Hershey, Pennsylvania
New York, New YorkBeijing, China
Effect of Envy on Intention to Cyberbully in Social Network Sites: Examining Two Competing Views

Effect of Envy on Intention to Cyberbully in Social Network Sites: Examining Two Competing Views

Bo Wen (Northern Arizona University, USA), Paul Jen-Hwa Hu (University of Utah, USA), and Chao-Min Chiu (National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan)
Copyright: © 2023 |Pages: 27
DOI: 10.4018/JGIM.328770
Article PDF Download
Open access articles are freely available for download

Abstract

Research analyzing the growing, worrisome phenomenon of cyberbullying in social network sites (SNSs) tends to adopt a cognitive perspective. This study instead investigates SNS envy, an essential emotion often experienced by users, and its relationship with cyberbullying intentions. The authors apply appraisal theory of emotion as a framework to conceptualize the effects of SNS envy, then propose two competing views: a direct effect premised in general strain theory and an indirect effect rooted in moral disengagement theory. The examinations of these competing views use survey data gathered from Facebook. The results support the indirect but not the direct effect, suggesting that envy influences cyberbullying intentions through moral disengagement. This study explicates how envious users rationalize their cyberbullying behaviors by cognitively reinterpreting existing perceptions of the advantages exhibited by envied others in a SNS, which reveals the importance of considering negative emotions to explain the unsettling cyberbullying phenomenon more fully.
Article Preview
Top

Literature Review

Two streams of research are closely related to this study: SNS environments and user characteristics. The authors reviewed representative studies in each stream to elaborate on the gaps that motivated their investigation (see Online Appendix A).1

Complete Article List

Search this Journal:
Reset
Volume 33: 1 Issue (2025)
Volume 32: 1 Issue (2024)
Volume 31: 9 Issues (2023)
Volume 30: 12 Issues (2022)
Volume 29: 6 Issues (2021)
Volume 28: 4 Issues (2020)
Volume 27: 4 Issues (2019)
Volume 26: 4 Issues (2018)
Volume 25: 4 Issues (2017)
Volume 24: 4 Issues (2016)
Volume 23: 4 Issues (2015)
Volume 22: 4 Issues (2014)
Volume 21: 4 Issues (2013)
Volume 20: 4 Issues (2012)
Volume 19: 4 Issues (2011)
Volume 18: 4 Issues (2010)
Volume 17: 4 Issues (2009)
Volume 16: 4 Issues (2008)
Volume 15: 4 Issues (2007)
Volume 14: 4 Issues (2006)
Volume 13: 4 Issues (2005)
Volume 12: 4 Issues (2004)
Volume 11: 4 Issues (2003)
Volume 10: 4 Issues (2002)
Volume 9: 4 Issues (2001)
Volume 8: 4 Issues (2000)
Volume 7: 4 Issues (1999)
Volume 6: 4 Issues (1998)
Volume 5: 4 Issues (1997)
Volume 4: 4 Issues (1996)
Volume 3: 4 Issues (1995)
Volume 2: 4 Issues (1994)
Volume 1: 4 Issues (1993)
View Complete Journal Contents Listing