Gender issues and cyberbullying in children and adolescents: From gender differences to gender identity measures

Abstract

Gender studies on cyberbullying have attempted to determine which gender is more involved in cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. However, international research has shown mixed results, and we cannot affirm that cyberbullying is a gender-specific behavior. In this chapter, we argue that the analysis of gender is still relevant, but we need to move from the analysis of mean scores in cyberbullying to analyses of how the internalization of gender-typed beliefs makes youths more vulnerable to cyberbullying. From this point of view, we attempt to generate a debate on the state of gender research in cyberbullying and to identify new directions for future researchers. To do so, we review contemporary research on gender differences in cyberbullying and present a new study into the relationship between cyberbullying and gender identity. The results reveal that self-perceived similarity to other members of the same gender category, satisfaction with one’s own gender, the belief that one’s own gender is superior to the other, and self-description with masculine-typed traits are protective factors of cybervictimization, whereas being male, self-description with masculine-typed traits, lack of gender contentedness, and lack of feminine-typed traits are risk factors for cyberperpetration. Given that these findings suggest that cyberbullying is often directed to those youths who do not conform to gender expectations and norms, we review research on bullying directed to sexual and gender minorities and offer new qualitative data about how youths perceive this type of cyberbullying.