ABSTRACT
Cyber victimization refers to the use of electronic media with the
intent of causing harm, humiliation, suffering, fear and despair for the
individual who is the target of aggression and this has now grown
to be a source of concern to parents, researchers, and teachers. This paper
sought to measure the level of knowledge, the attitudinal disposition,
perception and cyber-activity of undergraduates in a selected private
institution. It also sought to check for
associations between these afore listed independent variables and cyber
victimization.
The study adopted the cross-sectional survey
design. The Multistage sampling technique was used to select 426
undergraduates of Babcock University. A validated instrument for data
collection was developed based on constructs in the Health Belief Model and
administered. The instrument measured knowledge on a 9-point rating scale,
attitudinal disposition on a 12-point rating scale, perception on a 33-point
rating scale and Cyber victimization on an 8-point rating scale. Nine research
questions were answered and six hypotheses were tested at 0.05level of
significance. Data were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation and
Linear Regression alongside ANOVA.
The mean
age of respondents was 19.50±3.14 (44.8%). The study produced a level of
knowledge to be at 66.3%, attitudinal disposition (44.7%),
Perception (56.18%), Cyber-activity (56.18%) and Cyber victimization (15.37%). The study
revealed that knowledge had a significant but negative linear relationship with
cyber victimization (R2=0.036, R= -1.90, P˂0.05).
Attitudinal disposition also had a significant but negative linear relationship
with cyber victimization (R2=0.011, R= -0.10, P˂0.05). There was no
significant relationship between perception and cyber victimization (R2=
0.0003, R= -0.019, P˃0.05). Cyber-activity had a significant relationship with
cyber victimization (R2= 0.037, R= 0.191, P˂0.05).
The
study therefore concluded that cyber-activity had the highest influence in
exposing the students to cyber victimization. Therefore, Students should be
sensitized on the use and importance of data limiters as a way of monitoring
their cyber- activities. Sensitization programs should be carried out for an
increased awareness on the menace of cyber victimization as this will provide a
broader spectrum of how the issue of cyber victimization is perceived as well
as how susceptible they might be without them even being aware of it.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
The
use of digital technology has developed over the last few decades. The use of
these technologies have become very paramount to many of our daily activities
which includes but not limited to sending and receiving text messages, emails, relating
with friends and loved ones on social media platforms such as Whatsapp,
Facebook, and twitter etc. This invariably aids us in working more efficiently,
have information on our fingertips, connect and communicate with people. Many adolescents have
grown up completely eloped in the digital world through the use of electronic
gadgets and never will believe that they could go about their daily task
without the use of the internet (Madden, Lenhart, Duggan, Cortesi, &
Gasser, 2013).
According to the Nigerian Communication commission (NCC), the
number of phones being used is about 99 million and it is also observed that
the mobile internet is fast overtaking the traditional “fixed” internet in the
country. It was also observed that there
are close to 25 million smart phone users in the country out of which 65% are
youths (Ken, 2012).
Digital technology usage has both positive and negative
consequences (Bavelier, Green, & Dye, 2010). Based on the report by the Nigerian
Communication Commission that the demand for stylish smartphones by Nigerians
due to some special features that is embedded in them seem to be on the rise,
adolescents exposure to the negative consequences (cyber victimization) of
digital technology is also on the rise. Cyber
victimization has arisen as a new issue in public mental health which
predominantly affects youths today. Cyber victimization is on the high rise due
to an increase in mobile phones usage and the internet and this increase has
provided a new dome for both social associations and chances for abuse (Asaga,
Hoven, Suzuki, Sourander, et .al 2012; Wang, Lannotti & Nansel, 2009;
Mishna, Saini & Solomon, 2009; Chang, Chiu, His, Lee, et.al 2013). Studies
that were earlier carried out revealed that the rates of cyberbullying among
the young and steady users of the Internet that are amid the ages of 10-17
years old range from 4 to 72 % (Juvonen & Gross, 2008; Ybarra &
Mitchell, 2004), and lesser rates among students of colleges when compared with
adolescent samples which range from 9-20 % (Kraft &Wang, 2010; McDonald,
Roberts & Pitman,2010; Scherer, Snyder & Fisher, 2016; Schenk &
Fremouw, 2012).
