Cyberbullying in the Weibo Context: A Mixed-Methods Study of Chinese International Students' Roles and Perceptions

Abstract

Cyberbullying has become a common phenomenon on social media, and this issue has also spread more rapidly with the proliferation of the Internet in China. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining structured questionnaires with semi-structured interviews, to explore how Chinese international students construct meaning regarding cyberbullying they encounter on Sina Weibo. The study participants were students enrolled at the University of Sheffield, aged 18 to 26, and familiar with Weibo. The results indicate that neither gender, academic level, nor frequency of Weibo use significantly predicts the roles participants play in cyberbullying incidents. However, users’ underlying motivations for using Weibo are associated with their experiences of victimization, and there is a reciprocal relationship between the identities of victims and perpetrators. Furthermore, although these three roles differ in terms of exposure to cyberbullying topics and patterns of encounter, their conceptual understanding of the phenomenon converges on common underlying characteristics. Finally, the study found that, despite differences in how each group experiences the phenomenon, cyberbullying produces significant psychological and behavioral consequences for all three roles.