Perception of cyberdating abuse from the victims’ perspective: effect of the type of suffered behavior and gender

Abstract

Direct cyberaggression and cybercontrol, although both are manifestations of cyberdating abuse (CDA), seem to show different intentionality and impact. Furthermore, how young people perceive and experience CDA within heterosexual relationships varies by gender. However, no studies have examined whether the victims’ perception of offense and severity in an incident of CDA and the motivations that they attributed to their aggressor’s behavior vary by the type of victimization and gender. This research (N = 92 participants; 56.5% men and 43.5% women) was aimed at addressing this gap in the literature. Participants randomly completed an essay in which the CDA victimization (direct cyberaggression vs. cybercontrol) was manipulated and then responded to dependent measures. The results showed that (a) direct cyberaggression (vs. cybercontrol ) victimization was perceived as more offensive and severe; (b) women (vs. men) perceived greater offense and severity in a CDA victimization incident; (c) direct cyberaggression victimization was more frequently attributed to anger/frustration and online disinhibition, whereas cybercontrol victimization was attributed to personality and jealousy; and (d) a higher percentage of men indicated that their partners had perpetrated CDA against them because of the partners’ personality, whereas a higher percentage of women indicated that they had been victims of CDA because their partners experienced online disinhibition. We discussed the theoretical and practical contributions of our findings in the CDA field.