Teachers’ perceptions of cyberbullying: a comparative multilevel modeling approach
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Teachers’ perceptions of bullying and cyberbullying in schools are an increasingly important field in educational research. Teachers play a very important role in reducing bullying, and many psychological theories (such as Social Cognitive Theory and Expectancy Theory) would suggest that teachers’ perceptions of bullying may influence their likelihood of responding. The aim of the research was to explore how teachers’ perceptions affected their likelihood of responding to varied cyberbullying scenarios (e.g., whether at home or school). Using multilevel modeling, this study investigated the relationships between teachers’ likelihood of response and key psychological factors and background characteristics, drawing on a convenience sample of 212 new and experienced teachers from England and the United States. Some of these factors include valence (severity of cyberbullying), expectancy (level of teacher self-confidence), and instrumentality (confidence in selected task). Findings show that valence, expectancy, and location of the cyberbullying were statistically significant predictors of teachers’ likelihood of response to situations of cyberbullying. This study has potential implications for the design of teacher training programs that could help address cyberbullying in schools.