Cross-cultural similarities and differences in the theoretical predictors of cyberbullying perpetration: Results from a seven-country study.

Abstract in brief

• The study tests the Bartlett Gentile Cyberbullying Model (BGCM), which suggests that perceptions of anonymity and beliefs about online bullying predict positive attitudes toward cyberbullying, leading to actual cyberbullying behavior, and finds support for this model across seven countries.
• The research reveals that while the BGCM applies generally across different cultures, the strength of certain relationships—like between beliefs about muscularity’s irrelevance (BIMOB) and cyberbullying attitudes—is stronger in independent cultures (like the US and Australia) compared to interdependent ones (like China and Japan).
• These findings imply that while the core ideas of the BGCM are mostly universal, some cultural differences influence how strongly these factors are connected to cyberbullying behaviors, which has important theoretical implications for understanding cross-cultural cyberbullying dynamics.]