The latent profile of self-control among high school students and its relationship with gender and cyberbullying

• Published in: Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) N.J.), 2023-11, Vol.42 (33), p.29650-29660
• Main Authors: Wu, Wenzhi, Yu, Lei, Cao, Xiang, Guo, Zeyi, Long, Qing, Zhao, Xinling, You, Xu, Teng, Zhaowei, Zhang, Yunqiao, Zeng, Yong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Cyberbullying; Demographic aspects; High school students; Influence; Physiological aspects; Psychological aspects; Psychology; Secondary school students; Secondary schools; Self control; Sex (Biology); Social Sciences; Victimization
• ISSN: 1046-1310; 1936-4733
• DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03995-y

Mechanisms by which self-control influences cyberbullying were unclear, it is worth to explore the latent profile of self-control among high school students and analyze the antecedents of latent self-control profiles and their impact and moderating effect on cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. 1,401 high school students ( M age  ±  SD  = 15.5 ± 0.57, 60.2% were girls) were surveyed using the Dual-Mode of Self-Control Scale and Cyberbullying Questionnaire. The latent profile analysis was used to explore the latent profiles of self-control of high school students, and the multinomial logistic regression analysis of the R3STEP method was used to explore the different effects of demographic variables on the latent profiles of high school students’ self-control. The BCH method was used to analyze the effect of latent profiles of self-control of high school students on the cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. (1) There are four latent profiles of self-control among high school students, namely “low-control type”(3.49%), “high-impulse type” (18.49%), “high-control type” (13.78%) and “balance type” (64.24%); (2) Female high school students are more likely to be low-control than male high school students; (3) Different profiles of self-control have a moderating effect on the impact of cyberbullying victimization on perpetration, and compared with balance type individuals, high-impulse type individuals are more likely to implement cyberbullying with the increase in the level of cyberbullying victimization. Compared to boys, girls tend to fall more into the self-control profile type which has a lower impulse system and control system, and high-impulse individuals are more likely to choose to cyberbully others after being subjected to cyberbullying. The results provide a basis for cyberbullying interventions.