Social and emotional competencies as longitudinal predictors of cyberhate in compulsory secondary school students

Abstract

Cyberhate is a deliberate expression of hate towards a minority group and its members through the Internet. This expression consists of prejudiced and harmful messages focused on common characteristics of collective identities. Cyberhate is present and prevalent worldwide, and its consequences are detrimental. Different studies have analyzed the protective and risk factors of cyberhate. However, some potential predictive factors still need to be explored, such as social and emotional competencies. The current study aimed to analyze the relation between social and emotional competencies and cyberhate cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The participants were a representative sample of adolescents from Andalusia (Spain). They were followed up during one school year. At Time 1, 1,498 students (Mage = 13.6 years, SD = 1.3; 51.3% female) completed the survey and 1,195 were followed up at Time 2 (Mage = 14.0 years, SD = 1.3; 53.0% female). Cyberhate perpetration was cross-sectionally and longitudinally predicted by being male and low responsible decision-making. Cyberhate victimization was cross-sectionally and longitudinally predicted by being female, older age, and low self-management and motivation. The findings provide evidence to help design and implement effective interventions against cyberhate at schools, where promoting social and emotional competencies could decrease it.