Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2008, 49, 147–154 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00611.x © 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. ISSN 0036-5564. Blackwell Publishing Ltd Personality and Social Sciences Cyberbullying: Another main type of bullying? ROBERT SLONJE and PETER K. SMITH Goldsmiths College, University of London Slonje, R. & Smith, P. K. (2008). Cyberbullying: Another main type of bullying? Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49, 147–154. Cyberbullying has recently emerged as a new form of bullying and harassment. 360 adolescents (12–20 years), were surveyed to examine the nature and extent of cyberbullying in Swedish schools. Four categories of cyberbullying (by text message, email, phone call and picture/video clip) were examined in relation to age and gender, perceived impact, telling others, and perception of adults becoming aware of such bullying. There was a significant incidence of cyberbullying in lower secondary schools, less in sixth-form colleges. Gender differences were few. The impact of cyberbullying was perceived as highly negative for picture/video clip bullying. Cybervictims most often chose to either tell their friends or no one at all about the cyberbullying, so adults may not be aware of cyberbullying, and (apart from picture/video clip bullying) this is how it was perceived by pupils. Findings are discussed in relation to similarities and differences between cyberbullying and the more traditional forms of bullying. Key words: Bully, victim, cyber, text message, email, mobile phone, internet. Robert Slonje, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, UK. Tel: +44-207-919-7898; fax: +44-207-919-7873; e-mail: r.slonje@gold.ac.uk INTRODUCTION “Bullying” is often defined as being an aggressive, intentional act or behavior that is carried out by a group or an individual repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself (Whitney & Smith, 1993; Olweus, 1999). Bullying is a form of abuse that is based on an imbalance of power; it can be defined as a systematic abuse of power (Smith & Sharp, 1994; Rigby, 2002). Most researchers in the area of bullying, and of aggression more generally, distinguish several main types (Rigby, 1997). The most common categories are physical, verbal, and indirect or relational. Physical aggression includes hitting, kicking, punching, taking or damaging belongings; of these, attacks on property might be considered separately (e.g. Kristensen & Smith, 2003). Verbal aggression includes teasing, taunting, threatening. Both these are usually direct or face-to-face types of aggression. In the 1980s, aggression and bullying were primarily seen as direct physical or verbal attacks. During the 1990s, through the work of Björkqvist (Björkqvist, Lagerspetz and Kaukiainen, 1992), Crick (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995), and others, the scope has been broadened to include indirect aggression (done via a third party); and relational aggression (done to damage someone’s peer relationships), or the similar social aggression (done to damage self-esteem and/or social status) (Underwood, 2002). Most researchers, and indeed most pupils (Monks & Smith, 2006) now consider indirect aggression, such as spreading nasty stories, and relational/social aggression or social exclusion, such as tell- ing others not to play with someone, as forms of bullying. In recent years a new form of aggression or bullying has emerged, labeled “cyberbullying”, in which the aggression occurs through modern technological devices, and specifically mobile phones or the internet. Research on this topic is still at an early stage of investigation; the phenomenon only appeared a few years ago, as the use of electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones by young people has increased. Previous research on cyberbullying The studies carried out so far have been mostly confined to examining just one aspect of cyberbullying (for example, text messaging), or have been carried out as just one part of a larger research program. None, so far as we are aware, have been carried out in Scandinavia. In the UK, the NCH (formerly National Children’s Home) (2005) surveyed 770 children aged 11–19 years in England; 20% had been cyberbullied or threatened, and 11% claimed to have sent a bullying or threatening message to someone else. Noret and Rivers (2006) reported a study of 11,227 pupils in England aged 11–15 years, who were asked if they had ever received any nasty or threatening text messages or emails. Nearly 7% reported this at least “once in a while”, girls more than boys. Over a 4-year period from 2002 to 2005 there was some increase, mainly in girls. Smith, Mahdavi, Carvalho and Tippett (2006) reported a detailed study of 92 students aged 11–16 years, from 14 schools in London. They divided cyberbullying into seven different subcategories: text message bullying, picture/video clip bullying (through mobile phones), phone call bullying (via mobile phones), email bullying, chat-room bullying, bullying through instant messaging and bullying via web- sites. Prevalence rates over the last couple of months differed