Individualism-Collectivism Orientations and Coping Styles of Cyberbullying Victims in Chinese Culture

The negative impact of cyberbullying on the psychological wellbeing of victims has been well documented, but not all victims suffer these negative consequences. The victims’ coping strategies are important psychological factors that may buffer the negative effects of victimization. We used the Collectivist Coping Style Inventory to inquire into how Chinese victims of cyberbullying attempt to deal with their experience. We explored how the use of the different coping strategies is related to the individualist and collectivist cultural orientations. The results show that the use of (a) acceptance, reframing, and striving, and (b) avoidance and detachment was associated with the individualist orientation, while the use of (c) family support, (d) religion-spirituality, and (e) private emotional outlets was associated with the collectivist orientation. The findings underscore the need to pay attention to the cultural dimension of coping processes for dealing with the global phenomenon of cyberbullying victimization.