Virtual Warfare: Cyberbullying and Cyber-Victimization in MMOG Play

The popularity of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) has elicited concern that this is a context for cyberbullying. We used an online survey to examine the prevalence and types of cyberbullying in MMOG play and group differences in bullying behavior. Since most MMOGs are violent and research indicates that electronic mediums have high rates of bullying, we predicted that cyberbullying would be common in MMOG play. The participants (N 1⁄4 151)—a sample of self-selected MMOG players— frequently reported being cyber-victimized (52%) and engaging in cyberbullying (35%) during MMOG play. Rank was the most common motive for cyberbullying. We found that (a) males perpetrate more cyberbullying in MMOGs than females do; (b) heterosexuals perpetrate bullying at higher rates than lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) participants do; (c) female and LGBT participants experienced significantly higher rates of sexually related cyber-victimization; and (d) opponents are bullied more than teammates. Rates of victimization and perpetration overlapped substantially.