Language and context in cyberbullying research: bibliometric mapping and conceptual integration of lexical, pragmatic, and media-psychological perspectives (2010–2025)
- 1Center for Research in Language and Linguistics, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, The National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
- 2Center for Research in Psychology and Human Well-Being, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, The National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
- 3Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Abstract
Cyberbullying is a media-psychological phenomenon enacted through language, interpreted within relationships, and conditioned by platform affordances. Yet linguistic and pragmatic research remains fragmented across psychology, communication, media studies, pragmatics, and computational detection. This bibliometric review maps the development and intellectual structure of this research from 2010 to 2025 using 345 English-language records from the Web of Science Core Collection. Annual output increased from 1 publication in 2010 to 51 in 2025, and 218 records (63.2%) were published after 2020. The mapping identified prominent psychosocial and computational knowledge structures, while explicitly pragmatic constructs remained comparatively less consolidated in high-frequency keyword and burst patterns. To interpret these mapped patterns, the second half of the review is organized through four non-mutually exclusive analytical lenses: psychosocial victimization, lexical-semantic harm, pragmatics and discourse, and computational detection. Drawing on the bibliometric findings and theory-informed interpretation, we propose a conceptual language-to-harm framework linking platform affordances, linguistic cues, pragmatic interpretation, psychological appraisal, behavioral and social responses, and cumulative harm. The framework is presented as a theory-informed synthesis and future research model rather than as a causal structure empirically validated by the bibliometric data.
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BibTeX
@article{deng2026language,
title = {{Language and context in cyberbullying research: bibliometric mapping and conceptual integration of lexical, pragmatic, and media-psychological perspectives (2010–2025)}},
author = {Shuangquan Deng and Azianura Hani Shaari and Azahah Abu Hassan Sha’ari and Isma Noornisa Ismail},
journal = {Frontiers in Psychology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1963458},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1963458},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Language and context in cyberbullying research: bibliometric mapping and conceptual integration of lexical, pragmatic, and media-psychological perspectives (2010–2025)
AU - Shuangquan Deng
AU - Azianura Hani Shaari
AU - Azahah Abu Hassan Sha’ari
AU - Isma Noornisa Ismail
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1963458
UR - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1963458
AB - Cyberbullying is a media-psychological phenomenon enacted through language, interpreted within relationships, and conditioned by platform affordances. Yet linguistic and pragmatic research remains fragmented across psychology, communication, media studies, pragmatics, and computational detection. This bibliometric review maps the development and intellectual structure of this research from 2010 to 2025 using 345 English-language records from the Web of Science Core Collection. Annual output increased from 1 publication in 2010 to 51 in 2025, and 218 records (63.2%) were published after 2020. The mapping identified prominent psychosocial and computational knowledge structures, while explicitly pragmatic constructs remained comparatively less consolidated in high-frequency keyword and burst patterns. To interpret these mapped patterns, the second half of the review is organized through four non-mutually exclusive analytical lenses: psychosocial victimization, lexical-semantic harm, pragmatics and discourse, and computational detection. Drawing on the bibliometric findings and theory-informed interpretation, we propose a conceptual language-to-harm framework linking platform affordances, linguistic cues, pragmatic interpretation, psychological appraisal, behavioral and social responses, and cumulative harm. The framework is presented as a theory-informed synthesis and future research model rather than as a causal structure empirically validated by the bibliometric data.
SN - 1664-1078
ER -