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Published April 9, 2017 | Version v1
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Patterns of Cyber Harassment and Perpetration among College Students in the United States: A Test of Routine Activities Theory

  • 1. University of Texas at Arlington, United States of America
  • 2. Louisiana State University, United States of America

Contributors

  • 1. Raksha Shakti University

Description

A sample of 298 college students at a large southwestern state university (female 68.8%) completed an online survey about their experiences of being victimized by and engaging in perpetration of cyber-harassment of romantic partners. The findings partially supported the application of Routine Activities Theory to understand the predictors of cyber-harassment for victims and victimizers. Victimization for women was associated with greater general risk-taking propensity and reported online exposure and disclosure. For both men and women, greater risk propensity and online disclosure were associated with greater reports of perpetrating such harassment. A significant interaction resulted from the effects of risk propensity in increasing the likelihood of engaging in cyber-harassment being attenuated for those high in online exposure.

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References

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