Correlation of Academic Cyberloafing and Cyberbullying

<p>The article presents the results of a study examining the correlation between two forms of deviant behavior associated with the use of virtual space: Cyberloafing and cyberbullying. This phenomena was considerated within the educational context. The research is based on empirical data collected from from schoolchildren and students in Chelyabinsk. 128 schoolchildren aged 14 to 18 years and 216 students aged 17 to 22 years were recruited for this study. The study methods were an Adapted Cyberloafing Scale (developed by N.V. Sivrikova), and a School Bullying Questionnaire (designed by M.A. Novikova, A.A. Rean, and I.A. Konovalov). The results of the study showed, that among the factors causing Internet-related deviations (cyberloafing and cyberbullying) are the level of education, gender, and restrictions on the use of phones within educational institutions. The research established a link between the structures of cyberbullying and cyberloafing. Game-related cyberloafing was found to be associated only with the role of a witness. In contrast, other types of cyberloafing showed a correlation with the degree of involvement in all three roles examined in cyberbullying: victim, aggressor, and witness. Overall, the findings partially validate the model of problematic information technology use proposed by F. Jabeen, A. Tandon, and others.</p>