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Aggressors and Victims in Bullying and Cyberbullying: A Study of Personality Profiles using the Five-Factor Model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2017

Cristina Alonso  and
Estrella Romero
Cristina Alonso*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
Estrella Romero
Affiliation:
Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
*
*Correspondence concerning this article should be addresssed to Cristina Alonso. Departamento de Psicobiología Psicología Clínica de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. Santiago de Compostela (Spain). E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Bullying and cyberbullying are highly prevalent in today’s society. However, the personality profiles of different roles involved in this phenomenon remain little known. This study aims (1) to examine the association between bullying and cyberbullying in adolescents; and (2) to analyze the relationship between bullying and cyberbullying in terms of the domains and facets of the five-factor model (FFM). A total of 910 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old participated. They were administered self-report assessments of aggression and victimization in bullying and cyberbullying, as well as the JS-NEO-S questionnaire. The results provide evidence of co-occurrence between bullying and cyberbullying (p < .001). We observed higher neuroticism in victims and aggressor-victims, higher openness in victims, higher agreeableness in victims and non-aggressor non-victims and higher conscientiousness in non-aggressor non-victims as compared with the rest of the groups (p < .001). Comparison of the four cyberbullying groups showed that cybervictims score higher in neuroticism and openness, cybervictims and non-cybervictims non-cyberaggressors score higher in agreeableness and non-cybervictims non-cyberaggressors score higher in conscientiousness (p < .001) In conclusion, this study provides a broad, systematic view of the personality traits associated with different roles implicated in traditional bullying and cyberbullying.

Keywords

adolescentsbullyingcyberbullyingfive-factor model of personality
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 20 , 2017 , E76
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2017 

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Footnotes

How to cite this article:

Alonso, C., & Romero, E. (2017). Aggressors and victims in bullying and cyberbullying: A study of personality profiles using the five-factor model. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 20. e76. Doi:10.1017/sjp.2017.73

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