Mixed cyber aggressor-victims reported more social dominance and dating partners, and highly reactive cyber aggressor-victims reported more sexual partners, when compared to uninvolved peers

Social advantages and disadvantages associated with cyber aggression-victimization: A Latent Class Analysis. Kiana R. Lapierre, Andrew V. Dane. Computers in Human Behavior, July 20 2020, 106497, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2020.106497

Highlights
• Evolutionary functions apply to cyber aggression and victimization.
• Empirical analyses show groups involved in both cyber aggression and victimization.
• Cyber aggressive-victim groups differ in frequency of reactive aggression.
• Cyber aggression-victimization is associated with social advantages.
• Highly reactive cyber aggression-victimization is linked to social disadvantages.

Abstract: This study examines cyber aggression and cyber victimization from an evolutionary perspective, extending the literature by: (1) employing Latent Class Analysis to identify cyber aggression-victimization status groups using proactive and reactive cyber aggression, and cyber victimization, as indicators; and (2) examining whether cyber aggression-victimization status groups experience social advantages and disadvantages similar to those in traditional aggression research. In this study, a three-class model best described adolescents’ cyber aggression and victimization; in the sample of 400 adolescents ages 12–18, 79.4% were uninvolved, 13.1% were mixed cyber aggressor-victims (moderate proactive and reactive cyber aggression, and cyber victimization), and 7.4% were highly reactive cyber aggressor-victims (moderate proactive cyber aggression and cyber victimization, but high reactive cyber aggression). These groups contrast with those found in empirical traditional aggression research as pure cyber aggressors and cyber victims were not identified. Consistent with evolutionary theory and aggression research that suggest it has adaptive functions, mixed cyber aggressor-victims reported more social dominance and dating partners, and highly reactive cyber aggressor-victims reported more sexual partners, when compared to uninvolved peers. However, highly reactive cyber aggressor-victims also reported more friendship anxiety and less implicit social power than the mixed and uninvolved group, consistent with traditional research suggesting that reactive aggression is more strongly linked to social disadvantages and less strongly linked to social advantages, than is proactive aggression. Although cyber aggression is a relatively new form of aggression, an evolutionary perspective can illuminate why it continues to be a social problem despite intervention efforts.

Keywords: Proactive cyber aggressionReactive cyber aggressionCyber victimizationEvolutionary perspective