Gratitude and Emotional Intelligence as Protective Factors against Cyber-Aggression: Analysis of a Mediation Model

María Teresa Chamizo-Nieto, Lourdes Rey and John Pellitteri
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María Teresa Chamizo-Nieto: Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Málaga, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Lourdes Rey: Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment, Faculty of Psychology, University of Málaga, Campus de Teatinos s/n, 29071 Málaga, Spain
John Pellitteri: Department of Educational & Community Programs, Queens College, City University of New York, New York, NY 11367, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-10

Abstract: Cyber-bullying is becoming an increasing school and health problem affecting adolescents worldwide. A number of studies have examined risk factors and protective factors in cyber-bullying situations and their consequences on the psychological well-being of adolescents. Gratitude and Emotional Intelligence (EI) are two personal resources that have been shown to have beneficial effects on the health and the social, personal and psychological functioning of young people. Nevertheless, little is known about these two variables in the context of cyber-bullying. The main purpose of this study was to examine the roles of gratitude and EI in cyber-aggression. Specifically, we hypothesised a mediational effect of gratitude in emotional intelligence-cyber-aggression link. A total of 1157 students aged 12–18 years (54.4% females) completed several questionnaires assessing gratitude (Gratitude Questionnaire; GQ-5), EI (Wong and Law’s Emotional Intelligence Scale; WLEIS-S) and cyber-bullying (European Cyberbullying Intervention Project Questionnaire; ECIPQ). The results showed expected significant associations between the studied variables. Moreover, the structural equation model analysis confirmed that EI dimensions were indirectly associated with cyber-aggression via gratitude, even when controlling for the effects of socio-demographic variables. These findings provide evidence on why those adolescents high in emotional intelligence are less aggressive in cyber-bullying context and suggest possibilities for gratitude interventions to reduce aggressive actions by electronic means among adolescents. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Keywords: gratitude; emotional intelligence; cyberbullying; protective factors; adolescents (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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