Exploration of Cybercivility in Nursing Education Using Cross-Country Comparisons

Many nursing students have experienced negative social behaviors and incivility in cyberspace. We aimed to explore knowledge, experience, and acceptability of cyberincivility, as well as the perceived benefits of cybercivility education among nursing students in the United States of America (USA), Hong Kong (HK), and South Korea (K). We used a cross-sectional study design. The Academic Cyberincivility Assessment Questionnaire was administered to participants, and data were collected from 336 nursing students from a university in each country (USA (n = 90), HK (n = 115), and K (n = 131)). Cyberincivility was perceived as a problem by 76.8% of respondents. More than 50% of respondents had experienced cyberincivility, were knowledgeable about it, and found it unacceptable. Longer hours spent on social networking services and perception of cyberincivility were positively associated with the variables, but negatively associated with perceived benefits of learning. Cross-country differences in items and level of variables were identified (p < 0.01). The HK respondents demonstrated lower knowledge, compared to USA and K respondents. Frequency of cyberincivility experience and perceived learning benefit were lower for students in the USA than in HK and K. Acceptability of cyberincivility was significantly lower in respondents from K. Developing educational programs on general and sociocultural patterns of online communication could be useful in promoting cybercivility globally.