Cyberbullying as Seen by Student Youth: Social Profiles of the Victim and the Aggressor

Introduction. The importance of studying the involvement of student youth in destructive practices is due to the fact that at this age they are more susceptible to the behavior patterns of people from their social environment. In addition, the period of study is the key in the formation of ideological guidelines. In the modern world, when information technologies play a significant role in the life of society, favorable conditions are created for the emergence of new forms of destructive behavior. These include cyberbullying, the prevalence of which is increasing. The aim of the study is to provide social profiles of the cyberbully and its victim as seen by student youth. Materials and Methods. The empirical basis was the data obtained from the online questionnaire survey “Cyberbullying in the Modern Internet space” (n = 600) among representatives of the student youth of the Republic of Mordovia. Results. The study showed that young people do not associate the social profile of the aggressor (cyberbullyer) with certain gender or age. At the same time, based on the results of calculating the aggressiveness and victimization indices of the respondents, it follows that the victim is more often a girl between the ages of 21 and 25, and the aggressor is a young man between the ages of 21 and 25. Discussion and Conclusion. The results of the study add new socio-demographic characteristics to the social profile of an actor of destructive Internet-practices. The materials of the article may be of interest to professionals dealing with the issues related to the implementation of youth policy, the sociology of the social sphere, the sociology of youth, and the sociology of the Internet.