• Informatization Policy
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.51-70
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• 2013

The flaming which is defined as posting deliberately hostile messages online has been perceived as one of the most dangerous behaviors on the Internet. Although the previous research on flaming focused on finding the effects of anonymity and individual differences, more comprehensive explanation is still needed. This research attempted to find social variables which affect the attitude toward and the act of flaming based on the differences between high school and college students. Findings show that both high school and college students are strongly influenced by their affiliated groups in the intention to commit online flaming and past experiences of the number of the acts of flaming. At the same time, vicarious learning was positively associated with high school students, but direct utterance was positively associated with college students. The implications of the study was also discussed.