International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

Personality Traits, Parenting Styles and Cyber Aggression among University Students in Johor, Malaysia

Open access
Malaysian cyberspace has been the target of cyber aggression in recent years, and similar issue has reportedly occurred in many other nations as well. The emergence of cyberaggressive behaviour has been linked to some personality traits and parenting practises. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship of personality traits, parenting styles and cyber aggression among university students in Johor. A total of 204 undergraduates were participated in this study. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Big Five Inventory (BFI) by John et al. (1991) was used to determine the personality traits, Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran- Short Form (S-EMBU) from Arrindell et al. (1999) was used to measure parenting style and Cyber-Aggression Scale (CYB-AGS) by Buelga et al (2020) was used to measure cyber aggression. Result shown a moderate level of cyber aggression among respondents. The traits of extraversion (r=0.237, p?0.01), parenting styles of rejection (r=0.639, p?0.01), emotional warmth (r=0.173, p?0.05) and overprotection (r=0.490, p?0.01) were positively and significantly correlated with cyber aggression. Traits of agreeableness (r=0.130, p?0.05), conscientiousness (r=-0.079, p?0.05) and neuroticism (r=-0.062, p?0.05) were not significant but negatively correlated with cyber aggression. Significant gender difference was found in cyber aggression among the respondents (t=3.563, p?0.001). Lastly, extraversion traits, and parenting styles of rejection were the significant predictors of cyber aggression among the respondents. This study highlights on the understanding of different personality traits and parenting style that predict how young adults respond to cyber aggression
Adamopoulou, P., & Koukia, E. (2020). The Effect of Personality Traits on the Roles of
Traditional Bully-Victim and Cyberbully – Cybervictim among Greek
Adolescents. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 13(3), 1639–1651.
Allen, J. J., Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2018). The General Aggression Model. Current Opinion in psychology, 19, 75–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.03.034
Arnett, J. J., Z?ukauskiene?, R., & Sugimura, K. (2014). The new life stage of emerging adulthood at ages 18–29 years: Implications for mental health. The Lancet Psychiatry, 1(7), 569–
576. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215- 0366(14)00080-7
Arrindell, W. A., Sanavio, E., Aguilar, G., Sica, C., Hatzichristou, C., Eisemann, M., Recinos, L.A., Gaszner, P., Peter, M., Batagliese, G., Kalli, J., & van der Ende, J. (1991). The development of a short form of the EMBU: Its appraisal with students in Greece, Guatemala, Hungary and Italy. Personality and Individual Differences, 27(4), 613–628. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0191-8869(98)00192-5
Barlett, C. P., Simmers, M. M., Roth, B., & Gentile, D. (2021). Comparing cyberbullying prevalence and process before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Journal of
Social Psychology, 161(4), 408–418.https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2021.1918619 Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2006). The bioecological model of human development. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development (pp. 793–828). John Wiley & Sons. doi:10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0114.
Buelga, S., Postigo, J., Martínez-Ferrer, B., Cava, M.-J., & Ortega-Barón, J. (2020).
Cyberbullying among Adolescents: Psychometric Properties of the CYB-AGS CyberAggressor Scale. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(9), 3090. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093090
Chen, L., Wang, Y., Yang, H., & Sun, X. (2020). Emotional warmth and cyberbullying perpetration attitudes in college students: Mediation of trait gratitude and empathy. PLoS ONE, 15(7), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235477.
Doane, A. N., Kelley, M. L., Chiang, E. S., & Padilla, M. A. (2013). Development of the Cyberbullying Experiences Survey. Emerging Adulthood, 1(3), 207–218.
https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696813479584
Gao, M., Shih, K.T., (2021). A study on the relationship between college students' original family environment and parental rearing patterns. Natural Volatiles and Essential Oils, 8(5), 7649-7660.
Feng, L., Zhang, L., & Zhong, H. (2021). Perceived parenting styles and mental health: The multiple mediation effect of perfectionism and altruistic behavior. Psychology
Research And Behavior Management, 14, 1157–1170. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S318446
Goodboy, A. K., & Martin, M. M. (2015). The personality profile of a cyberbully: Examining the
Dark Triad. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 1–
4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.02.052
Grigg, D. W. (2010). Cyber-aggression: Definition and concept of cyberbullying. Journal of
Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 20(2), 143–156. https://doi.org/10.1375/ajgc.20.2.143
Heiman, T., & Olenik-Shemesh, D. (2022). Cyber-victimization experience among higher education students: Effects of social support, loneliness, and self-
efficacy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12),
7395. 1-13. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127395
Jiang, X., Li, X., Dong, X., & Wang, L. (2022). How the Big Five personality traits related to aggression from perspectives of the benign and malicious envy. BMC Psychology, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-022-00906-5
John, O. P., Donahue, E. M., & Kentle, R. L. (1991). The Big Five Inventory – versions 4a and 5. Institute of Personality and Social Research, University of California.
Khaleque, A. (2013). Perceived parental warmth, and children’s psychological adjustment, and personality dispositions: A meta-analysis. Journal of Child and Family Studies. 22, 297–306.
Kowalski, R. M., Giumetti, G. W., Schroeder, A. N., & Lattanner, M. R. (2014). Bullying in the digital age: A critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying research among youth. Psychological Bulletin, 140(4), 1073–1137. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035618
Mitsopoulou, E., & Giovazolias, T. (2015). Personality traits, empathy and bullying behavior:
A meta-analytic approach. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 21, 61–
72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2015.01.007
Nocera, T. R., Dahlen, E. R., Poor, A., Strowd, J., Dortch, A., & Van Overloop, E. C. (2022). Moral disengagement mechanisms predict cyber aggression among emerging adults. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 16(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2022-1-6.
Smith, P. K. (2015). The nature of cyberbullying and what we can do about it. Journal of
Research in Special Education Needs, 15, 176–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/14713802.12114
Tamban, V. E., & Maningas, O. B. (2019). Gender differences in Big Five Personality Traits of participants in Kasabec Kabataan- Biñan City: As a basis for effective implementation of extension programs. People: International Journal of Social Sciences, 4(3), 1801–
1809. https://doi.org/10.20319/pijss.2019.43.18011809
Uddin, M. K., & Rahman, J. (2022). Cyber victimization and cyber aggression among high school students: Emotion regulation as a moderator. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 16(2), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2022-2-4.
Wang, M. J., Yogeeswaran, K., Andrews, N. P., Hawi, D. R., & Sibley, C. G. (2019). How common is cyberbullying among adults? Exploring gender, ethnic, and age differences in the prevalence of cyberbullying. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking,
22(11), 736–741. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0146
Weisberg, Y.J., DeYoung, C.G. & Hirsh, J.B. (2011). Gender differences in personality across
the ten aspects of the Big Five. Frontiers in Psychology. 2, 1-
11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00178
Wright, M. F. (2020). The role of technologies, behaviors, gender, and gender stereotype traits in adolescents’ cyber aggression. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 35(7-8), 1719-
1738. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517696858
Xu, W., & Zheng, S. (2022). Personality traits and cyberbullying perpetration among Chinese university students: The moderating role of internet self-efficacy and gender. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.779139
Zhao, F., and Gao, W. (2012). Reliability and validity of adolescent online aggressive behavior scale. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 26, 439–444. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.10006729.2012.06.009.
Zhou, H., Wang, Q., Yu, S., & Zheng, Q. (2022). Negative parenting style and perceived nonphysical bullying at school: The mediating role of negative affect experiences and coping styles. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19106206