Is This WhatsApp Conversation Aggressive? Adolescents’ Perception of Cyber Dating Aggression

Abstract

This study investigated adolescents’ understanding of cyber dating aggression in terms of frequency and aggressiveness: how prevalent they perceived cyber dating aggression among adolescents and how aggressive they perceived such behaviors to be. To do so, different WhatsApp scenarios were presented to adolescents, controlling for the typology of cyber dating aggression (verbal/emotional, controlling, or sexual) and its publicity (public or private cyber dating aggression). The moderating effect of gender and moral disengagement (MD) was also analyzed. A total of 262 adolescents (56.5% girls; mean age of 14.46 years) participated in the study and answered a computer-based questionnaire. General linear models revealed that adolescents consider cyber dating aggression to be present in most adolescent romantic relationships. Controlling online behavior was perceived as the most frequent and the least aggressive behavior. Adolescents rated private cyber aggression as more frequent and less aggressive than public cyber aggressions. Controlling for gender, girls reported that cyber dating aggression was more common and more severe than boys. Moreover, participants with high levels of MD perceived cyber dating aggressions to be less aggressive than participants with medium-low MD. This study reveals the significance of the type of cyber dating aggression, the public/private dimension, gender, and MD as variables that influence adolescent understanding of cyber dating aggression. These results have implications not only for the design of cyber dating aggression prevention programs but also for future research on cyber dating aggression.

Traditional and cyber dating violence among adolescents: Profiles, prevalence, and short‐term associations with peer violence

“…This result could be explained based on the previous evidence available. High normalisation of cyber dating violence, specifically online control, among young people has been shown (Rueda et al, 2015; Sánchez‐Jiménez et al, 2021), leading adolescents to carry out these types of behavior without realising, in many cases, that they are engaging in violent behavior. In this respect, these results highlight the need to develop cyber dating violence awareness campaigns for the prevention of dating violence (Muñoz‐Fernández & Sánchez‐Jiménez, 2020).…”

Does Online Jealousy Lead to Online Control in Dating Adolescents? The Moderation Role of Moral Disengagement and Socio-Emotional Competence

“…We hypothesized that: (H1) online jealousy would be a strong predictor of online control among boys and girls (Branson & March, 2021; Deans & Bhogal, 2019); (H2) moral disengagement would be a strong moderator between online jealousy and online control among boys and girls. Based on previous findings regarding the moderating role of moral disengagement in the association between sexism and dating aggression (Sánchez-Jiménez & Muñoz-Fernández, 2021) and the influence of this cognitive component on the perception of online control (Sánchez-Jiménez et al, 2021), we expected higher levels of moral disengagement to strengthen the relationship between online jealousy and online control. (H3) socio-emotional competence would moderate the association between online jealousy and online control.…”

“…Concerning moral disengagement, in contrast, studies have consistently found higher levels among boys than among girls (Rubio-Garay et al, 2015, 2019). However, these gender differences do not seem to influence the predictive value of moral disengagement for dating aggression since this association is significant for both boys and girls (Sánchez-Jiménez et al, 2021).…”

“…The association between this cognitive process and dating violence has been less explored, and the results point to a moderate relationship between these two variables (Maftei & Dănilă, 2021; Rubio-Garay et al, 2019; Sánchez-Jiménez & Muñoz-Fernández, 2021). A recent study (Sánchez-Jiménez et al, 2021) found that adolescents with high levels of moral disengagement perceived online control as less aggressive than their counterparts with low levels. These results suggest that moral disengagement distorts adolescents’ perception of online dating aggression, increasing the risk of involvement in the phenomenon.…”

“…For example, Lucero et al (2014) found that girls were more likely than boys to identify online control behaviors as strategies designed to protect the relationship rather than a form of abuse. However, when asked about the severity of control behaviors as bystanders, girls perceived them as more aggressive and frequent than boys (Sánchez-Jiménez et al, 2021).…”