the prevalence of cyberbullying was lower among older age cohorts, with the lowest rate among the 66+ age group.
Other findings indicated that reports of cyberbullying varied to a certain degree among men and women, with women overall reporting slightly greater levels of having ever experienced cyberbullying than men. Furthermore, on average, participants identifying as European reported lower levels of cyberbullying than Māori and Pacific Nations participants, with Asian participants falling in the middle.