A Psychological Typology of Cyberbullies in Schools

The rapid rise in recent years of cyberbullying in schools has largely taken the education community by surprise, and only now are we developing an understanding of how widespread cyberbullying in schools has become, the different forms that it can take, what motivates pupils to engage in cyberbullying, and what strategies schools can employ to prevent cyberbullying. This paper takes stock of research findings dealing with cyberbullying by pupils in order to create a psychological typology of pupil cyberbullies. Five common types are identified and described: the sociable cyberbully, the lonely cyberbully, the narcissistic cyberbully, the sadistic cyberbully, and the morally-driven cyberbully. A better understanding of these cyberbullying types will help ensure that the strategies used to prevent cyberbullying by pupils take account of the psychological attributes (both personal and social) that underpin such behaviour.