Perceived Criminality of Cyber-Harassing Behaviors among Undergraduate Students in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Whilst cyber-harassment is a criminal act within the United Kingdom, there is little research examining whether cyber-harassing behaviors are perceived as criminal. This paper assesses whether the ‘Big Five’ personality characteristics and Internet self-efficacy influence perceived criminality of cyber-harassing behaviors. The sample comprised 320 undergraduate students who completed an online survey measuring perceived criminality of 18 cyber-harassing behaviors. Principal axis factoring revealed three dimensions: malicious behavior, harassing messages, and malicious software. High Internet self-efficacious individuals (i.e., those who feel more in control of online interactions) were more likely than low Internet self-efficacious individuals to perceive malicious software as criminal. Low-agreeable individuals were more likely than high-agreeable individuals to perceive harassing messages as criminal. Whilst personality and Internet self-efficacy influenced perceived criminality for some cyber-harassing behaviors, the findings were not consistent. The paper discusses the findings and implications for future research.