From statistical reports
which indicate the fact that 93% of teens are active users of the Internet, also
showing that 75% own a mobile phone, up from 45% in 2004, it can be held that
there is unlimited possibility for cyberbullying among youths. The Internet is
considered today as the most technologically innovative avenue for
communicating throughout the world; this is so because it has the ability to
share digital material through a common set of networking and software protocol
(Okorie, 2009; Okorie & Oyedepo, 2011). The ability and ease of sending
text messages and having Internet access has influenced social interaction
among teenagers in recent times. Most teenagers have a private computer or cell
phone and engage in communications daily with a large number of people at the
same time, and this therefore exposes them to repercussion which is in some cases
can be harmful resulting from the influences of the instant contacts they have.
A
study by Palmeri (2013) affirms that cyberbullying is a unique component that
can be especially damaging for victimized adolescents. An example of this
statement by Palmeri is taking for instance a situation whereby an individual
who has fallen prey to a cyber-bully gets lot of messages and within minutes
the same cyber bully proceeds to posting very harassing messages on its victims
Twitter account or even Facebook’s status or even undressed pictures of its
victims, likewise also sending text messages that are very offensive to the
victim. With the growing popularity of social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter)
and instant messenger services e.g. IM chat, Twitter and this does not always
lead to positive experiences (Gross, 2004). While the Internet is considered as
a necessary channel through which the upcoming generation can participate in a
diversity of public and civic engagements which aids a great level of
interaction with a larger scope of human activities and also learn effectively
(Livingstone, 2009), there lies a concern among parents, health professionals
and policy formulators over these young folks encounters with detrimental
internet content or risk. (Livingstone, Haddon, Gorzig & Olafsson, 2011;
UNICEF, 2011).
Mesch
(2009) suggests that cyberbullying exposes the children’s mental, physical and
emotional wellbeing to risk and also puts the society at risk of moral decline
and ethical decline. Research has shown till this date that similar to
information that has been documented on traditional bullying, cyberbullying
victims report more loneliness, depression and anxiety when they are likened to
their peers that have never been cyber victimized (Kowalski, Limber & Agatson,
2014; Sourander, Brunstein & Ikonen, 2010). Also, young individuals that
have become victims who have been harassed online have become increasingly
prevalent (Jones, Mitchell & Finkelhor, 2012), and online experiences such
as these have been found to be associated with their suicidal behaviours (Hay
& Meldrum, 2010). Cyber bullies alongside cyber bully/victims have been
discovered to have worse subjective health than those not involved as cyber
bullies or cyber bullied victim (Laftman, Modin & Ostberg, 2013). Patchin
and Hinduja (2006) from their studies showed that 40% cyberbullying victims
felt angry, 43% felt frustrated, more than 27% of them felt sad and finally 27%
confessed that it affected them at home. Cyber victims are also susceptible to psychosomatic
symptoms such as abdominal pains, sleeplessness and headaches (Sourander,
Brunstein, Ikonen & Lindroos, et.al, 2010).
Studies
in time past have revealed that a significant relationship exist between
affective disorders and an individual’s involvement in cyberbullying. Example
of this are the results which indicate that a significant relationship exist
between depression among adolescents and cyber victimization, (Klomek,
Marrocco, Kleinman, Schonfeld, et.al, 2008; Wigderson & Lynch, 2013) and
amid college students (Schenk & Fremouw, 2012). In addition to this,
victims are exposed to social isolation which therefore results in their
engaging in unsafe acts such as substance abuse and consumption of alcohol
(Schneider, Donnel, Stueve & Coulter, 2012; Williams, Connolly, Pepler
& Craig, 2005). While there has been considerable attention from the media
which has focused on cyber bully victims, it has been shown from research that
cyberbullying perpetration is also associated with negative health effects. For
example, adolescent girls who have been cyber bullies have been discovered to
have increased rates of anxiety and depression when they are compared with
their peers not engaged in cyberbullying (Kowalski & Limber, 2013).
Knowledge on cyber victimization
can curtail the rise in cyber bullying if these youths actually do adequately
understand the real concept. There are cases where an individual might be
playing the role of a cyber-bully without the individual realizing it. This study aims at giving an exposition to
the students about their level of knowledge about the concept of cyber
victimization.
Attitudinal disposition of
youths towards cyber victimization also reflects their orientation towards it.
A negative orientation towards cyber victimization invariably means it is not
considered as anything harmful to their health while a positive orientation
towards it shows it is really considered as something to be taken seriously and
avoided using all manner of measures. A positive attitudinal disposition
towards cyber victimization creates a likelihood of behavioural change. Perception
of cyber victimization among students reveals how much they consider it as
either a threat and how detrimental it can be to their mental health. The level
of perception could also create likelihood for behavioural change.
