The relationship between filial piety belief and cyberbullying perpetration among Chinese university students: A conditional process analysis

Based on the dual filial piety model and the integrated model of emotion processes and cognition in social information processing, this study examined the relationship between filial piety belief and cyberbullying perpetration and the role of anxiety and implicit emotion belief underlying this relationship. A total of 837 college students were tested with filial piety belief scale, GHQ-20 scale, implicit beliefs about emotion scale and cyberbullying perpetration scale. The correlation results showed that reciprocal filial piety was negatively correlated with anxiety and cyberbullying perpetration. Authoritative filial piety was positively correlated with anxiety and anxiety was positively correlated with cyberbullying perpetration. After controlling for socioeconomic status, age and gender, reciprocal filial piety negatively predicted cyberbullying perpetration and authoritative filial piety positively predicted cyberbullying perpetration. The mediation analysis indicated that anxiety played a mediating role on the relationship between filial piety belief and cyberbullying perpetration. Moreover, the mediating model was moderated by implicit emotion belief. Compared with entity theorists, incremental theorists who have anxiety issues are less likely to develop cyberbullying perpetration. The results suggest that educational and psychological practitioners can intervene in aggressive behaviors through regulating students' negative emotions and promoting incremental belief of emotions.