Beware of Publicity! Perceived Distress of Negative Cyber Incidents and Implications for Defining Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is usually defined by utilizing offline criteria for bullying (repetition, power imbalance, intent to harm). However, this ignores the potential relevance of cyber-specific factors (publicity, medium, type [i.e., denigration]). We compared six factors, each with multiple attributes, with respect to associated socioemotional distress, measured directly (Study 1: N = 58 Ecuadorian adolescents) and by applying adaptive conjoint analyses (Study 2: N = 131 German adolescents; Study 3: N = 82 German young adults). Results indicated that type, publicity, and repetition were most relevant for distress, and that attributes differed significantly in terms of perceived distress. For example, public incidents were perceived to be more distressing than semipublic or private ones. Furthermore, regarding most factors, previous cyber-perpetrators reported lower levels of distress than cyber-nonperpetrators. Implications for defining cyberbullying are discussed.