- Title
- Perceived impact of cyberbullying on young adults’ psychological well-being
- Creator
- Whitehorn, Hayley
- Subject
- Cyberbullying -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects
- Subject
- Youth -- Crimes against -- Psychological aspects
- Date Issued
- 2021-04
- Date
- 2021-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/52374
- Identifier
- vital:43620
- Description
- Cyberbullying is a significant field of study within cyberpsychology and requires continued research and development in order to further literature and understanding in a South African context. An increase in cyberbullying results in an increased prevalence of the occurrence of psychological distress in the form of short-term consequences as well as long-term chronic impacts such as depression, anxiety, and decreased life satisfaction. This qualitative study aimed to explore and describe the experiences of young adults who have experienced cyberbullying and the perceived impact of this experience on their psychological well-being. Qualitative research is a flexible exploratory and descriptive approach to understanding the lived experiences of an individual and their subjective view of a specific phenomenon through an interpretivist paradigm. This study utilised purposive and snowball sampling of Nelson Mandela University students aged 18 – 25 years old to gain a total of 6 participants for data gathering through semi-structured interviews. This research process followed a retrospective perspective which focuses on the specific meaning-making and understandings which that individual places on that experience, in relation to their psychological well-being. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data and trustworthiness criteria and was utilised throughout to ensure the credibility of the study. It was found that cyberbullying, through multiple forms and methods, has various short-term and long-term perceived impacts in several spheres. The perceived psychological impacts occurred in the short-term and were internalised to extend to long-term impacts on psychological well-being, of which the majority were negative. There are influencing factors to the development, coping and management of perceived long-term impacts which reflect the outcomes on well-being. The findings of this study highlight the perceived impact of cyberbullying on young adults’ psychological well-being which is vital for future recommendations and intervention.
- Description
- Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Health Sciences, 2021
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- Format
- 1 online resource (iv, 120 pages)
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- rights holder
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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Collections
NMU School of Behavioural Sciences
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Whitehorn, H.pdf | 1 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |