Relationship between demographic factors and undergraduates' cyberbullying experiences in public universities in Malaysia

Abstract

In modern times, social media platforms have become veritable tools of communication and interaction amongst young adults in the university environment as well as the larger society. As important as it is, the platform has continued to cause serious psychological and emotional trauma to users through cyberbullying activities. This study examined the relationship between demographic factors and undergraduates' cyberbullying experiences in public universities in Malaysia. It was a quantitative study which adopted survey design. Self-designed questionnaire entitled Demographic factors and undergraduates' cyberbullying experiences was used for data collection. The instrument yielded coefficient of .92 using the Cronbach's alpha reliability. A total of 400 undergraduates were purposively selected at public university in west Malaysia, Johor. One research question was raised and three hypotheses were tested. Data collected were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling Partial Least Squares 3 (SEM-PLS3. The findings revealed that there was significant relationship between the demographic factors: gender and programme of study but no significance for race. Hence, gender and programme of study significantly predict cyberbullying experiences of undergraduates than racial affiliations. It was recommended that effective counselling be introduced in order to assist victims of cyber assaults overcome the trauma suffered, and also stem the wave of cyberbullying among undergraduates.