ArticleFrontiers in psychology2025
The impact of online upward social comparisons on cyberbullying in the post-epidemic era: a moderated mediating model.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- The association between relative deprivation and cyber-ostracism: the mediating role of social emotions and the moderating role of self-esteem.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The impact of sporting event rituals on the wellbeing of Chinese university students.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: Against the backdrop of the post-pandemic era, this study systematically examines the antecedents and underlying mechanisms of cyberbullying among college students. Building upon the social comparison theory, we particularly investigate how upward social comparison (USC) contributes to cyberbullying through the dual mediating pathways of cognitive and emotional relative deprivation (RD). Importantly, we further explore the moderating role of belief in a just world (BJW) in this psychological process. Methods: To test our theoretical framework, we collected survey data from 526 undergraduates and employed structural equation modeling with Bootstrap resampling. Results: The analysis yielded two major findings: First, upward social comparison (USC) was significantly positively associated with cyberbullying, mediated by cognitive and emotional relative deprivation. Second, belief in a just world (BJW) negatively moderated the relationship between relative deprivation (RD) and cyberbullying. Specifically, both general and personal BJW weakened the positive link between cognitive relative deprivation (CRD) and cyberbullying. Similarly, emotional relative deprivation (ERD) effects were moderated by general and personal BJW. Discussion: The findings not only expand the applicability of the social comparison theory and BJW but also provide empirical evidence for college mental health education.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.