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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Media Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1446000

The enduring echoes of juvenile bullying: The role of self-esteem and loneliness in the relationship between bullying and social media addiction across generations X, Y, Z

Provisionally accepted
Sabina Lissitsa Sabina Lissitsa *Maya Kagan Maya Kagan
  • Ariel University, Ariel, Israel

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective. Being bullied is a profoundly distressing experience for children and adolescents, with the potential for adverse mental and behavioral outcomes throughout their adult years.This study aims to explore the association between juvenile bullying, self-esteem, loneliness, and social media addiction among men across three generational cohorts: X, Y, and Z. Method. The study utilized an online survey, administering structured questionnaires to 797 men aged 18-58 divided into three generational cohorts: 142 individuals from Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980), 275 from Gen Y (born between 1981 and 1996), and 380 from Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2005).Results. The findings demonstrate that across all three generations, there was a positive correlation between experiencing bullying in one's youth and social media addiction in adulthood. Among Gen X, self-esteem didn't act as a mediator in this relationship, nor did loneliness moderate the links between bullying and social media addiction, or between selfesteem and social media addiction. However, for Gen Y and Z, self-esteem was found to mediate the relationship between bullying and social media addiction. Loneliness moderated the association between self-esteem and social media addiction in Gen Y and the association between bullying and social media addiction in Gen Z.Conclusion. The differences observed among generational cohorts can be attributed to changes in masculinity norms, the evolution of bullying types, and the rapid development of social media platforms, catering to the distinct needs and gratifications of each generation.

    Keywords: Social media addiction, juvenile bullying, self-esteem, Loneliness, Masculinity

    Received: 08 Jun 2024; Accepted: 23 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Lissitsa and Kagan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sabina Lissitsa, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.