Measuring Online Ethical Values and Behaviors: Relationships with Cyberhate, Empathy, and Sociodemographic Variables

Digital citizenship, a multidimensional concept that encompasses digital literacy, online ethics, and civic engagement, promotes young people's responsible, respectful, and safe participation in digital society. Precisely defining the values and behaviors that shape its ethical dimension is thus essential for understanding youth digital engagement. In this study, we aimed to develop and validate a self-report measure to assess online ethical values and behaviors and to examine their interrelations. A sample of 529 Spanish youth (61.4 percent women, aged 13-23 years) completed a self-report measure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a five-factor structure (57.1 percent variance explained): Online Respect, Online Responsibility, Tolerance for Diversity, Prosocial Cyberbystander, and Online Self-Development. We also aimed to analyze the relationships between these online values and the associated variables. We found significant correlations with higher empathy, lower cyberhate perpetration, and increased online ethical behaviors, including prosocial bystander interventions in cases of cyberhate. Women, non-heterosexual youth, and older participants (18-23 years) reported higher ethical values, with no significant group differences in self-reported online ethical behaviors. These findings provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between online ethical values in youth and their actual practices, highlighting the importance of incorporating socio-emotional and sociodemographic factors into prevention strategies aimed at preventing unethical online behaviors. The newly developed scale offers a practical tool for assessing and enhancing digital citizenship interventions, addressing the growing need for responsible and respectful online engagement.