Youth Exposure to Hate in the Online Space: An Exploratory Analysis
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Identify youth demographic characteristics, behaviors, and psychological processes associated with exposure to hate messages online.
- Identify youth demographic characteristics, behaviors, and psychological processes associated with encountering someone trying to convince the respondent of racist views.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Participants
2.2. Independent Variables
2.3. Dependent Variables
2.4. Statistical Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Sample Characteristics and Descriptive Statistics
3.2. Factor Analyses and Descriptive Statistics of Risk Perception and Online Disinhibition
3.2.1. Risk Perception Scale
3.2.2. Benign Disinhibition Scale
3.3. Simple Models
3.3.1. Exposure to Hate Messages Online
3.3.2. Encountering Someone Trying to Convince the Respondent of Racist Views
3.4. Multiple Models
3.4.1. Exposure to Hate Messages Online
3.4.2. Encountering Someone Trying to Convince the Respondent of Racist Views
4. Discussion and Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Friends Communicated with Strangers (Q12) | N (%) | Shared Personal Information Online (Q11) | N (%) |
I am not sure | 78 (24%) | I do not have a social media account | 7 (2%) |
Never | 24 (8%) | Never | 161 (50%) |
Sometimes | 143 (45%) | Sometimes | 114 (36%) |
Often | 75 (23%) | Often | 38 (12%) |
Social media followers met in person (Q8) | N (%) | Chatted with strangers while gaming (Q14) | N (%) |
I am not sure how many | 35 (11%) | I do not play video games | 71 (22%) |
Some of them | 67 (21%) | Never | 120 (38%) |
Most of them | 188 (60%) | Sometimes | 76 (24%) |
All of them | 22 (7%) | Often | 53 (17%) |
Time spent online (Q6) | N (%) | Trusted adult (Q18) | N (%) |
Less than 1 h | 7 (2%) | No | 34 (11%) |
More than 1 but less than 3 h | 74 (23%) | Yes | 203 (63%) |
3 to 6 h | 155 (49%) | Not sure | 56 (18%) |
More than 6 h | 83 (26%) | It depends on the situation | 27 (8%) |
Communicated with strangers on social media (Q10) | N (%) | Parental rules for online activity (Q16) | N (%) |
I do not have a social media account | 6 (2%) | Do not have rules | 130 (41%) |
Never | 111 (35%) | Have a few rules but do not check to see if they are followed | 111 (35%) |
Sometimes | 156 (49%) | Have a few rules and check | 67 (21%) |
Often | 46 (14%) | Have many rules and check | 11 (3%) |
Parents ask about online activities (Q15) | N (%) | Play video games online (Q13) | N (%) |
Parents do not ask | 71 (22%) | Never | 141 (44%) |
Parents occasionally ask | 181 (57%) | Sometimes | 95 (30%) |
Parents frequently ask | 49 (15%) | Often | 84 (26%) |
I think my parents check on my devices | 12 (4%) | Removed strangers from social media followers (Q9) | N (%) |
I am never online | 6 (2%) | No | 105 (33%) |
Yes | 215 (67%) |
Exposed to Hate Messages Online (Q22—Social Media or Website) | N (%) | Encountered Someone Trying to Convince the Respondent of Racist Views (Q17) | N (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Yes | 182 (57%) | Yes | 38 (12%) |
No | 138 (43%) | No | 282 (88%) |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Hate messages | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
2. Racist Views | 0.16 ** | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
3. Skype | 0.04 | 0.09 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
4. Flickr | 0.00 | −0.03 | −0.01 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
5. Kik | −0.02 | −0.09 | 0.04 | 0.01 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
6. Twitter | 0.12 * | 0.03 | 0.07 | 0.11 | −0.06 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
7. Facebook | 0.03 | −0.05 | −0.05 | 0.04 | 0.11 | 0.12 * | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
8. Houseparty | 0.12 * | −0.01 | −0.07 | −0.01 | 0.05 | 0.03 | −0.04 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
9. YouTube | −0.02 | 0.12 * | 0.16 ** | −0.04 | −0.04 | 0.09 | −0.06 | 0.00 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
10. WhatsApp | −0.08 | −0.03 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.10 | 0.04 | 0.14 * | −0.02 | 0.03 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − |
11. Instagram | 0.04 | 0.03 | 0.06 | −0.07 | −0.02 | 0.02 | 0.04 | 0.07 | 0.18 ** | 0.03 | − | − | − | − | − | − |
12. Pinterest | 0.00 | −0.03 | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.16 ** | −0.05 | −0.07 | 0.17 ** | 0.15 * | − | − | − | − | − |
13. Snapchat | 0.07 | 0.04 | −0.05 | −0.03 | −0.01 | 0.05 | 0.13 * | 0.18 ** | 0.11 | −0.13 | 0.55 ** | 0.13 * | − | − | − | − |
