ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1556046
This article is part of the Research TopicThe influence of Internet and technology on mental health and psychological adjustment of young adultsView all 8 articles
Online verbal aggression on interpersonal trust among college students: the chain mediating effect of core self-evaluation and emotional intelligence
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hunan Academy of Education Sciences, Changsha, 410082, Hunan, China, Changsha, China
- 2School of Educational Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
- 3Teacher Education College of Ningxia University, Yinchuan, 750021, Ningxia, China, Yinchuan, China
- 4School of Marxism, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, 410208, Hunan, China, Changsha, China
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Objective: To examine the effect of online verbal aggression on interpersonal trust and the chain-mediating role of core self-evaluation and emotional intelligence among college students.Method: A questionnaire survey was conducted among 869 college students with experiences of online verbal aggression using the Cyber Verbal Bullying Scale, Interpersonal Trust Scale, Core Self-Evaluation Scale, and Emotional Intelligence Scale.Results: (1) After controlling other latent variables, online verbal aggression had a significant direct negative effect on college students’ interpersonal trust. (2) Core self-evaluation and emotional intelligence played significant mediating roles in the relationship between online verbal aggression and interpersonal trust, and their combined chain mediation effect was also statistically significant.Conclusion: Victimization by online verbal aggression may lower core self-evaluation in college students, thereby impairing their emotional perception and regulation and ultimately reducing their interpersonal trust. Effective interventions should address self-evaluation, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal trust to mitigate the adverse effects of online verbal aggression on college students.
Keywords: Online verbal aggression, interpersonal trust, Core self-evaluation, Emotional Intelligence, Mediating effect
Received: 06 Jan 2025; Accepted: 16 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yao, Fan, Li and Liu. 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: Song Liu, School of Marxism, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, 410208, Hunan, China, Changsha, China
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