Effects of Relative Deprivation on Cyber Collective and Aggressive Behaviors: A Moderated Dual-pathway Models

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2018, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (6) : 1436-1442.

PDF(572 KB)
PDF(572 KB)
Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2018, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (6) : 1436-1442.

Effects of Relative Deprivation on Cyber Collective and Aggressive Behaviors: A Moderated Dual-pathway Models

Author information +
History +

Abstract

With the cyber group events and cyber violence incidents occurring frequently, researchers have been gradually paying more and more attention on cyber collective and aggressive behaviors. At present, there are only a few theoretical and related researches which are mainly based on the collective behavior theories such as value added theory to analyze and explain the cyber collective and aggressive behaviors. The formation of cyber collective and aggressive behaviors is a complex process, influenced by many variables which are not independent but interacted and mutual influenced the production. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the relationships between group relative deprivation and cyber collective and aggressive behaviors. In addition, the current study investigated whether the associations were mediated by group-based anger and group efficacy and whether group identity moderated the relationship between group relative deprivation and cyber collective and aggressive behaviors mediated by group-based anger and group efficacy. In order to reach the aim, the questionnaire survey was carried out by using the adaptation of "Mercedes Man striking event" as the background. And 598 undergraduates from different grades and majors took part in the research in the unit of the class. Both surveys included demographics in the first part, followed by a questionnaire on group relative deprivation, cyber collective and aggressive behaviors, group-based anger, and group efficacy and group identity. Most of the questions were based on former researches and were modified for the specific situation. Data was collected and analyzed using SPSS 21.0. The results were as follows: (1) there were significant correlations between group relative deprivation, group-based anger, group efficacy, and group identity and cyber collective and aggressive behaviors. (2) Mediation analyses indicated that both group-based anger and group efficacy mediated the relationships between group relative deprivation and cyber collective and aggressive behaviors. (3) Moderation analyses showed that group identity moderated the mediation effect of group-based anger and group efficacy. In terms of group anger as an intermediary, the indirect effect was stronger for individuals with high group identity than for those with low group identity. Similarly, for individuals with high group identity, the mediating effect of group efficacy was not significant, and group relative deprivation only had a direct effect on cyber collective and aggressive behaviors. (4) There were two moderated mediation models including group relative deprivation, cyber collective and aggressive behaviors, group-based anger, and group efficacy and group identity. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that all fit indexes conformed to statistical requirements. In summary, the current study goes beyond previously applied designs by examining the mediating mechanism caused by group-based anger and group efficacy, and represents an important step in the investigation of how group relative deprivation relates to cyber collective and aggressive behaviors by moderation of group identity. Furthermore, these mediating mechanisms were moderated by group identity. Findings from this study highlighted the importance of studying cyber collective and aggressive behaviors simultaneously and broaden our understanding of the factors and processes that provided a new research idea on how to explore and reduce cyber collective and aggressive behaviors.

Key words

group relative deprivation / cyber collective and aggressive behavior / group-based anger / group efficacy / group identity

Cite this article

Download Citations
Effects of Relative Deprivation on Cyber Collective and Aggressive Behaviors: A Moderated Dual-pathway Models[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2018, 41(6): 1436-1442
PDF(572 KB)

Accesses

Citation

Detail

Sections
Recommended

/