PERSONALITY TRAITS, AGGRESSION, AND GENDER AS PREDICTORS OF CYBERBULLYING BEHAVIOR AMONG YOUTHS IN IBADAN METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

Abstract

The prevalence of cyberbullying and associated psychological problems on the victims has been on the increase, especially in the developing countries. While studies on the effects of cyberbullying and management of the victims have been done in developed countries, this is not the case in many developing countries. Therefore, this study investigated predictors of cyberbullying behavior among youths in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. Cross-sectional survey design was adopted while purposive sampling technique was used to select the two institutions. Data was collected from 416 students using three validated scales. Two hypotheses were tested using stepwise multiple regression analysis and t-test of independent samples. Results indicated that personality traits significantly predicted cyberbullying behavior among students in the two tertiary institutions. When aggression was introduced into the model, there was an additional amount of variance explained. Furthermore, the result revealed that male students reported higher cyberbullying behavior than female students. The study concluded that personality traits of extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and aggression are important predictors of cyberbullying behavior among students in the study population. The study recommended that discouraging cyberbullying would be achieved by understanding the personality traits and aggressive behavior that triggers students into cyberbullying.