Cyberbullying Among Adolescents in East Asian Societies: Explanations Based on General Strain Theory

The development of communication technology in recent years has profoundly changed adolescents’ lives. While it adds much convenience to each of their online/phone interactions, it also brings increased risk of cyberbullying. The characteristics of cyberbullying vary with new technology and cultural contexts. Most of previous research has focused on cyberbullying in Western countries and simply considered cyberbullying as the extension of traditional bullying at school. Unfortunately, this approach limited the insight to peers in the same school and relatively traditional electronic ways such as emails and text messages. Thus, the special ecology in the virtual world — the interaction with people in a diversity of platforms (e.g., online) — was generally ignored. Differing from Western cultures which encourage individualism, Confucianism and collectivism are deeply ingrained in East Asian societies. This key societal difference may lead to distinctive characteristics of cyberbullying. There are also special and unique strains derived from East Asian cultures resulting in cyberbullying. To better understand cyberbullying in East Asian societies, this paper further explains cyberbullying among adolescents based on Agnew’s general strain theory.