Abstract Past research provided consistent evidence regarding the influence of the community context on the individuals' behavior. However, much less is known about the translation of this effect into cyberspace. Hence, our study investigated three main community-level factors (i.e., ‘community rules’, ‘community reactions’, and ‘informational framing’) that have been scarcely researched to date and which may impact the behavior of those witnessing a cyberbullying incident without participating directly to it (cyberstanders). Additionally, we included gender in our study because it was indicated by previous studies as a relevant moderator across the entire spectrum of the cyberbullying research. Our main research question focused on investigating whether and to what extent these four major factors and their potential interactions have a relevant influence on cyberstanders' reactions. The participants (N = 1841) were randomly assigned online to eight between-groups experimental conditions, in a 2 × 2 x 2 × 2 factorial design. The measurement instrument was a self-reported online questionnaire measuring the reaction to witnessing cyberbullying behavior. Our analysis found significant effects of community rules, framing, and gender on the reaction of cyberbullying, but there was no significant effect of community rules. While specific combinations of community-related factors had a statistically significant effect on cyberstanders' response, their effect sizes were small. We concluded that the impact of online community environmental features on individuals' responses to cyberbullying is limited and can vary as a function of gender. Our results indicated that social conformity might be lower online than suggested by the research in offline contexts. Furthermore, the impact of gender on certain behavioral outcomes transcends the offline environment and manifests also within the virtual environment. Future research should continue and refine the study of environmental factors on cyberstander reaction. Online communities might use framing and awareness-raising processes to increasing active resistance to cyberbullying.

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社区相关影响下的网络安全者反应研究：当性别使问题复杂化时

摘要 过去的研究为社区环境对个人行为的影响提供了一致的证据。然而，关于将这种效应转化为网络空间的情况知之甚少。因此，我们的研究调查了迄今为止鲜有研究的三个主要社区层面因素（即“社区规则”、“社区反应”和“信息框架”），这些因素可能会影响目击网络欺凌事件的人的行为。直接参与其中（网络观察者）。此外，我们将性别纳入我们的研究，因为之前的研究表明性别是整个网络欺凌研究范围内的相关调节因素。我们的主要研究问题集中在调查这四个主要因素及其潜在相互作用是否以及在多大程度上对网络安全者的反应产生相关影响。参与者（N = 1841）在网上随机分配到八个组间实验条件，采用 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 因子设计。测量工具是一个自我报告的在线问卷，测量对目击网络欺凌行为的反应。我们的分析发现社区规则、框架和性别对网络欺凌的反应有显着影响，但社区规则没有显着影响。虽然社区相关因素的特定组合对网络安全者的反应有统计上的显着影响，但它们的影响规模很小。我们得出的结论是，在线社区环境特征对个人对网络欺凌的反应的影响是有限的，并且可能因性别而异。我们的结果表明，在线下的社会整合可能比离线环境中的研究建议的要低。此外，性别对某些行为结果的影响超越了离线环境，也体现在虚拟环境中。未来的研究应该继续和完善对网络安全者反应的环境因素的研究。在线社区可能会使用框架和提高认识的过程来增加对网络欺凌的积极抵抗。我们的结果表明，在线下的社会整合可能比离线环境中的研究建议的要低。此外，性别对某些行为结果的影响超越了离线环境，也体现在虚拟环境中。未来的研究应该继续并完善对网络安全者反应的环境因素的研究。在线社区可能会使用框架和提高认识的过程来增加对网络欺凌的积极抵抗。我们的结果表明，在线下的社会整合可能比离线环境中的研究建议的要低。此外，性别对某些行为结果的影响超越了离线环境，也体现在虚拟环境中。未来的研究应该继续并完善对网络安全者反应的环境因素的研究。在线社区可能会使用框架和提高认识的过程来增加对网络欺凌的积极抵抗。