Muscles, popularity, social capital, and computer skills: Examining "power" in cyberbullying

Traditional bullying perpetration explicates the importance of a power differential between the bully and the victim-predominantly physical and/or social status. The application of power from traditional to cyberbullying is unclear. The current research utilized a longitudinal study to examine the relationships between four different derivations of power-belief in the irrelevance of muscularity for online bullying (BIMOB), social capital, harmful computer skills, and popularity motivation-and cyberbullying attitudes and perpetration. Participants (185 US emerging adults) completed self-report assessments of the aforementioned power constructs, cyberbullying attitudes, and cyberbullying behavior twice-6 months apart. Results showed only Wave 1 BIMOB predicted cyberbullying attitudes to yield subsequent cyberbullying perpetration.