A study of adolescents’ bullying structure and the relationship of cyberbullying to spirituality and empathy indicators

The article reviews the issue of risky behavior in the online world – the bullying behavior in the Internet. It gives a description of the phenomenon of cyberbullying and how it negatively affects the mental and emotional state of children and adolescents. Particular attention is paid to the spiritual and moral qualities of personality – personal spirituality and empathy, as determining factors in the process of cybersocialization of a child. The article describes the main diagnostic tools used by the authors – E. G. Norkina’s «Our Class» technique, M. Davis’ «Interpersonal Reactivity Index» adapted by T. D. Karyagina, N. A. Budagovskaya, S. V. Dubrovskaya and A. Husain and M. Anas’ «Spiritual Personality » questionnaire adapted by G. Ozhiganova. It provides the results of a research survey held among adolescents in the city of Tomsk. The study presents the bullying structure of schoolchildren, determines the level of spirituality and empathy of modern adolescents. The results revealed that the indicators of spirituality and empathy of modern schoolchildren in general are at an acceptable level. There was also established a connection between the indicators of personal spirituality, empathy and the implementation of cyberbullying. The results of the study revealed that the lack of development of spirituality and empathy may be associated with an increased risk of aggressive behavior, specifically cyberbullying.

cyberbullying, adolescent risky behavior, Internet risks, spirituality, empathy, bullying structure