School Climate and Cyberbullying Perpetration

Objective: Cyberbullying perpetration has emerged as a serious interpersonal issue in contemporary society. Given the inconsistent findings in prior research on the association between school climate and cyberbullying perpetration, this study aims to clarify this relationship through a meta-analytic approach and to explore the moderating effects of gender and culture. Method: A comprehensive literature review produced a sample of 62 effect sizes (N = 86,433) that include quantitative measurements of both school climate and cyberbullying perpetration. Results: A random-effects model indicated a moderate, yet significant negative relation between school climate and cyberbullying perpetration (r = −0.18, p < .001), consistent with prior studies and suggesting that improving school climate may contribute to reducing cyberbullying perpetration. Moderating analyses revealed that this association was stronger for students from individualistic cultures (r = −0.21, 95% CI [−0.27, −0.16]) than for those from collectivist cultures (r = −0.12, 95% CI [−0.19, −0.05]), possibly reflecting cultural differences in attitudes toward authority and peer relationships. However, this relation was not moderated by gender, F(1, 60) = 1.44, p = .236, likely due to the universal accessibility of cyberbullying perpetration and the broad impact of school climate on all students. Conclusions: The findings suggest that fostering a positive school climate could serve as an effective strategy for reducing cyberbullying perpetration. Future research should explore the distinct effects of various school climate dimensions, employ longitudinal and experimental designs to establish causality, and consider studies in other languages to broaden the cultural scope of the findings.