Cyberbullying among high school students in Japan: Development and validation of the Online Disinhibition Scale Reinis Udris ⇑ Department of Sociology, Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University, Suita-shi, Yamadaoka 1-2, 565-0871 Osaka, Japan article info Article history: Keywords: Cyberbullying Online disinhibition Online Disinhibition Scale Internet Factor analysis abstract Recent research has revealed some factors that contribute to cyberbullying, but the role of online disinhibition remains an area for further clarification. This study examined online disinhibition and cyberbullying behavior among Japanese adolescents. A sample of 887 high school students (mean age 16.31) were administered a survey about their cyberbullying experience. The questionnaire included the Online Disinhibition Scale (ODS), a new 11 item instrument developed to assess online disinhibition levels. In order to validate ODS, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. EFA yielded two factors subsequently named ‘‘benign disinhibition’’ and ‘‘toxic disinhi- bition’’. Results from CFA supported the two factor solution as an acceptable model fit. Logistic regression analyses showed that online disinhibition was significantly associated with cyberbullying. Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Cyberbullying is increasingly identified with problematic social and psychological outcomes for children and adults alike. It is defined as intentional and repetitive harmful behavior through the use of information and communication technologies (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009; Smith et al., 2008). In recent years some research- ers have questioned the aspect of repetitiveness in cyberbullying due to the structure of the Internet that enables instant dissemina- tion of data and infinitely large audiences once the information is online (Dooley, Py _ zalski, & Cross, 2009; Law, Shapka, Hymel, Olson, & Waterhouse, 2012; Vandebosch & Van Cleemput, 2008). Research shows that up to 70% of children have experienced cyberbullying during their lifetimes (Mora-Merchan, Del Rey, & Jager, 2010, p. 274). Youth who reported being cyberbullied have been shown to suffer from depression (Baker & Tanrıkulu, 2010; Wang, Nansel, & Iannotti, 2011), academic problems (Beran & Li, 2007), decreased self-esteem (Tynes, Rose, & Williams, 2010), and suicidal thoughts (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010). These negative effects are congruent with findings from decades of research of tra- ditional bullying among adolescents, which has been associated with depression and suicidal ideation (Klomek et al., 2008), poorer grades at school (Juvonen, Wang, & Espinoza, 2011), disciplinary problems and truancy (Gastic, 2008) among others. Bullied youth are also more likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder (Tehrani, 2004) and commit crime later in life (Olweus, 2011). Compared to traditional bullying, cyberbullying differs in three ways. First, cyberspace enables anonymity for the aggressors. Sec- ond, cyberspace is like a stage visible to the whole world. Anybody can become a spectator, thus the audience is infinite. Third, the 24/ 7 ubiquity of the Internet makes it hard to avoid cyberbullying (Hinduja & Patchin, 2009, pp. 20–25). 1.1. Explaining cyberbullying Some studies have found simple motives for cyberbullying. Hinduja and Patchin (2009) report that the most common reason for cyberbullying is ‘‘to get revenge’’ (p. 72), while other studies using self-reports identify perpetrators just having fun as the most prevalent reason (Mishna, Cook, Gadalla, Daciuk, & Solomon, 2010; Raskauskas & Stoltz, 2007). Other researchers have used the theory of planned behavior (Li, 2005) and the routine activities theory (Navarro & Jasinski, 2012) as frameworks to better understand the phenomenon. Ang and colleagues found that narcissistic explo- itativeness and normative beliefs about aggression are significantly associated with cyberbullying (Ang, Tan, & Talib Mansor, 2011). Others link moral disengagement to cyberbullying (Pornari & Wood, 2010; Renati, Berrone, & Zanetti, 2012) although the findings are mixed, and some studies did not find a significant cor- relation (Bauman & Pero, 2011; Perren & Gutzwiller-Helfenfinger, 2012). All of the aforementioned studies have focused on the individual excluding the direct influence of technology which could act as a mediating factor in cyberbullying. One the best http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.09.036 0747-5632/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ⇑ Tel.: +81 6 6879 8073; fax: +81 6 6879 8073. E-mail address: udris@hus.osaka-u.ac.jp Computers in Human Behavior 41 (2014) 253–261 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers in Human Behavior journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh