Was it just joke? Cyberbullying perpetrations and their styles of humor

• Published in: Computers in human behavior Vol. 54; pp. 555 - 559
• Main Author: Sari, Serkan Volkan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-01-2016
• Subjects: Adolescent; Cyberbullying perpetration; Humor styles; Humor styles; Cyberbullying perpetration; Adolescent
• ISSN: 0747-5632; 1873-7692
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.053

The present study examines humor styles of cyberbullying perpetrations. Turkish adolescents (N = 489) aged 15–18 years were recruited from different high school types. Participants completed the Revised Cyberbullying Inventory (RCBI, Topçu and Baker, 2010) and Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ, Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray, & Weir, 2003) Collected data were analyzed Pearson correlation coefficients and standart multiple regression. Maladaptive humor styles namely aggressive humor (r = 0.349, p < 0.05) and self-defeating humor (r = 0.138, p < 0.01) significantly correlated cyberbullying perpetrations. Also standard multiple regressions revealed that aggressive humor was a significant individual predictors of cyberbullying perpetration such that as agressive humor decreases, likelihood of cyberbullying perpetration increases. These results indicate that maladaptive humor styles (aggressive humor and self-defeating humor) may successfully address cyberbullying behaviour.
•There was a positive correlation between cyberbullying and agressive humor.•There was a positive correlation between cyberbullying and self-defeating humor.•Aggressive humor was a significant predictors of cyberbullying perpetration.