Cyberbullying, Body Shaming, and Self-Esteem: A study of Gen Z in Resource Constrained Educational Settings

Abstract

With the continued rise of social media, cyberbullying and body shaming have become the main issues affecting Generation Z children in the most disadvantaged areas of education, where there is a lack of support for mental health. Bleak self-esteem is the main focus of this study, there searchers wanted to find out how the self-esteem of youngsters could be affected through these sources of online harassment, and to what extent social comparison and self-discrepancy mediate the process, as well as how gender, peer validation, and social media engagement might influence it. Descriptive statistics and exploratory procedures using SPSS were used to analyze data gathered from 129 students. The study finds that distressing online events, especially those targeting one's appearance, significantly impair an individual's adolescent confidence and sense of worth. Social comparison and self-discrepancy intensify the negative impact of these factors because they determine how one evaluates oneself in an unrealistic way. Peer validation was found to be a powerful moderating factor that provided a temporary boost to self-esteem, while excessive social media use made one more susceptible to negative online interactions. Gender had a weaker but still noticeable moderating effect. The psychological effects of body shaming and cyberbullying on the target are complex and highly dependent on the circumstances, as evidenced by the present research. The findings call for various measures such as targeting the interventions to the need, improving the digital literacy, and ensuring easy access to mental health support in the schools so that the young people facing the online world can be better protected.