Psychology of Bullying But Not Bullying: The Roles of Cultural Values to Improve Learners’ Resiliences toward Cyber Bullying

Abstract

Cyberbullying among adolescents has become a global phenomenon that grows rapidly. Thus, it becomes a significant concern of individual psychological development. Many preventive effort formulations appear to settle the problems. According to the researchers' preliminary investigations, the researchers did not find studies that took cultural values as predictors of cyberbullying behaviors. Indonesia is a country with cultural and customary values. This research analyzed the cyberbullying behavior characteristics among Javanese adolescents. The researchers investigated cyberbullying behaviors among Javanese adolescents and identified the behaviors from the adolescents' perspectives. The researchers also investigated how cultural values could improve adolescents' resilience against cyberbullying. This survey research used a quantitative approach. The researchers took the population from adolescents aged between 13 - 18 years old around the Mataraman Kulon area. The research sample consisted of 367 learners that went to Junior and Senior High Schools. The results showed low and moderate cyberbullying behavior tendencies with 51.5% and 44.9%. The characteristic tendencies of cyberbullying behaviors found on the adolescents were flaming (4.35%), outing (2.45%), trickery (2.74%), and exclusion (2.1%). The researchers found that the victims' low rates of cyberbullying cases were due to unreported cases. They argued that they avoided further quarrels and kept the harmony within an excellent friendship. On the other hand, the bullyers admitted that they did those behaviors only for joking. They did not have the intention to humiliate or hurt the victims. Thus, the Javanese cultural values were: keeping the harmony, rila or being compliant, nrimo, and tepa slira or being tolerant. The researchers found these values from the Javanese adolescents toward cyberbullying behaviors.