Although young people are aware of the risks of cyberbullying, they perceive others as being more at risk than themselves. Young women are more vulnerable to this perception than young men.  

Researchers measured how vulnerable young people felt to cyberbullying and how vulnerable they felt compared to other people, was completed by 109 sixth form students (63 females and 46 males aged between 16 and 18 years old).

They found that sixth form students rated themselves as being at a lower risk of cyberbullying than other groups such as friends, students their age, younger students, and strangers. Among these other groups, younger students were identified as those at most risk of becoming a victim of cyberbullying. Girls also had a higher perception of the risks of experiencing cyberbullying than boys.

"Our findings suggest that whilst young people are aware of the potential risks associated with cyberbullying they believe that they are less likely to experience cyberbullying than their peers. This unrealistic perception of invulnerability appears to lead many to think it is something that happens to other people," researcher Dr. Lucy Betts said in a statement.

She added that  given the reported high prevalence rates of cyberbullying in some studies (ranging from 7 to 70 percent) "it may be necessary to implement more measures so that whilst continuing to raise young people's awareness of the risks we also ensure they fully understand that this could actually happen to them."

The findings will be presented as part of the poster presentation session at the British Psychological Society's Annual Conference next week (Thursday 7 May 2015) hosted in Liverpool.