The Relationship Between Self-Presentation Strategy In Adolescents’ Using Social Network Sites And Cyberbullying:The Perspective Of Victim Precipitation Model

With the popularity of smart phones and the development of Internet "socialization", the proportion of social networks is larger and larger in the social system of teenagers. Thus, the use of Social Network Sites, called SNS for short hereinafter, has become one of the main online activities for young people. The penetration of SNS in the social life of young people is a "double-edged sword", which enriches and expands the interpersonal relations of young people at the meantime brings them the risk of experiencing harmful behaviors like cyberbullying. As the core feature of social network sites, it can be said that self-presentation is the basis of all network activities. In recent years, a number of news events including the "90 women show off their wealth" "Accord Girl" have shown that the inappropriate self-presentation of individuals in the network communication may become "crusade" targets of netizen, which can trigger malicious comments, vocal opposition and even personal attacks from netizen. Reveal the relationship between the self-presentation strategies of individuals in the process of using SNS and the possibility of suffering cyberbullying and explore the internal mechanism behind this relationship, both can enrich and expand the existing research about mechanisms of cyberbullying, but also provide useful inspiration for the active prevention and intervention of cyberbullying.Around the core issues "the impact of the self-presentation strategies adolescents use in the process of using SNS on the possibility of suffering cyberbullying and the internal mechanism behind this relationship", mainly based on the theoretical framework of victim precipitation model, this paper conducted the following three studies:The first one, we adopted the text analysis method to collect self-presentation strategies in QQ spaces. We took 13 freshmen in Hubei Province as tested objects, after their informed consent, we randomly selected two weeks within the past six months of log update and review data of friends from QQ space as research material. We adopted the text analysis method to organize, analyze and code. It was found that the self-presentation strategies adolescents used in more cases were ingratiation, competence, sharing and supplication. What’s more, different types of self-presentation strategies initiated friends’comments and feedback are also different. When they used competence strategies, they would get the most negative comments, that is using competence strategies might bring a higher risk of cyberbullying.The second one is a survey about the relationship between the self-presentation strategies of adolescents in the process of using SNS and suffering cyberbullying. The study was on the basis of the first one, through the large-scale questionnaire survey, further explored the relationship between the self-presentation strategies of adolescents in the process of using SNS and suffering cyberbullying. Investigation objects of this study were 1103 students in grades 7-11 of 4 middle schools (2 junior middle schools,2 high schools) in Hubei Province. The results showed that it was ubiquitous of cyberbullying in adolescents’ use of SNS. 82.77%of the adolescents were reported to have met more than one time of cyberbullying during the past one year, while 57.21% of the adolescents had implemented more than one time of some form of cyberbullying to others. The most self- presentation strategies adolescents used were competence and ingratiation. Competence and belittling strategies have a significant positive correlation with frequency of suffering cyberbullying, might bring a higher risk of suffering cyberbullying.The third one is experimental research about the relationship between the self-presentation strategies of adolescents in the process of using SNS and suffering cyberbullying. The study based on the previous two studies, through experimental research, further explored the causal connection between the self-presentation strategies of adolescents in the process of using SNS and suffering cyberbullying, and explores the intermediary role of emotions between the two. The tested objects of this study were 289 students in grades 7-9 in Henan Province. This study used single-factor and three levels (three types of self-presentation strategy: sharing competence and belittling) experimental design, found that compared to sharing, competence and belittling strategies were more likely to lead to cyberbullying. What’s more, using competent strategy mainly through to excite friends’disgust and envy the two kinds of negative emotions to add the possibility of their cyberbullying behavior as feedback, and using belittling strategy mainly through to excite friends’ disgust and anger the two kinds of negative emotions to add the possibility of their cyberbullying behavior as feedbackThrough the above three series of progressive approach to research, this paper examines the relationship between the self-presentation strategies of adolescents in the process of using SNS and the possibility of suffering cyberbullying and initially revealed emotional mechanism in competence and belittling two strategies adding cyberbullying risk. The conclusions reminder of the need concerned the cyberbullying risk might exist in adolescents’ using SNS, either guide adolescents to use the correct self-presentation strategies, meanwhile also train them to grasp a good and effective negative emotional expression and catharsis way to reduce their cyberbullying risk in SNS.