Associations between Witnessing and Perpetrating Online Hate in Eight Countries: The Buffering Effects of Problem-Focused Coping

Abstract

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 hate. Bystanders of online hate reported fewer instances of perpetrating online hate when they reported higher levels of assertive and technical coping strategies, and more frequent instances of perpetrating online hate when they reported lower levels of assertive and technical coping strategies. In conclusion, our findings suggest that, if effective, prevention and intervention programs that target online hate should consider educating young people about problem-focused coping strategies, self-assertiveness, and media skills. Implications for future research are discussed.

Understanding the Bystander Audience in Online Incivility Encounters: Conceptual Issues and Future Research Questions

“…A worse scenario--when exposure to incivility occurs habitually without any proper response--is observational learning of incivility. Evidence shows that being a bystander to online hate is positively related with being a perpetrator of online hate, especially among those who lack problem-focused coping strategies [62] and, hence, may be more likely to fail in Step 4 (i.e., knowing how to intervene). As such, it is possible to conceptualize the different roles of bystander audience members based on whether they move through the whole sequence of the intervention process or only parts of it successfully.…”

Youth Exposure to Hate in the Online Space: An Exploratory Analysis

“…The presence, form, and function of extremist material available on the internet has been extensively discussed by academics and practitioners [30][31][32][33][34]. Some have theorized that access to such material influences the likelihood that an individual will, eventually, engage in hateful or violent behavior [29,35,36]. However, there is limited knowledge on the risk factors that lead an individual to be exposed to online hate in the first place and on the consequences of such exposure.…”

“…Past research has focused on long-term exposure to hateful content online showing that it might reinforce discriminatory views and could lead to developing defensive and hyper-vigilant attitudes [26,36,37]. In many prevention spheres, prevention efforts have focused on educating about what risks are present online, and indeed the prevalence and nature of nefarious online actors and groups.…”

Youth Exposure to Hate in the Online Space: An Exploratory Analysis

“…The presence, form, and function of hateful material available on the internet has been extensively discussed by academics and practitioners [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Past research has focused on long-term exposure to hateful content online showing that it might reinforce discriminatory views and could lead to developing defensive and hyper-vigilant attitudes [ 29 , 30 , 31 ]. Some have theorized that access to such material influences the likelihood that an individual will, eventually, engage in hateful or violent behavior [ 31 , 32 , 33 ].…”