Social Bullying Among Undergraduates: The Roles of Internet Gaming Disorder, Risk-Taking Behavior, and Internet Addiction

Abstract

An issue that affects the academic engagement, performance, health and wellbeing of university undergraduates is bullying. Substantial literature has examined the predictors of bullying perpetration, but there is little research on the contributions of internet-related factors and the propensity to take risks in bullying. We examined the roles of IGD, risk-taking behavior, and internet addiction in social bullying. Four instruments were used for data collection, namely: Young Adult Social Behavior Scale (YASB), the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale (IGDS9-SF), Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale, and the Internet Addiction Test (IAT) Scale. Participants were 552 undergraduate students from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka consisting of 143 males and 409 females (age range = 17–32 years; M = 21.45; SD = 2.71). Results of regression analysis showed that gaming disorder (GD) and risk-taking behavior had positive associations with social bullying. Thus, the more people grow addicted to internet gaming and takes more risks, the more they are likely to become bullies. Internet addiction had no significant association with social bullying. Efforts should be made to minimize the rate of dysfunctional internet use, GD and risk-taking behaviors of undergraduates in order to curtail bullying perpetration.

Internet Gaming Disorder in Adolescence: A Literature Review

“…A study examining the relationship between aggressive behavior and GD revealed that adolescents with GD were more likely to engage in aggressive behavior during the previous year, with the association being stronger among adolescents in junior high schools (18) than in senior high schools/vocational schools. Similarly, the relationship between social bullying and GD has been identified, with GD as a predictor of social bullying (19). Comparing cyberbullying and GD, the two variables had a significant positive correlation (20).…”

The relationship between parental neglect and cyberbullying perpetration among Chinese adolescent: The sequential role of cyberbullying victimization and internet gaming disorder

“…A longitudinal study on the relationship between risky online behaviors has indicated that problematic internet use predicts an increase in subsequent cyberbullying perpetration among Chinese youth ( 91 ). Gan et al ( 92 ) and Nwanosike et al ( 93 ) also found that IGD had a positive impact on both traditional bullying and social bullying behaviors among adolescents and undergraduate students. Considering that IGD is also an internet use disorder, this study has reason to assume that IGD has a strong association with cyberbullying perpetration in youth.…”

The Expectations of eSport Becomes Part of Sports

“…Social Bullying Among Undergraduates: The Roles of Internet Gaming Disorder, Risk-Taking Behavior, and Internet Addiction (Nwanosike et al, 2022).…”