Asking the Devil whether he has ever been bullied is not a task that most researchers would expect to tackle.

But a Nottingham University team did just that, quizzing "Beelzebub", a tiger and a dominatrix with her chained submissive as part of their research into online bullying in the virtual reality world of Second Life.

The research team - a psychologist, two computer scientists and an information technologist - set up an office in Second Life and invited 86 inhabitants of the virtual world to a focus group to discuss their experiences of bullying - or "griefing", as it is known online.

Occupational psychology lecturer Iain Coyne said a growing number of researchers were working in Second Life because it provided a unique environment for psychological experiments.

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"We can control the environment (in Second Life), which we cannot do in real life," he said. "If you want to control things experimentally it is a good way to do it."

The researchers found that almost all those who turned up to the focus group - 95 per cent - had been bullied at least once, with 18 per cent harassed weekly or daily. The abuse included name-calling, being shot at and instances of stalking. In one, a victim was pursued by a banana-shaped ringing phone that interrupted all his conversations.

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They found that anonymity online made bullying more likely.

The researchers will also look at other forms of cyber bullying in the workplace, such as via e-mail, to see whether there are parallels with bullying in Second Life, such as in its causes and in how it can be controlled.

• Hull University claimed this week to be among the first UK universities to use Second Life to teach courses to students. It has set up a virtual office and teaching space in the virtual world, where students' virtual reality characters can attend lectures and meet their tutors.
  
  The university has also introduced a course for students in the School of Arts and New Media in the "psychology of internet behaviour", where students conduct experiments in Second Life.