Network Anonymity and Cyberbullying among Chinese Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model

Cyberbullying is an important issue which prevails among children and adolescents. The present study aimed to investigate the association between network anonymity and cyberbullying behavior and examine the mediating role of network morality and the moderating role of self-control in the linkage of network anonymity and cyberbullying behavior. A total of 620 participants were recruited from three high schools in southeast China and were required to complete a questionnaire measuring network anonymity, cyberbullying behavior, network morality, and self-control. A moderated mediation model was conducted by using PROCESS Macro for SPSS 3.5. The results showed that network anonymity was negatively associated with cyberbullying behavior among Chinese adolescents. Network morality mediated the association and self-control moderated the indirect association between network anonymity and cyberbullying behavior via network morality. These findings indicate that improving the network morality and self-control of adolescents with the joint efforts of individuals, families, government, and society as a whole may be an effective intervention strategy for cyberbullying behavior under the framework of digital citizens.