14. TikTok | 0.04 | −0.05 | 0.03 | 0.01 | −0.01 | 0.13 * | 0.03 | 0.04 | −0.04 | −0.01 | 0.10 | 0.08 | 0.06 | − | − | − |
15. Google+ | 0.00 | −0.02 | 0.04 | 0.08 | 0.05 | −0.12 * | 0.04 | 0.07 | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0.13 * | 0.15 ** | 0.10 | −0.05 | − | − |
16. VSCO | −0.05 | 0.04 | −0.05 | 0.13 * | 0.01 | 0.11 * | 0.17 ** | 0.00 | −0.11 | 0.05 | 0.33 ** | 0.28 ** | 0.32 ** | 0.04 | 0.03 | − |
Risk Perception Scale (Q19) | Benign Online Disinhibition Scale (Q7a, b, d, e, g, h, k) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Mean | 29.35 | Mean | 18.44 |
Standard Deviation | 4.99 | Standard Deviation | 4.72 |
Median | 31 | Median | 18 |
Range | 7–35 | Range | 7–28 |
Independent Variables | Exposed to Hate Messages Online | Encountered Someone Trying to Convince the Respondent of Racist Views |
---|---|---|
Dichotomous and Continuous Predictors | OR (95% CI) | |
School year (10th grade and above vs. 9th grade) | 0.8 (0.5–1.3) | 0.5 (0.2–0.9) * |
Race (White vs. Non-white) | 1 (0.6–1.7) | 1.5 (0.8–3.1) |
Gender (Female vs. Male) | 1.5 (0.9–2.3) | 0.7 (0.3–1.3) |
Time spent online (≥3 h vs. <3 h) | 2.3 (1.4–3.8) ** | 1.6 (0.7–3.8) |
Removed a stranger from your social media followers (Yes vs. No) | 1.9 (1.2–3) * | 2 (0.9–4.5) |
Communicated with strangers on social media (Sometimes/Often vs. Never/No social media account) | 2.1 (1.3–3.3) ** | 2 (0.9–4.4) |
Shared personal information online (Sometimes/Often vs. Never/No social media account) | 1.3 (0.8–2) | 1.4 (0.7–2.8) |
Played online video games (Sometimes/Often vs. Never) | 1.2 (0.8–1.8) | 2.1 (1–4.4) * |
Parents have rules for what you do online (Any level of rule vs. Do not have rules) | 1.6 (1–2.5) * | 0.5 (0.3–1) |
Parents ask what you do online (Any frequency of asking vs. Do not ask) | 1.5 (0.9–2.6) | 1.7 (0.7–4.1) |
Benign Online Disinhibition | 1.09 (1.04–1.14) ** | 1.19 (1.09–1.29) ** |
Risk perception (≤25th Percentile vs. >25th Percentile) | 1 (0.6–1.7) | 1.1 (0.5–2.3) |
Academic performance (≥C+ vs. ≤C) | 2.3 (1.1–4.6) * | 1.1 (0.4–3.3) |
Followers met in person (Not sure/Some of them vs. Most of them/All of them) | 1.3 (0.8–2) | 1.2 (0.6–2.6) |
Categorical Predictors with 3+ Categories | Chi-Squared (df); p-value | |
Friends communicate with someone on social media they had not met in person | 6.92 (3); p-value = 0.075 | 5.69 (3); p-value = 0.128 |
Chatting with someone you have never met while gaming online | 0.14 (2); p-value = 0.933 | 6.39 (2); p-value = 0.041 |
Having a trusted adult to speak to in case you come across something unsafe online | 0.37 (3); p-value = 0.946 | 4.89 (3); p-value = 0.180 |
Social media use quartiles | 1.07 (3); p-value = 0.785 | 1.06 (3); p-value = 0.786 |
Independent Variables | Exposed to Hate Messages Online | Encountered Someone Trying to Convince the Respondent of Racist Views |
---|---|---|
Dichotomous and Continuous Predictors | OR (95% CI) | |
School year (10th grade and above vs. 9th grade) | 0.8 (0.5–1.5) | 0.6 (0.3–1.4) |
Race (White vs. Non-white) | 1.1 (0.6–1.8) | 1.9 (0.9–4) |
Gender (Female vs. Male) | 1.5 (0.9–2.5) | 1 (0.4–2.7) |
Time spent online (≥3 h vs. <3 h) | 2.4 (1.3–4.3) ** | NA |
Removed a stranger from your social media followers (Yes vs. No) | 1.6 (0.9–2.7) | NA |
Communicated with strangers on social media (Sometimes/Often vs. Never/No social media account) | 1.7 (1–2.9) * | NA |
Played online video games (Sometimes/Often vs. Never) | NA | 1.2 (0.4–3.8) |
Parents have rules for what you do online (Any level of rule vs. Do not have rules) | 1.4 (0.8–2.3) | NA |
Benign Online Disinhibition | 1.06 (1–1.12) * | 1.19 (1.09–1.31) ** |
Academic performance (≥C+ vs. ≤C) | 3.4 (1.5–7.7) ** | NA |
Categorical Predictors with 3+ Categories | Chi–Squared (df); p-value | |
Chatting with someone you have never met while gaming online | NA | 0.52 (2); p-value = 0.77 |
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Harriman, N.; Shortland, N.; Su, M.; Cote, T.; Testa, M.A.; Savoia, E. Youth Exposure to Hate in the Online Space: An Exploratory Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 8531. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228531
Harriman N, Shortland N, Su M, Cote T, Testa MA, Savoia E. Youth Exposure to Hate in the Online Space: An Exploratory Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(22):8531. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228531
Chicago/Turabian StyleHarriman, Nigel, Neil Shortland, Max Su, Tyler Cote, Marcia A. Testa, and Elena Savoia. 2020. "Youth Exposure to Hate in the Online Space: An Exploratory Analysis" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 22: 8531. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228531