Not so funny after all! Humor, parents, peers, and their link with cyberbullying experiences

Cyberbullying represents repeated and intentional aggression through digital devices and implies multiple roles: cyberbullying perpetrators, cyber-victims, active witnesses (cyber-defending), and cyber-passive bystanders. The present study aimed to assess the predictive function of personal (e.g., humor style) and social factors (e.g., peer norms, parental education about Internet use) concerning the four roles in cyberbullying phenomenon: cyberbullying perpetration, cyber-victimization, cyber-defending, and cyber-passive bystander behavior. A sample of 601 adolescents (289 boys, Mage = 12.18 years, SD = 1.21) was included in the study. The participants completed scales measuring their cyberbullying experiences, humor style, peer norms, and parental education regarding their online activity. The results showed that aggressive humor positively predicted cyberbullying perpetration and negatively predicted cyber-defending. Furthermore, self-defeating humor positively predicted all four roles involved in cyberbullying. Affiliative humor positively predicted cyber-defending, while self-enhancing humor negatively predicted cyber-victimization. Finally, peer norms predicted all four roles involved in cyberbullying, while parental education about Internet use did not prove to be a significant predictor in our analyses. The practical implications of these findings for prevention and interventions are discussed.