Cyber –activity which
reflects the time spent online is also a serious factor that can influence the
rate of cyber victimization. The higher the number of hours spent online, the
higher the potential of getting victimized. If youths consider cyber-activity a
source of posing a great risk of they being cyber victimized, then there is
also a likelihood of behavioural change as regards the number of hours that
will be spent online.
Therefore, due to the rise
in cyber activity among these youths, there is a very high potential that they
will experience cyber victimization if they lack the right knowledge, attitude
and perception towards cyber victimization. The rate of cyber activity will
either reduce or increase the likelihood that these youths will experience
cyber victimization. Therefore the researcher’s interest is to assess the level
of knowledge, attitude and perception of these youths and to also measure their
cyber-activity, as the researcher considers this a proactive measure in
assessing the possible level of susceptibility of these youths falling prey to
cyber bullies. Possible intervention studies is also hoped to be developed if
needs be after this study is completed.
It has been noted that cyberbullying victims are four times likely
to have depressive symptoms and are also five times likely to attempt
committing suicide when compared to non-victims (Schneider, Donnell, Stueve
& Coulter, 2012). Cyber victimization which is more prevalent in the
western world due to their high advancement in technology also has a very high
potential of rising in Africa and also in Nigeria due to the transition from
the analog age into a fully digital web-based interaction era in which most
tasks are carried out using the internet. Also, youths are predominantly
involved in social interactions using social media platforms such as Whatsapp,
Twitter , Facebook, 2go, Instagram, etc, and this also increases the likelihood
of all the negative consequences such as being cyberbullied which ranges from
from posting naked pictures of the cyber victims , posting messages that defame
the victims character, impersonation alongside many others. Cyberbullying also
affects the physical, emotional, social and cognitive functioning and wellbeing
of the victims. From research carried out by Patchin & Hinduja (2006), it
was gathered that 27% of victims of cyberbullying felt sad, 40% felt angry, 43%
felt frustrated and 27% confessed that it affected them at home. Therefore,
Suicidal ideation which could stem from the victims being depressed resulting
from their experiences of these form of bullying such as cases where naked images of them are
posted on a social media platform and comments made that defame their
character could eventually result into
the victims committing suicide .
Also, future relationships such as marital relationship
adolescents could be negatively affected due to the psychological trauma
undergone via cyber victimized experiences, in cases where these adolescents
experienced falsehood, as people fake their personalities on social media
platforms.
An increased level in online presence has a tendency to lead to
cyber addiction, exposure to pornographic addictions which leads to decline in
moral character, development of deviant behaviours due to the nature of
interactions. Adolescents caught in this web could also resort to the use of
drugs to quell their emotions as a result of frustration over time. All this
constitutes a major distraction away from their academics and leads to a
decline in academic performance. These in turn could lead to a ruin in such as
in the adolescent’s career if there is no proper intervention from either their
teachers or parents. Taking into consideration all these negative consequences
that awaits a youth who spends so much time online and does not have the
adequate knowledge, has a lackadaisical attitude and a very poor perception
towards cyber bullying; this raises a serious concern to the researcher about
the possible harm that awaits these youths if necessary measures are not taken.
To this end, it is very pertinent that the students should have the adequate
knowledge, attitude and perception alongside curtail their level of cyber
activity which will have a resultant effect in reducing the potential of they
being cyber victimized which comes with grave consequences. This can only be
done by first assessing their level of knowledge, attitude and perception
towards cyber victimization and as well assessing their rate of online
presence. Therefore this study seeks to assess the level of Knowledge,
attitude, perception and the rate of cyber activity of students.
Cyber victimization as an emerging area of public health is
underexplored and poses a severe risk; hence cyber victimization continues to
be a serious public health problem with devastating outcome. Many studies have
been conducted but the necessary parameters have not been scientifically stated
using a conceptual framework. Therefore, this research seeks to explore subject
matters such as knowledge, attitude and perception of cyber victimization and
cyber-activity using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as the conceptual framework.
The main objective of this study is to examine the level of
Knowledge, Attitude, Perception and Cyber-Activity on Cyber victimization among
undergraduate students of Babcock University. The specific objectives are
to:
1.
ascertain the level of
knowledge about cyber victimization among undergraduate students of Babcock
University;
2.
assess the attitudinal
disposition of undergraduate students of Babcock University towards cyber
victimization;
3.
assess the level of
perceived seriousness toward cyber victimization among undergraduate students
of Babcock University;
4.
ascertain the level of
susceptibility of undergraduate students of Babcock University towards cyber
victimization;
5.
ascertain the level of
perceived benefits of taking recommended action to prevent cyberbullying;
6.
determine the overall
perception among undergraduate students of Babcock University toward cyber
victimization;
7.
ascertain the level of cyber
victimization among undergraduate students of Babcock University;
8.
determine the rate of
cyber-activity among undergraduate students of Babcock University and
9.
determine which of the
independent variables in this study plays the most significant role in reducing
cyber victimization.
1.
What is the level of
knowledge on cyber victimization among undergraduate students of Babcock
University?
2.
What is the attitudinal
disposition of undergraduate students of Babcock University towards cyber
victimization?
3.
What is the level of
perceived seriousness toward cyber victimization among undergraduate students
toward cyber victimization?
4.
What is the level of
perceived susceptibility towards cyberbullying among undergraduate students of
Babcock University?
5.
What is the level of perceived benefits of
taking recommended action to prevent cyberbullying among undergraduate students
of Babcock University?
6.
What is the overall
perception towards cyber victimization among undergraduate students of Babcock
University?
7.
What is the level of cyber
victimization among undergraduate students of Babcock University?
8.
What is the rate of cyber-activity
among undergraduate students of Babcock University?
9.
Which of the independent
variable plays the most significant role in reducing cyber victimization?
Studies carried out by Gámez-Guadix, Orue, Smith, & Calvete, 2013;
Landstedt & Persson, 2014; Olenik-Shemesh, Heiman, & Eden, 2012 shows
that victims of cyber victimization are susceptible to an assortment of
psychosocial adjustment difficulties, including depression, anxiety, and
loneliness. Also, from the study carried
out by Schneider, Donnell, Stueve & Coulter, 2012; it was revealed
that cyber bullying victims are four times likely to have depressive symptoms
and are also five times likely to attempt committing suicide. Depression puts
these youths at risk of committing suicide. Other resultant effects which stems
out from cyber victimization can be all- encompassing damaging to the youth’s
performance both academically and also in their interpersonal relationship as
the causal effects of cyber victimization can produce negative behavioural
choices. Therefore, it can be said that in-school youths that experience cyber
victimization are at the risk of experiencing depression which can lead them to
committing suicide. Also deviant and delinquent behaviours can develop which
will have a negative playback on their lives.
Cyber victimization as an emerging area of public health is so far
underexplored in Nigeria and Africa as whole. This poses a great danger with a
devastating health outcome especially with the growth in digital technology and
a large population of individuals involved. Hence it is a serious public health
concern.
There are limited studies in the literature conducted in Nigeria
and Africa regarding cyber activities and victimization. For the studies reported
(Okorie, 2014; Oyewusi & Orolade, 2014), necessary parameters were not
scientifically developed and conceptualized the phenomenon. Therefore, this
study was theoretically and conceptually grounded in the phenomenon. This model
will enable the salient features associated with knowledge, attitude and perception
of cyber victimization to be explored critically.
This
study makes its contribution to the body of knowledge in characterizing
features of the design and conceptual grounding that distinguishes it from
previous studies. By adopting behaviour theory described in the Health Belief
Model, this has provided a better understanding of underlying factors that can
predispose these youths to being cyber victimized and how these factors are interrelated.
This study provides an opportunity for developing theory grounded and proactive
measures
The study hypothesizes
that;
H1: Respondents educational
level significantly affects their knowledge on cyber victimization.
H2: There exists a significant relationship
between knowledge and cyber victimization among undergraduate students of
Babcock University.
H3:
There exists a significant relationship between attitude and cyber
victimization among undergraduate students of Babcock University
H4:
There exists a significant relationship between perceived seriousness of cyberbullying and cyber victimization among
undergraduate students of Babcock University
H5: There exists a
significant relationship between cyber-activity and cyber victimization among
undergraduate students of Babcock University
H6: There exists a significant difference in the
level of perception across genders among undergraduate students of Babcock
university students towards cyber victimization.
Cyber victimization: Cyber
victimization refers to the usage of electronic media with the intent of
causing harm, humiliation, suffering, fear and despair for the individual who
is the target of aggression.
Cyber activity: The frequency of online presence of an individual.
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