Gender, Self-Control, and Opportunity: Applying the General Theory of Crime to Online Harassment

Previous empirical work has shown that the inclusion of low self-control in multiple regression models reduces the statistically significant independent effects of gender on general crime and delinquency to non-significant levels, even when controlling for known theoretical predictors of crime. In support of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s (1990) claims, this work has also shown that opportunity interacts with low self-control in explaining deviant behavior. To date though, the relationship between gender, opportunity, and self-control in explaining cybercrime is still relatively unknown. Using a sample of Korean Adolescents (N = 1,091), the current study attempts to fill these gaps in the literature by examining the effects of opportunity and low self-control in relation to gendered disparities in rates of online harassment. Inconsistent with the theory, findings suggest that girls and boys report similar levels of self-control and that LSC interacts with opportunity to negatively predict online harassment. However, consistent with general theory of crime, results show that opportunity and LSC are significant predictors of online harassment in separate gender models while controlling for a host of other theoretical predictors of crime and delinquency.